TRIVIAL PURSUITS

It's a once in a lifetime experience to be hosting the Olympic games - unless of course you're as old as I am in which case it's twice in a lifetime. 

However, since I was less than two years old last time, you were spared from me writing about it. This time round you're not so lucky.

I play Badminton myself but the game they are playing on the Olympic stage is very different from mine. I couldn't even keep pace with their warm-up. I have picked up a useful tip though. I realise now that I need to leap four foot into the air whenever I smash the shuttlecock. I'm going to try that next time as long as the St. John's ambulance guys are nearby.

Badminton trivia:

* The name comes from the place in my home county of Gloucestershire which is believed to be where the game was first played.

* The shuttlecock itself is made from fourteen to sixteen goose or duck feathers but get this - these feathers have to be from the bird's left wing only. This is presumably to give the bird a 50-50 chance of flying off. There is a popular superstition that using only left wing feathers gives left handed players an advantage.

* The fastest smash ever recorded was 206 m.p.h. One of my smashes once hit an opponent in the eye, thankfully without injury. This was probably because my smashes are travelling at about seven miles per hour if the wind is behind me.

* Finally, Badminton is one of the few sports where the game has to be stopped regularly to wipe sweat off the court. Now I understand why I slip so much.