Off the fence
Ciara Galvin
What is it about sport that brings whole nations together? That sees workplaces brought to a standstill? The feeling of total pride when watching an athlete don the colours of their home country and in our case the green, white and gold of this emerald isle seems to be indescribable.
Last week saw the entire country reach fever-pitch, glued to the Olympics in communal hope, celebration and pride for our representatives.
A collection of five medals, our biggest in 56 years, seems to have lifted the nation, with Marty Morrissey even proclaiming to Katie Taylor after her semi-final win, that ‘the recession is even gone’.
The general topic of conversation over the past two weeks has either been about the Olympics or how will Mayo do without Andy Moran.
People are embracing the games, with many expressing surprise at their own newly-found interests, from the laser radial, to weightlifting.
We all seem to be an aficionado when it comes to the 2012 games. Talk of Bolt only being at 70 per cent fitness sparked debate last week among a bunch of lads who haven’t seen that level of fitness since Cumann na mBunscol.
Far from poking fun at our enthusiasm to comment and support, it is a breath of fresh air from the Quinn/Anglo perspex box we have all succumbed to over the last while.
Not to overlook our other heroic boxers, Michael, John Joe and Paddy, but the name on everybody’s lips in the run up to the games has been the iconic Katie Taylor.
Lennox Lewis commented, ‘When you hit Taylor she hits you back twice’, and WBO cruiserweight world champion, Johnny Nelson said, ‘She’s better than many male pros’.
Few Irish athletes have evoked such national pride as Taylor, and again that is no disrespect to any of her Olympic predecessors, merely a personal observation.
Maybe it’s the economic doom and gloom, or Taylor’s unassuming manner, the feeling of overwhelming pride for the 26 year-old is something the country has not experienced before. Taylor has devoted nearly half of her life for the Olympic gold that she took in the nail-biting final with her Russian competitor last Thursday, and in exchange, the nation gave her their unwavering support and belief in way of payment.
It is a well documented fact that when Irish fans support their teams and athletes we go beyond the call of duty, of course the European Championships this Summer come to mind.
Thinking back to the Irish supporters display and worldwide coverage after the team’s exit, one ‘tweet’ comes to mind from former Liverpool and Manchester United player, Michael Owen, ‘Imagine how loud the Irish fans would be if they had something to shout about! #properfans’.
