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Hot on the news of gold medals for Team GB in the men's swimming and women's Taekwondo events came a completely unexpected announcement from the Olympic committee - namely that a new sport has been added to this year's schedule. The OC did announce last week that there would be a surprise in store and they certainly lived up to their promise. Apparently this new sport has had teams training in secret, all over the world (but particularly in the Himalayas), preparing to do battle for the very first Olympic medals in BALSAM PULLING!!!
Yes - you heard it here first. The OC are hopeful that, by encouraging more people to take up this sport, they will rid the world of this invasive weed. One spokesman said:
"It's a win win situation - people are going to keep fit AND help the environment at the same time."
Team GB's entry for this event is a particularly experienced group of athletes who know one end of a balsam plant from another. The Nidderdale AONB Conservation Volunteers ("The NCVs" to their followers) have been in training since the balsam pulling season began this year and are in peak condition, ready to take on the World over the coming days. They will fly out to Tokyo tonight, but first spent the day on some final training to ensure that their techniques were honed to the nth degree.
Here we see them hard at work at Greygarth, Dallowgill - a gold medal is well within their grasp if they perform like this on the day.
Firstly, team members limbered up before their training.
a pond surrounded by a sea of the pink stuff.
The team quickly surveyed the situation.
Lots of low growing plants not yet flowering.
The coach issued the expected instruction -
"Focus on the flowering shoots. You can gain
additional points by getting rid of the pink"
So that was the medal winning strategy the NCVs used.
Here Andy demonstrates how to best deal with a tall plant.
New team member, Rob was finding it difficult to maintain focus.
"No Rob," yelled the coach. "Keep your eyes facing forward
at all times. Do NOT get side-tracked."
Fellow team member, Alistair, was called over
to demonstrate this all important skill.
Or were they just trying to hide to avoid being
picked on by the coach?
lower swamp area to get some practice in balsam pulling
in boggy conditions, just in case the Tokyo site is a wet one.
They managed reasonably well for the most part although Alistair
and Dave kept sinking down and Brenda slid into a very
muddy trench.
She emerged with one very wet trouser leg
and a boot full of brown water and a wriggly worm!
The coach gave her a stern warning - "That would have
earned us penalty points young lady. Watch your footing in future.
She was sent off to work in a drier area.
Looking at the grin on her face one wonders if maybe she
fell in on purpose to avoid having to work in the swamp.
No. Surely not.
Those without wellies were sent off to train on the drier terrain,
which required a different skill set.
Here, Paul and Ros K. demonstrate the face to face method
where any plants in between 2 pullers don't stand a chance.
This approach can be extended to include a third team member.
Here Andrew and Tony (far distance) teach another new NCV,
Tasha, the 'triangulation' method. Apparently she was a natural .
Ros E. demonstrates the 'under the low growing tree' technique,
always a tricky manoeuvre but one that can earn additional points
if done well and can mean the difference between silver and gold.
Coach Liz gave Anita some one-to-one tuition on how
to clear a pond ridge without falling in.
The NCV who stacked this pile of balsam would
earn bonus points in an actual competition.
Liz even practised her first aid skills.
Who knows when you may need to clean and bandage
a superficial scratch?
Mind you - everyone was warned against this sort of injury as,
apparently, the OC do not look favourably on sloppy pullers
who don't avoid brambles.
By the end of the training day the NCVs felt as if they were fully prepared.
Tokyo - here we come!!
There will be no NCV blog entry next week as the team will still be in Tokyo. Watch the BBC sports channel for news of their progress. (Other channels are available.)
NCVs - we wish you good luck.
Go and pull balsam for Britain!
And finally - a non-sport related story.....
Can you see what Ros E. has currently got laid out in her garage? Clue - Tony has a similar arrangement on his dining room table and Liz has another in her garage.
Answer: Yellow Rattle seed heads - drying out in the sun.
These were collected from Tony's Mayfield Farm flower meadow last Friday and are destined to be used to seed the verge at Glasshouses, once the NCVs have scythed it. The plan is for the yellow rattle to supress the grasses to allow more wildflowers to take hold.
It is amazing to think that Tony's meadow has become a yellow rattle donor meadow in just three years after receiving a similar donation. The number of wildflower species is rapidly increasing year on year. Impressive!
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