Stick that on your barbie and smoke it!

I don't want to be accused of jumping on the bandwagon. Before the Olympics, I knew precious little about cycling. I didn't know what a team pursuit was, let alone a Madison. Now, thanks to the amazing performance of the British cycling team in Beijing, I know precisely what these are!

I must admit, though, that part of my enjoyment of these Games is down to our thrashing of the Australians. Having lived there for five years, (which included the Sydney Games) I had to put up with a LOT of Australian gloating, self adoration and back slapping, not solely in their performance in Olympic Games, but in Rugby, Cricket and yes, even football when the Socceroos beat England. But let's not dwell on that, because now, it seems, that the worm has finally turned!

Australians love to hate the Brits. In terms of sporting achievement, they have long looked down from their higher ground, scoffing and gaffawing at our lack lustre performances. But not anymore. They were quietened in 2003 after the Rugby World Cup and then again when we beat them to win the Ashes, but these successes have always been met with the argument that our wins were down to 'flukes.' And, as patriotic as I am, I couldn't shake the feeling that they might be right. However, the past few days' performance by the British Olympic athletes in Beijing puts pay, well and truly, to any doubts the Australian's may have had regarding our sporting prowess. Typically the Australians have dominated in the Velodrome. How delightful, then, to see the Brits stealing almost all of the gold medals on offer, leaving the Australians to limp home with a solitary silver. Not that gaining a silver is any mean feat, not at all, but I have to admit that it was extremely satisfying to see Victoria Pendleton snatch the gold in that event, leaving Australia's only hopes of a cycling gold in tatters.

Having read the Australian press today, (namely The Australian, which traditionally makes a sport out of sledging Great Britain wherever possible) I see no sign of the word 'fluke,' anywhere. But don't be misguided. Don't be fooled into thinking that Australia are taking a leaf out of the British book and actually being good sportsman about all of this. No, they are smarting. They still feel the need to take cheap shots, and they're doing it in the form of highlighting how Great Britain has put four times the amount of funding into Olympic Sports than Australia, and that's why they're winning medals. Yes, of course. How foolish one would be to suppose for one moment that Team GB are winning golds because they are actually bloody good at what they do. 

Maybe the Australians will actually learn from all of this - that sport isn't solely about being good sports people, but practicing good sportsmanship. It can be a bitter pill to swallow, and one which, I suspect, Australia will choke on.