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Honouring those who won Gold for Great Britain

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Colin Murray | 13:05 UK time, Tuesday, 17 July 2012

The GB coxless 4's celebrate their victory at Sydney 2000

I spent over six months attempting to meet our 114 Olympic champions, and while I would not dare single out individual Olympians for more praise than others, I think the stories surrounding those more mature Gold Medallists will stay with me most.

Maybe it鈥檚 because they鈥檙e from a more innocent era, or maybe it has something to do with the fact that it was all for the love of sport back then and not for financial gain. Although that鈥檚 maybe a bit harsh, as most modern day champions have the Olympic ideal seeping from every pore.

So it's quite possible that my golden boys and girls from Olympics past, genuinely, had to remember answers to questions that had not been asked of them for a long time. That, I'm afraid, is probably the only downside to Gold Run鈥he fact that most Olympians who won gold before 1980 are pretty much 'off the radar'. Yet these people deserve to be cherished as much as any of today's high profile superstars.

Ann Packer, Ken Matthews, Bob Braithwaite, Terry Spinks, Jim Fox, Judy Grinham, Gillian Sheen; the list goes on and on. Every one of them have stories that make the hairs on your neck stand up, your heart swell, or your chest puff with pride. If I鈥檓 being honest, most of them were surprised that I was interested in talking to them in the first place. That, indeed, is a real shame.

I hope that those who listened to the series enjoyed their stories, and will remember them as we move past London 2012 - an Olympics that the majority of them will not be witnessing first hand.

You see, most of our Olympic Gold Medallists were offered the chance to enter the lottery system for tickets, with a guarantee that they would be successful in their quest to get tickets for one Olympic event or another, but they would have to pay. Now, while a sizeable amount of our heroes have no problem in dishing out a few quid, those who didn鈥檛 earn a penny from their magnificent achievements all those years ago can鈥檛 all afford to splash the cash.

As one said to me, ''It's a choice between giving what savings I have to help my granddaughter through University, or treating myself to tickets to the Olympics. That鈥檚 an easy choice.''

This issue cropped up again and again on my travels, and while not one gold medallist had a bad word to say about London 2012, they were obviously disappointed that they would not be at their event to relive that memory from decades ago.

Remember, while Lottery funding supports so many of our athletes today, Dick McTaggart was a rat catcher while chasing his dream, Ken Matthews worked at a power plant and Anita Lonsbrough worked for her local council. In fact, most of them gave up immediately after winning gold because they couldn't afford to continue.

I can tell you one thing: seeing their event at London 2012 (outside of friends and family) would have been second only to the actual day they won it for Great Britain.

I鈥檓 in no way criticising the powers that be because I believe when they read this their love of the Olympics and what it stands for may very well see them remedy this situation. After all, they only need to contact me - I have all the numbers and email addresses.

I also realise this is an emotional argument, and one very high profile Olympian asked me. ''Where do you draw the line? Do you invite all silver medallists?鈥. In short, no, you don't. Very few Olympic silver medallists would actually enjoy returning to the scene where they nearly won gold.

Looking through my list, I reckon the majority of the 114 are either still competing or working as coaches, organisers, broadcasters or as administrators within the Olympic family, so therefore, we are probably talking about less than fifty tickets. Less than fifty tickets to honour, in full, the most exclusive of clubs. After all, if we are simply going to forget about them, why do we spend so much time and money trying to add to the list.

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Moving on, if you want to know whether or not I have managed to meet all 114 living British Summer Olympic Gold Medallists then you鈥檒l have to listen to the final programme, as simply stating the outcome here is a little like watching the last 30 seconds of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Also, I鈥檝e avoided writing a final blog about 'what it means to be an Olympian', because it can鈥檛 be summed up in a crafty paragraph or a checklist of dos and don'ts. There is a very good reason why Gold Run ended up being ten hours in total duration and, to be honest, it could have been at least double that without much extra effort at all.

Instead, let me thank those Olympians, however many, who allowed myself and my small team to come visit them. Let me thank them for giving up their time, and let me also applaud them for their honesty along the way. And thank you for listening to the outcome of a journey that will live with me forever.

You can listen to the entire series of Colin Murray's Gold Run, including Sunday's final episode, here. You can also听listen to听extended interviews听at the听Colin Murray's Gold Run Extra download page听until Monday, 23 July.

For updates and photos followon Twitter.

In a special programme on Saturday, 21 July at 19.30 Colin interviews Olympic gold medallist and London 2012 chairman Lord Coe. You can listen to the programme here

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Heard the last 'Gold Run' (immediately thought of the fantastic Viz profanisaurus entry, btw) and thoroughly enjoyed it. So have spent today headphones on in the office catching up with the other episodes. A better use of the license fee I've not heard for years. Thank you for radio gold.

  • Comment number 2.

    Commendable sentiments regarding our Olympiads.

    However, you might ask what happened to the 600 "premium" Olympic tickets the 主播大秀 queue-jumped to purchase with our money. The 主播大秀 said they were for internal/competition purposes!! I've a good idea what that means.

    Alternatively you could ask why the 主播大秀 need nearly 800 people at the games when they are not the host broadcaster. No room there amongst the milling staff and hangers-on for a few more? Thought not.

  • Comment number 3.

    If you got rid of all the hangers on, excess journalists and luvvies, you might have had a few tickets to spread around, but like the tennis, where the Head of Sport was seen in the Royal Box with her 14 year old daughter, no doubt there will be similar outings. As the 主播大秀 is the only broadcaster no doubt they have nabbed all the best tickets for every event, and I would love one of the tabloids to have a look every day to see who is sitting in the luvvie seats. And then print the pictures.

  • Comment number 4.

    I don't usually post comments but that series has really moved me. I've tried to engineer opportunities to listen each Sunday (those with a young family will appreciate!), and have only today (thanks to iplayer) managed to hear the final
    episode. Well done Colin and your team, this should be kept in the archives as indeed, Radio Gold. As a boy brought up Sussex near Brighton, I did think it ironic as I listened that the only Olympic Gold medallist I've ever met is the one who refused to understand the project you embarked on. I was also an Ovett fan, so shed a tear that he was the only one who spoilt you achieving perfection!

    Fantastic radio - as you got to a depth of interviewing which many others on tv and newsprint could only dream of achieving. Like you, I can't wait for another 10 days for the games to begin (and to the Olympic moaners.....just switch off and go away!!).

  • Comment number 5.

    I listened to the first episode a little doubtfully as, tbh, I'm not a huge Murray fan ... however I was hooked and have finally managed to listen to the last episode and am so sad (but unsurprised) that one person had to refuse. But I have to admit I had a tear in my eye when Colin went through what he would have asked him.
    Thank you Colin. I learnt so much about people I had never heard of and new things about well-known people.

  • Comment number 6.

    It was a great series, well done to Colin and the team.

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