This years summer of sport is well underway with Euro 2012 already near the finish line and Spain playing Italy in the final, the tennis championships at Wimbledon are almost a week in and there have already been some shock exits, and the Olympics are less than a month away which will see competitors from around Europe and the world competing across a multitude of sporting events.
The Euro’s have seen some surprising results with teams being knocked out before many thought they would, and will see Italy play Spain in the final at the Olympic stadium in Kiev. Italy knocked out Germany in last night’s dramatic game which saw “Super Mario” score two goals against the opposition and Spain defeated Portugal in their close game that was eventually decided by penalties. Whether Spain or Italy win the finals, Ukraine and Poland have put on a brilliant show for the whole of Europe and pre tournament reports of planned trouble turned out to be fictitious inventions by the media [1].
Monday saw the oldest tennis tournament in the world start at Wimbledon lawn tennis club [2]. Favourites of the Courts Rodger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal were hotly tipped to win the tournament again, but in a shock defeat last night to Lukas Rosol, seeded number 100 in the ATP world rankings, Rafael Nadal was knocked out of Wimbledon in the second round. With a week to go and players from countries all over the world still involved in the contest, it will be a great spectacle to watch, with many young European players emerging from the ranks to compete with what can be seen as the domineering old guard of the last 10 years.
The Olympics are only a month away and with the stadiums built and staff trained it’s now up to the athletes to compete for the title of the best in the world. London 2012 will have sports ranging from Athletics and Diving to Boxing and Table Tennis; a far cry from the first time London hosted the Olympics in 1908 where countries competed in the “tug of war” amongst other sports. It will be great to see Europe and the world work together to compete in what should be a truly memorable Olympics.
The great thing about sports is it can bring nations together in what can be austere times, it can show inter country cooperation at the highest levels i.e. Ukraine and Poland and it can raise our spirits when supporting our players, teams and nations. Which Country are you supporting?
[1] http://www.eurolondon.com/blog/en/euro-2012-the-beginning-of-a-summer-of-sport/
[2] http://www.eurolondon.com/blog/en/multilingual-tennis-players/