Everything I still need to know after two weeks of the sublime and sometimes bizarre in Milano Cortina
H
aving avoided the horrific February weather by staying on my sofa for two weeks, I have embraced the Winter Olympics as a quadrennial extra Christmas holiday. It offers pine trees, baubles and the chance to gather around the TV while someone with an RP accent tells us how determined and courageous the British are.
The Olympic Games have always presented something of a paradox – on one hand, they are the peak of human athleticism, and on the other, they can look like an elite school sports day. There’s normally at least one activity that reminds you of your youth, whether it’s table tennis or trampolining. Presumably the skiing and snowboarding on display this month have felt very relatable to swathes of Surrey.
As someone too imbalanced to be let loose on snow or ice, I have little experience of the sports I’ve been watching. The BBC’s near-comprehensive coverage does attempt to explain them to newbies, but it cannot clear up every question. And so, with due humility, I submit those that remain: the puzzles and quandaries that even my recent 790% increase in screen time has not yet solved.
