Gold medals all round

Despite myself I have enjoyed the Olympics from the sportsmanship and athleticism of the Amazonian hockey players to the sheer joy of the gymnast Simone Biles's floor performance. I say despite myself because I'm not an avid sports fan, neither watching or playing. I used to sail and race quite competitively but it is the memories of sailing around Portsmouth Harbour with a friend in a little mirror dinghy that I treasure (probably would be frowned on nowadays..no parental supervision or rescue boat!) or going for a joy ride along the coast in a super cool sailing machine.

It does worry me that the 'Olympic legacy' we have now is about elite training, harsh regimes of self sacrifice with family and friends coming second to training, going to the 'job' of sport. This is fine for the few, but what about the rest of us? Are we left feeling that it's not ok just to do something for fun, for fitness, for sociability, for the sheer silliness of sport? In which case why bother?

Last week I did my annual cycle trip with my son. It was fabulous, we hit that window of fine weather and cycled from Berwick upon Tweed to North Berwick. It was a harder trip than previously in that it was quite hilly, our shortest ride was 9 miles and longest distance was 18 miles but that included the best long downhill bicycle whizz ever :) We don't own a piece of lycra between us nor yet any specialised bike equipment. The cycleways were empty of traffic.....where were you all?

My son endures these annual trips because he thinks I'm the funniest thing on a bike and probably the most incompetent. I go because every year I get a bit better on a bike (very small increments) I enjoy being with him and the pleasure of really seeing the countryside. I don't go to pump up and down hills watching the tarmac underneath me. I particularly enjoy the coffee breaks. Surely we cannot count this as sport? Hang on though, I'm increasing my fitness and skills and I'm having fun. Even though I'm not buying into the silly outfits I think I have been doing sport!

Our bodies work on the premise of movement. Movement, let's be daring and call it 'exercise' lubricates our joints, muscles, fascia and nerves. it helps blood and lymph flow and return and keeps that great muscle known as the heart strong and healthy. It provides our brains with information and feed back, and allows our brains to washed through with stabilizing hormones. It can trigger a great sense of achievement and pleasure and promote social interaction. Exercise facilitates the repair of injuries and the upkeep of damaged areas. Muscle strength and agility can be improved at any age, giving us hope for the future. We actually only have to do some exercise for about 40 minutes a day, and not necessarily in one solid block, to achieve all of these benefits.

So my plea for an Olympic legacy is that no matter what we do for exercise, if we are getting slightly fitter, slightly stronger, slightly better at it, having fun and maybe encouraging other people to join in we should all feel like medal winners (silliness is optional)

P.S....actually no, silliness is compulsory

PPS I've just heard from my colleague Liz Baker who is currently doing the Hadrian's Wall long distance footpath in the seasonal torrential rain. The group is currently "water-skiing over cowpats". Definitely should be an Olympic sport.