Friday Finds – 5th August

Friday Finds is a regular feature in which I collate and share interesting articles and posts on running/health/fitness which I’ve read recently. Some might be inspiring, some might be scientific, some might provoke debate. All are things I’ve found in some way thought-provoking.

I’m pretty partial to a bit of athletics on TV (even better live like when I went to the Commonwealth Games in 2014) and every four years it’s the big one, my favourite: the Olympics! With the opening ceremony taking place today, this week just had to be an Olympics special…

While the build up to this year’s competition has had its fair share of issues, these have been covered at length and I would prefer to focus on the positives. So first up, a couple of stories looking at some of the history of the games. I’m sure we all have our memories of iconic moments (the first games I can remember watching is Los Angeles in 1984 and my memories of London 2012 include being forcibly removed from the sofa on Super Saturday to get some fresh air in among Team GB’s gold medal successes!). I also remember underdog stories such as the infamous Eddie ‘The Eagle’ of the winter games, and who doesn’t enjoy the tale of the Jamaican bobsled team made famous by the movie Cool Runnings? What are some of your Olympic memories?

• From Jesse Owens to Usain Bolt: The 6 Most Iconic Moments in Olympic Games History
• From Eddie the Eagle to Jamaican Bobsled Team: The Greatest Olympic underdog Stories

When it comes to the 2016 games there are plenty of stories offering tips on who to watch out for this year. Regardless of the country you support or the athletes you love, it’s always good to be able to say you watched history being made. I will of course be supporting Team GB and watching with interest to see how we get on in comparison to the home games in 2012. I’ll also be keeping a watchful eye on my great favourites Jessica Ennis-Hill and Jo Pavey, as well as Mo Farah and the inimitable Usain Bolt. Who are your favourites?

• Rio Olympics 2016: Denise Lewis’s Team GB Athletes to Watch
• 100 Olympians to Watch at Rio 2016
• The Women to Root For in the Rio Olympics
• The Unbelievable Stories of Four Women in the Olympics’ First Refugee Team

To help us keep up to date, various media sources are providing roundups of all the stories we need to know. Whether you want information about the athletes, the history of the games or the host nation itself, they’ve got us covered. It’s always worth keeping a mental note of these things – you never know when they might come up in a quiz (I was once in a quiz team which romped to victory thanks to my confident assertion that 204 nations took part in the 2012 games – I’ve never forgotten that fact!).

• Rio 2016 Olympics: All You Need to Know and Plenty You Don’t
• The Olympic Storylines You Absolutely Need to Know

We can all learn something from the grit and determination of the athletes too. I was lucky enough to be in the stadium when Lynsey Sharp won her 800m final at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 with the words, “Get out strong. Commit” etched on the back of her hand. Here are some more tips about how to get into that sort of medal-winning mindset, as well as fun quiz to see how your mentality measures up. It tells me I’m a Solid Athlete…

• How to Get Into the Mindset of a Winner: Lessons from Olympic Athletes
• Do You Have the Mentality of an Olympian?

And finally, there are plenty of more light-hearted stories surrounding the games. From breaking down language barriers, to owning a piece of the track form London 2012, it’s all going on. But I have to say, my personal favourite is the bid to have jousting included in the 2020 games. What sport(s) would you like to see in future Olympic games?

• Skins Launches (Un)Official Language for Sport in Time for the Olympics
• Picture of the Day: Your Very Own Olympic Track
• English Heritage ‘Deadly Serious’ About Bid to get Jousting into Olympics

Happy reading,
The Running Princess