Australia, “Where the Bloody Hell are you?”

20th August 2008

"Britain Tops Australia in gold medals." Not a headline from the Times or the Sun - rather one of the lead articles in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald. The last time Britain out-medalled Australia, Bob Hawke and Margaret Thatcher occupied The Lodge and Number Ten, and Rebecca Adlington and Stephanie Rice had not even entered the world, let alone leapt into an Olympics-sized swimming pool.

Relations between the Australian and British Olympic teams have deteriorated further after top Aussie official John Coates questioned the personal hygiene of British swimmers during an outspoken Beijing press conference. Coates' comments came after Brits Rebecca Adlington and Joanne Jackson won gold and bronze medals respectively in the 400m freestyle at the Water Cube.

Coates said the English swimming team's efforts were "not bad for a country that has no swimming pools and very little soap".

It is not just the pool; the Velodrome has become Great Britain's sporting domain, where the cyclists have proved themselves to be the world's strongest and most focused team. Australian sports minister Kate Ellis had suggested British athletes might "choke" under the pressure of competing at the highest level - now they are grumbling and talking about removing the Queen's head from their stamps and peddling out the tired one-eyed shtick about becoming a republic. France holds the most prestigious cycling race in the world, but they are nowhere on the table or in the drome, not that this is disturbing any true blue British sports fan either.

By why the fear?! Because the British success has had a very Australian edge about it. Long-term planning, gutsy determination, supreme self-assurance and ruthless execution. The years of 4th placed plucky losers are vanquished, we deal in golds, look at the table, do the maths.

This epiphany for British Sports is fortunately not germinated in xenophobia, far from it. It is to do with a mindset nurtured by the 2003 rugby success (against Australia by the way) and the small matter of some lottery windfalls. Exodus Travels does not benefit from the lottery, however running group tours to 90 countries also has nothing to do with rampant nationalism, it would be a non-starter. Not only do some of these expeditions and adventures go to places difficult to pronounce let alone fly to, they also consist of a pot pourri of nationalities, a league of nations that are essential for any group dynamic. Imagine if a midlander embarked on a demanding trek to Nepal and his or her other fellow trekkers were all from Wolverhampton. Exactly. For many, some of the rewards are felt after the trip as friendships forged from people across the globe are made for life not just for two weeks. When you trek together, put up tents, cycle over mountain passes or come face to face with a male lion with fellow adventurers the bond is a lasting one. A look at the discussions that have taken place within the Compass Café Community are evidence of this.

The record for nationalities on any one trip was a few years back where a camping safari in Africa had 18 participants with 13 nationalities! To date they have held four separate reunions in four different continents, the majority nation was Australia, there was not a bar of soap in sight.