Forum Topic

Olympics

Council Leader forgot to mention Lillian Board who trained with London Olympiads at the old Alperton track & was an Olympic silver medalist. Unfortunately she was struck down with cancer & died in her early 20's. There is a street named after her in Greenford/Sudbury Hill.

Susan Browne ● 5107d10 Comments

Lillian Board Way (just behind Ealing Northern Sports Ground) is part of a small estate named after Olympians and sportsmen some of whom, AFAIK, have, unlike Lillian, no connection with Ealing; e.g. Mary Peters.

Nigel Brooks ● 5105d

In her opening post Susan said:"Council Leader forgot to mention Lillian Board who trained with London Olympiads at the old Alperton track & was an Olympic silver medalist. Unfortunately she was struck down with cancer & died in her early 20's. There is a street named after her in Greenford/Sudbury Hill"OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooI recall that Lillian Board lived just off Gunnersbury Lane and after her sad death her street was named after her … Lillian Avenue.

Jim Lawes ● 5105d

Naked competitors would certainly make it even more interesting and gets my vote! I was referring more to the modern Games from 1908?

Keith Iddon ● 5106d

Keith. Originally the Games were in honour of Zeus. Later competitors performed naked.

George Knox ● 5106d

You get my point though.I don't follow tennis but if the world no.1 is not in the comp.then you can't call yourself the best.

Keith Iddon ● 5107d

It's an often quoted maxim - you can only beat the players that turn up. BTW Federer is no longer the best tennis player in the world.

Eric Alan Leach ● 5107d

There's nothing mean spirited about it imo. The spirit of the Olympics was originally about amateur competition and the gold medal being the zenith of whatever sport in which it is won.Patently that spirit has now been altered to meet the demands of tv ,the modern zeitgeist,including your undue sentimentality.If you win a gold medal at football,you are not a member of the best team on the planet.If you win a sprint gold,you are the best sprinter on the planet.Similarly if you win a tennis gold in a comp. without Federer,are you the best in the world?

Keith Iddon ● 5107d

OK punish international sports organisations if you like but don't devalue personal achievemnt. If you win an Olympic Gold medal at any sport you have no doubt beaten all the other contestants from all over the world. To use the 'those not good enough to win the top prize ' argument really is quite mean spirited.

Eric Alan Leach ● 5107d

I have often wondered about why sports such as tennis and football are included in the Olympics. I thought the idea of the tournament was that it was the zenith in terms of achievement in any sport. After all,if you asked any footballer if he would rather win a World Cup winner's medal or an Olympics gold ,I'm sure he would say the former. Ditto a tennis player and Wimbledon. It also used to be a competition for amateurs. I suppose it gives those not good enough to win the top prize in some professional sports the chance to win a medal but that was not the original point of the games.

Keith Iddon ● 5107d

And he forgot to mention Ealing 's Charlotte Cooper who won the first Olympic Gold for Ladies tennis ever contested at the Paris Olympics in 1900.And he forgot Brtain's most successful tennis player ever - Ealing's Dorothea Lambert Chambers - who won the Wimbledon Ladies Singles seven times. Dorothea's achievements are commemorated with an English Heritage Blue Plaque on her old home on North Common W5.Of course both ladies were members of Ealing Lawn Tennis Club.

Eric Alan Leach ● 5107d