Reporter Randy Starkman is covering the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Canadian runner Tyler Christopher was just a member of royalty away from landing himself in Victor Davis territory.
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| CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS |
| Canada's Tyler Christopher counts to ten and walks away. |
Having been at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, where the late Davis gained infamy for kicking a chair in front of the Queen when Canada was disqualified in a swimming relay, I can tell you there wasn’t much difference in Christopher's antics when he went ballistic after his men's 400-metre race Wednesday night.
The high strung Chilliwack, B.C., native was furious because he felt there should have been a false start called. Because he didn't hear "set" called or the start gun, the world championship bronze medallist gave up a five-metre head start to the rest of the field before recovering to win a silver medal.
He hoofed a plastic yellow lane marker across the track, barged through some start marshals to a cascade of boos at Joao Havelange Stadium and used a cupboard door for a punching bag underneath the stands.
Not model behaviour, but it was a natural reaction for a fiery athlete, just as it was for Davis some 25 years ago. The Davis incident was blown out of proportion because of the Queen's presence that night and stuck with him until he died tragically after getting run down by a car in 1989.
Luckily for Christopher, his blowup will likely be soon forgotten – unless, of course, they become a regular occurrence.
READY ... SET?
Philip Hersh, the Olympics beat reporter from the Chicago Tribune, parachuted in here Wednesday to do a piece on Rio's readiness to stage the 2016 Summer Olympics, which they aspire to do along with the 2014 World Cup. Chicago is also bidding for the 2016 Games.
Hersh had some questions for Perdita Felicien after her 100-metre hurdles race – she went to university and lives in Champagne, Illinois, not far from Chicago – and from this perspective the questions appeared pretty loaded.
Let's face it, these Games have had their transportation and other problems so it'd be pretty easy to get someone to say this place isn't ready for prime time, which Felicien essentially said to Hersh.
But these veteran eyes have seen 10 Olympics first-hand and I've got one word for any American who would question Rio's ability to hold a successful games: Atlanta.
The Billy Bob Olympics of 1996 were by far the worst I've experienced and I know many of my colleagues hold them in the same special esteem.
The results system here actually works – it didn't in Atlanta. The long bus rides here can be brutal – especially when your head nearly hits the roof because shock absorbers seem to be missing on many vehicles and every driver thinks they're Ayrton Senna.
But I've yet to see a bus driver here stop their vehicle and break down and cry because they didn’t know which way to go. The Pan Am Games actually hired professional drivers. Haven't been on a bus that broke dowe yet, either. Also haven't heard of athletes fighting with each other in the village to get on buses to make it to their events. It all happened in Atlanta and a lot more.
The 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, I'm told by colleagues who were there, had similar nightmares.
And sure the behind-the-scenes staging of a Games here could be filled with corruption, which of course would never happen in Chicago, right? Heck, just look at the 2002 Salt Lake Games, which sparked the Olympic bribery scandal.
Don't blame it on Rio. They’re doing a fine job here.
Randy Starkman
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