By JOHNNY WATTERSON
Filthy lucre
MILLIONAIRE and former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield believes the failure of the US boxing team at the Olympics can be traced back to an obsession with money. Only heavyweight Deontay Wilder is still standing of the nine who began the tournament. "The problem is that these days it's all about money," said the multi-millionaire. "When it's all about money this happens. The guys are just thinking about money. There's a kind of manipulation where the kids are being told 'go and turn pro, gold medals aren't important'."
The man who, this year sold his 54,000 square feet home for $10 million added: "(The managers) don't want the guys winning golds because then they have to pay them."
There are no plans for the 46-year-old to go back into the ring.
Numbers game
A SIGN of the times perhaps. The American broadcaster NBC, which paid nearly $900 million for exclusive US rights, was drawing 30 times more video views online than it did for the Athens Games. More than 22 million clips have been viewed so far.
In China alone more than 102 million people watched the Games live online, while a record 1.2 billion people are thought to have watched the opening ceremony. In the US alone 40 million people saw American swimmer Michael Phelps win his eighth gold medal, an 18-year high for the NBC network's Saturday television evening viewing.
Rolled gold
DOUBLE cycling gold medallist Bradley Wiggins took a leaf out of the book of Phil Bab, Mark Kennedy and Doug Howlett when he rolled over the bonnet of a parked Beijing taxi. Wiggins had been celebrating his two gold medals at London House, the venue in Beijing set up to promote the city ahead of the 2012 Games.
He then went outside the venue and rolled on the bonnet of a taxi, causing some unhappiness to the driver. Police officers, who were on duty outside London House, stepped in and, presumably because he wasn't protesting, they let him go. The British Olympic Association said there was no question of any action against Wiggins.
Staying Schtum
STAYING in the closet appears to be the choice of most gay Olympians. Only 10 of the 10,500 athletes competing in the Beijing Olympics are openly gay, according to a study by a gay website. Some gay athletes fear that coming out would bring disapproval from fans and team-mates and a little bit more than disapproval from countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Others worry about the damage to endorsements. Nine of the gay athletes named by the website were lesbians and their sports ranged from fencing to cycling. Just one, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, was a man. The website said this must be way short of the real figure and argued that a more accurate estimate could even reach 1,000.
Bragging rights
THE British government are planning to capitalise on Britain's Olympic success by launching a drive for sponsors called 'Medal Hopes' aimed at plugging a mere £79million funding gap. The money would go to help fund Olympic sports in the four years leading up to the London 2012 Games. The drive may also involve the sale of naming rights of Olympic venues, although, the rights would apply only once the 2012 Games are over. Just what value post Olympic venues would have remains unknown. A BMX track? A weightlifting stage?
