NCVs' barn: 13-08-2024

Those of you who have been following this blog for some time will recall that, during the previous Olympic games in Tokyo, GB entered a team in the newly designated sport of Himalayan Balsam Pulling. It was, of course, the NCVs who made up that team. When they are on hand why would the British committee chose anyone else? We saw them in training at the time and heard that they achieved a gold medal in the actual event.

This year the NCVs sent a team to Paris to represent GB in yet another new sport - the Barn Sorting and Tool Auditing (BSTA) event. Now that the final ceremony is over, we can finally access the Paris Match photo archives (English Translation) to see the results of the 2024 BSTA event. Read below for coverage....

 

Gold again! 

Well Done GB NCVs!

 

This is what faced the NCVs as they 

entered their area of the stadium. 

It was not going to be a walk in the park.

 

The NCVs wasted no time when the starting 

gun fired.The area had to be emptied.

Brenda ran out with

a loaded wheelbarrow... 

 

...closely followed by Tony with another. 

 

Their rivals were left standing

as Paul raced past with 

the heavy brush cutter.

 

The parade of wheeled transportation 

was seemingly endless. 

Although it was not all plain sailing.

Olympic officials had thrown in some

hard to handle hay rakes which almost 

got Ken disqualified.

 

To avoid him coming to 

grief, he was given the task of 

taking numbered photos of the various 

tools, matching these to an inventory list.

This endless job he handled like a pro.

The judges were impressed.

 

 

There was no stopping Mick, who 

moved seemlessly from one dirty job...

...to another and is now 

considering turning professional.

 

Eventually the barn was virtually empty ...

 

...and the car park was completely full.

 

The team was able to relax

 at the end of the first round.

They took the opportunity to celebrate

assistant 'Boss' Ros's 70th birthday

with balloons...

 

...presents...

...and a cake.

 

Then Amy put her creative skills to good

 use and marked dozens of handles 

with an eye catching red paint.

 

Handyman Paul was deployed on any 

tasks that required ingenuity and tool use.

 

Honorary NCV Harry 

got busy on the outside,

clearing the debris.

 

Meanwhile it was now time to start putting 

everything back into the barn

TIDILY!! 

 

The Olympic committee had ensured 

high class facilities were on site

at the rear of the workshop. 

 

 

An empty cane denoted they were vacant.

A 'gilet jaune' denoted they were engaged.

 

The Olympic officials had done their best

 to make life difficult for the contestants...

 

 

...but the NCVs managed to work their magic...

 

...without breaking a sweat.

 This is truly an outstanding group of 

sportsmen and women. No wonder 

they managed to claim the gold medal.