Silver for Mersea's Saskia (From Gazette)
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Mersea's Saskia Clark won a silver in sailing for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics
9:40am Friday 10th August 2012 in News By James Cox
Saskia and Hannah in action
SASKIA Clark won a silver medal in the Laser 470 class sailing at the London 2012 Olympics.
Saskia and race partner Hannah Mills had to finish ahead of New Zealand sailors Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie to get gold.
However, the New Zealand pair finished first in the final race, with Saskia and Hannah down in 9th.
Reporter James Cox joined hundreds of people watching the action from Dabchicks Sailing Club and West Mersea Yacht Club.
See Monday's Gazette for all the reaction.
Send your messages of support on Twitter using the hashtag #saskiaclark.
Saskia goes for Gold
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Comments(21)
Myrtle
says...
3:22pm Fri 10 Aug 12
Feisty CBC
says...
9:20pm Fri 10 Aug 12
6079 Smith W
says...
10:22am Sat 11 Aug 12
6079 Smith W
says...
10:24am Sat 11 Aug 12
Boris
says...
10:57am Sat 11 Aug 12
Say It As It Is OK?
says...
5:29pm Sat 11 Aug 12
6079 Smith W wrote:Dressage is not the sort of sport associated with most of us but we can't take away the fact that Charlotte Dujardin, as well as Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills all worked extremely hard to achieve what they did.
Just a little joke. While sailing opportunities are probably rather limited for inner city kids, it is a proper sport, unlike the absurd horse dancing.
Okay Charlotte didn't come from an inner city environment but born with a silver spoon in her mouth she wasn't! Hard work got her the Two Gold medals rightly deserved.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Charlotte_D
ujardin
Feisty CBC
says...
8:29pm Sat 11 Aug 12
Boris wrote:I won two quid on a scratchcard the other day :)
Well done Saskia and Hannah. You won silver, which is more than any of us is ever likely to do. Try and go one better in Rio.
romantic
says...
9:36am Mon 13 Aug 12
6079 Smith W wrote:Like it, that´s funny!
Sailing - it's like dressage - the only way out of the ghetto for some kids.
romantic
says...
9:42am Mon 13 Aug 12
6079 Smith W wrote:I don´t know... trying to get a horse to do that stuff is pretty hard, I understand. My own (very very limited) experience of getting on top of a horse is that they are quite happy to just amble around eating the field or run madly around the place, but doing the dressage stuff definitely is not natural to them.
Just a little joke. While sailing opportunities are probably rather limited for inner city kids, it is a proper sport, unlike the absurd horse dancing.
wellnow
says...
10:06am Mon 13 Aug 12
romantic
says...
11:11am Mon 13 Aug 12
6079 Smith W
says...
11:27am Tue 14 Aug 12
These events are there, and those that compete work very hard. But surely the same could be said for darts professionals? It obviously involves dedication, but rather like show jumping and related, doesn't actually require the peak of athleticism of the track and field, or swimming. Why else do you see a 54 year old gold medallist?
Hardly the original Olympic ideal. The original Olympics were of course a big festival of Greek homo-eroticism. The Greeks wanted to purve over fit young men, not a 54 year old! Even today, the closing ceremony still puts out an invite to young people to gather in Rio.
And the sports I question also tend to favour richer people, in richer countries. The Kenyans, the Jamaicans, and the Ethiopians don't tend to be big rivals in the equestrian. So it helps to keep the big powers high in the medal table, so that's why I'm obviously whistling in the wind here anyway.
However, I most sincerely mean it when I say this is irrelevant to the fantastic achievements here.
Boris
says...
2:32pm Tue 14 Aug 12
.
And while on the subject, R.I.P. that great sportsman and commentator Sid Waddell, who played rugby for his Cambridge college and then started a darts championship there, but was considered "too Geordie" to read the lottery results on the BBC.
He died as the Olympics were drawing to a close. A few gems from his website, just about Eric Bristow:
.
Bristow reasons; Bristow quickens; aaaaah Bristow!
Bristow looks as peevish as a peckish pterodactyl.
Bristow with that little finger poised - fit to grace any garden party.
When Alexander of Macedon was 33 he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer - Bristow is only 27!
Bristow’s effect on the audience is like Rasputin used to have on the birds a long time ago.
Eric’s chops are covered in lipstick - like he’s been mugged by an Avon lady.
And then hundreds of others, worth a good read, to remind us of the departed "magic darts" genius.
romantic
says...
3:52pm Tue 14 Aug 12
It takes guts and determination to get 4 pints down your throat between last orders and kicking out time. Now do that week after week and see how far the untrained athelete gets.
Trying to find the oche after 12 whisky chasers has to be up there with Mo Farah´s running. The tension of both players being on a double-1 finish beats Pendleton or Hoy any time.
I think the time has come to get Darts into Rio 2016. Anybody know any IOC members we can lobby?
6079 Smith W
says...
5:43pm Tue 14 Aug 12
Boris wrote:A very entertaining post, Boris, it sort of seemed like Stephen Fry enthusing darts (as he does), crossed with our friend from Jaywick's general enthusiasm! Sorry, I think R's even more entertaining post - however much of a legend Sid Waddell is - has put what you said in its place.
I agree that darts should be made an Olympic sport, far more attractive than golf which I hear will be Olympic in 2016. The athletes who compete in darts are pretty impressive.
.
And while on the subject, R.I.P. that great sportsman and commentator Sid Waddell, who played rugby for his Cambridge college and then started a darts championship there, but was considered "too Geordie" to read the lottery results on the BBC.
He died as the Olympics were drawing to a close. A few gems from his website, just about Eric Bristow:
.
Bristow reasons; Bristow quickens; aaaaah Bristow!
Bristow looks as peevish as a peckish pterodactyl.
Bristow with that little finger poised - fit to grace any garden party.
When Alexander of Macedon was 33 he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer - Bristow is only 27!
Bristow’s effect on the audience is like Rasputin used to have on the birds a long time ago.
Eric’s chops are covered in lipstick - like he’s been mugged by an Avon lady.
And then hundreds of others, worth a good read, to remind us of the departed "magic darts" genius.
So sorry, but my point was about the Olympics being a celebration of youth, suggests darts shouldn't be there, even if there's much less of a 'financial bar to entry' (Charlie Brooker: http://www.guardian.
co.uk/commentisfree/
2012/aug/05/olympics
-better-than-looked-
on-tin) than certain other sports. Come on, there was surely a hint in the very last bit of the closing ceremony? The Who singing 'My Generation, Hope I die before I get old'. OK, other than Moon the Lune, The Who did get old. But isn't the point very clear?
Boris
says...
1:48am Wed 15 Aug 12
6079 Smith W wrote:Well, I hope we are not going to start getting competitive about our posts to this esteemed organ's website. This is one pastime that will never become an Olympic sport.
Boris wrote:A very entertaining post, Boris, it sort of seemed like Stephen Fry enthusing darts (as he does), crossed with our friend from Jaywick's general enthusiasm! Sorry, I think R's even more entertaining post - however much of a legend Sid Waddell is - has put what you said in its place.
I agree that darts should be made an Olympic sport, far more attractive than golf which I hear will be Olympic in 2016. The athletes who compete in darts are pretty impressive.
.
And while on the subject, R.I.P. that great sportsman and commentator Sid Waddell, who played rugby for his Cambridge college and then started a darts championship there, but was considered "too Geordie" to read the lottery results on the BBC.
He died as the Olympics were drawing to a close. A few gems from his website, just about Eric Bristow:
.
Bristow reasons; Bristow quickens; aaaaah Bristow!
Bristow looks as peevish as a peckish pterodactyl.
Bristow with that little finger poised - fit to grace any garden party.
When Alexander of Macedon was 33 he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer - Bristow is only 27!
Bristow’s effect on the audience is like Rasputin used to have on the birds a long time ago.
Eric’s chops are covered in lipstick - like he’s been mugged by an Avon lady.
And then hundreds of others, worth a good read, to remind us of the departed "magic darts" genius.
So sorry, but my point was about the Olympics being a celebration of youth, suggests darts shouldn't be there, even if there's much less of a 'financial bar to entry' (Charlie Brooker: http://www.guardian.
co.uk/commentisfree/
2012/aug/05/olympics
-better-than-looked-
on-tin) than certain other sports. Come on, there was surely a hint in the very last bit of the closing ceremony? The Who singing 'My Generation, Hope I die before I get old'. OK, other than Moon the Lune, The Who did get old. But isn't the point very clear?
Who said the Olympics had to be a celebration of youth? As Sid observed, Eric Bristow was world champion at 27, and a good many of our medallists are older than that. The darts athletes that you see on TV now don't seem to have beer bellies, and they don't drink the stuff on screen.
Anyway, darts should definitely be an Olympic sport.
There is also a case for including the sports of chess, folkdancing, music and theatre. These were all scheduled for the People's Olympiad in Barcelona in 1936, and would be just as worthy as some of the events we saw in the last fortnight.
It would of course be good to see a return of cricket. That way at least India, Bangladesh and so on would have a sporting chance of winning medals. And perhaps the French could improve on the silver medal that they won last time cricket was in the Olympics.
6079 Smith W
says...
8:05am Wed 15 Aug 12
Come on Boris, I've already answered that. We've had The Who, Rogge's closing ceremony invitation to the youth of the world, and the ancient Greeks themselves. But perhaps if we're going to contradict all that anyway, you might be right with some of your other suggestions. Unfortunately, as you will know, a fascist coup meant the People's Olympiad never took place, so we'll never know how that would have worked in practice.
romantic
says...
9:32am Wed 15 Aug 12
As it happens, I think Darts would achieve cult status if it were put into the Olympics, and it is something which can be played for minimal investment in equipment and in a small space. And it is strangely compelling to watch on TV. If they did put it into Rio 2016, the world would love it!
Also agree with Boris about the question of youth. Most of the athletes are fairly young, because most Olympic sports require a high level of fitness. But no reason I can see why older people should not be included. The oldest competitor at London was 71 (in show jumping). If they are good enough to reach the high level required, age is not a factor.
Chess as an Olympic event? It´s an intriguing idea. Music and theatre? Again, interesting, although no idea how you would decide who wins.
Cricket has been in there in the past, and like darts, I think it would prove a popular event if they used the 20/20 format. My cricket purist friends hate 20/20, but it is fast and furious, and gets the crowd going.
6079 Smith W
says...
12:31pm Wed 15 Aug 12
Or as I'd have put it: The oldest competitor in London was 71. In show jumping!
These sports with the 'financial bar to entry', don't tend to involve the highest levels of athleticism. So of course there's an argument that if we allow them, why not darts? Well, I admitted earlier to whistling in the wind, and of course anybody maintaining that argument is in a similar situation. Darts doesn't have a 'financial bar to entry'.
R, you wrote a really good post pre-Olympics, when you talked about the many things wrong with it, but how it would at the same time be a superb sporting spectacle. You were spot on. And believe it or not I did watch when 'we' beat the Dutch in that horse off. And I did cheer. Like I would cheer Chelmsford City winning a corner. In a pre-season friendly.
Boris
says...
12:53am Fri 17 Aug 12
Obviously it helps in most sports to be young, given that our brains start to decay from age 17. But we don't have to make a fetish of it. The relevance of an ancient rock group (The Who) and their silly lyrics (hope I die before I get old) escapes me.
As for the People's Olympiad or Workers' Olympiad of 1936, it's true that Franco's coup stopped it from taking place, but other Workers' Olympiads were successfully held in Frankfurt (1925), Vienna (1931) and Antwerp (1937). Numbers of athletes and spectators exceeded those at the Olympics, and some world records were broken. I haven't managed to identify what events were included but quite likely they were the same as those planned for Barcelona.
.
As late as the London Olympiad of 1948, medals were still awarded for five categories of art (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture), but these events were then suppressed because the artists were mostly professionals, while the athletes weren't. Now that they are all professionals, these events could be brought back.
Anyway, I'd say there is a case for abolishing archery and shooting (too miltaristic) and bringing in darts instead.
Feisty CBC says...
10:53am Fri 10 Aug 12