Tom Wiggins, Letter Carver & Writer

Usain Bolt winning the semi finals at the London Olympic Games with ease We've got under an hour to go until the Olympic 100 Metre Final.  Ever since Bolt dismantled the competition in Beijing, I've been intrigued to find out whether he can do it in the same fashion again in London. On paper at least, Bolt was none-too impressive in the 100 metre heats, winning the race in 10.08 seconds, but he did what he had to do to get into the next round.  The semi-finals revealed a Bolt of old: a Bolt capable of dismantling the competition and having enough time to look around to see their reaction.  In the BBC analysis afterwards, Michael Johnson said that he could have run two tenths of a second faster if he hadn't slowed down.  His winning time in the semis was 9.87 seconds, meaning he could have run the race in 9.67 seconds.  Not even Yohan "The Beast" Blake would be able to compete with that.  They finished the analysis off by saying "Blake was fantastic, bu...

For some, the Olympic Torch Relay doesn't mean a thing. For others, it’s a flag-waving warm up of patriotism for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee - enjoyable enough, but little more than an excuse to buy the Union Jack bunting a few weeks early. I fit into a third category, as I hope the majority of this nation resides: I am fiercely proud of all things London 2012. The Torch Relay is a truly remarkable Olympic tradition that can be embraced by all corners of the United Kingdom. Regretfully, I lacked the foresight to book the morning off work when the flame passed through Gloucester last Thursday. It’s undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, and though I missed it, I’m glad that thousands of my county’s compatriots did not. A polite reminder to cyclists like myself to move 'em or lose 'em.  Pre-empting the bitter taste of hindsight, I rode into Gloucester the day before to get a sense of the mounting anticipation.  Aside from the signs in the pictures (left, b...

‘Is that it?’  I asked my dad.  ‘Is it over?’ ‘Yes, it’s over.’ I couldn’t decide who was more disappointed: my forty year-old father or my ten year-old self. It was 27 th July 1996.  A Saturday.  Linford Christie had just been disqualified from the 100 metre final at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.  At 32, Christie became the oldest man to win Olympic 100 metre gold in Barcelona four years earlier.  Just to reach a consecutive Olympic final at the grand old age of 36 was extraordinary.  Linford Christie's disqualification in Atlanta proved that physical strength is only half the battle. Nowadays, of course, Christie wouldn’t have been given a second chance.  As of 2010, the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) implemented a zero tolerance approach to the false start.  It was a rule that attracted heavy criticism from the athletic community, and one that came under much wider scrutiny when Usain B...