Winning friends

Eight years ago at the football World Cup in Germany, to the tune of Guantanamera (popularised by The Sandpipers in an arrangement by Pete Seeger), USA fans were heard to chant 'One superpower, there's only superpower, one superpow-er, there's only one superpower'.  In a comical section on the World Cup, The Guardian let it stand on its own, under the headline 'Winning Friends'.  With the Great Recession forcing a huge evaluation, American fans have become more circumspect at subsequent World Cups.

Usain Bolt, the superstar sprinter, did not say anything so crassly nationalistic, rather he upset Nationalists.  Allegedly claiming that he was "not really" having fun, calling the Glasgow Commonwealth Games "a bit shit" and that the London 2012 Olympics were better, Bolt later backtracked saying the journalist (who identified herself as such to Bolt) was making up lies to create headlines.  Instead of letting the Games' organisers merely get on with damage limitation, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon piped up, saying the atmosphere was like nothing she had ever experienced; she certainly wasn't lying, as people were happy and all she had previously experienced was a poisonous and shrill nationalistic atmosphere.
I’m inclined to believe the journalist, as Bolt’s non-appearance in an individual capacity (starring only in the 4x4 relay) suggests that he wasn’t impressed with the Commonwealth Games anyway and that it was held in the same country as the Olympics gave him an easy focal point of comparison. He would have said it off the cuff – its interest lying in being more powerful than a thousand pre-agreed blandly positive soundbites, but he certainly should have been more careful not to put his hosts’ back up.