The presenters
Gold: Clare Balding
The jolly hockey sticks appeal is perfectly suited to an Olympics in which the women’s hockey team has reached the final. Balding is engagingly honest about her ignorance of sports about which most sane people have only the most basic knowledge and is more than happy to let the experts do the techy stuff.
Her only minor blemish was to ask Becky James’s boyfriend, the rugby player George North, whether he was going to propose to the double silver-winning cyclist live on air. North’s face went south. There are some questions you should only ask if you already know the answer.
Silver: Helen Skelton
The swimming is often the graveyard shift for sports presenters as Britain traditionally performs badly and the events have a tendency to merge into one another once the novelty wears off. But Skelton turned the pool into her own Ealing comedy with her good-natured banter and the swimmers rewarded her with their best medal haul in decades.
Bronze: Jonathan Agnew
As the only presenter likely to have been on a riding holiday in the past 10 years – Balding aside – the BBC decided to give the equestrian gigs to their chief cricket commentator. Not a bad call, as it has turned out, for the man who can turn the sound of rain falling into a relatively enjoyable experience is well placed to explain the intricacies of dressage.
Also ran: Gabby Logan
Dullness can often be a virtue in a presenter as it gives those around you a chance to shine. But when dullness is surrounded by so much other dullness, it begins to pall. The trouble with so much of the track and field coverage is that it has become a closed shop. There may be a lot of tutting about drug taking in the sport but not once does everyone’s old mucker, Seb Coe, get called out over the cheating that has taken place during his time as vice-president – and now president – of the IAAF.
Did not finish: John Inverdale
Not the finest hour for the thinking man’s Jeremy Clarkson. Nor hours. Long before he completely wiped the Williams sisters from the Olympic medal table in his over-enthusiastic interview with Andy Murray, Inverdale had been smacked down at the rowing regatta by his co-commentator, Steve Redgrave, for showing poor form by barging in front of the New Zealand media in the queue to speak to their gold medal winner.
The pundits
Gold: Michael Johnson
The American multi-gold medallist is the one beacon of sunshine in track and field. Johnson has an astute insider’s eye, his criticisms are always well aimed and he doesn’t allow jingoism to cloud his judgment. His reaction when the South African Wayde van Niekerk broke the 400m world record that he set in 1999 was an example of extreme grace under fire.
Silver: Rebecca Adlington and Mark Foster
They began as separate entities and ended up joined at the hip. Their obvious enjoyment of each other’s company – there was a lot of touchy-feely stuff going on – helped to turn the swimming into a televisual sensory pleasure dome. The downside was that their onscreen presence was so riveting, no one could remember a word they said.
Bronze: Chris Hoy
It’s always easier to come across as Mr Nice Guy when the athletes on the track below you are hoovering up almost every medal on offer, but Hoy has made the cycling even more of a pleasure than it otherwise would have been. Even the famously grumpy Mark Cavendish looks pleased to be interviewed by him. His only misstep has been to describe Jason Kenny as a cyclist with “potential”. Kenny has won the same number of golds as Hoy.
Also ran: Steve Redgrave
Always hot and invariably bothered, the five times gold medallist spent much of the rowing looking like Slipper of the Yard hunting down Ronnie Biggs. In the end, he had to settle for taking Inverdale prisoner. His tetchiness around his co-presenter became more and more evident as the Games progressed. If the rowing had gone on for another day, it might have all ended in tears.
Did not finish: Denise Lewis
There is an honesty to the former gold medal-winning heptathlete. Just not one that works well on TV. Her monotone delivery couldn’t be better programmed to cliches and, despite her years of experience as an athlete, almost never said anything that wasn’t immediately obvious to anyone watching. Lighten up, Denise, and go off message.
.png?w=600)
