David Parkin on Olympic heroes, a BBC obsession and words of wisdom

WHAT was your highlight of the Rio Olympics?

I’m not asking because I’m interested, it’s just I think I’ve absorbed the BBC mentality of: if it’s not the Olympics then it’s not worth talking about.

Even Carol the weather woman on BBC Breakfast was asked for her personal favourite highlight on Monday morning.

God help us if some real news had broken during the Olympics. I doubt the BBC had anyone to cover it anyway. They were all in Rio wrapped in Union Jacks asking each other about their highlights from the Games.

And just when you thought it was safe to go back to your TV screen, the BBC spent Monday morning mapping the British Airways flight bringing back the GB Olympic team.

Then of course there were interviews with waiting families and finally the athletes themselves.

I turned on the TV on Tuesday, confident I could watch something else. No, the BBC had turned over a morning news programme into a panel discussion with budding Olympians of the future.

You’ve got about a week’s grace and then the corporation will be smothering us with Strictly Come Dancing’s return.

It’s enough to make you want to turn off the TV and go out and start training for Tokyo 2020.

Where’s my lycra shorts?

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NICOLA Adams claimed one of Team GB’s last gold medals in Rio and the Leeds boxer put the icing on the cake for a tremendous performance by athletes from Yorkshire.

Much was made of Adams’ becoming the first British boxer to win back-to-back golds at the Olympics for 92 years.

But none of the media reports bothered to say who the last one was.

Allow me.

It was Harry Mallin.

I’m sure you’ve never heard of him. But he has an extraordinary story and his sportsmanship and devotion to the amateur status perhaps make him one of the greatest Olympians ever.

Mallin, a London policeman, won five British amateur titles and was undefeated in more than 300 bouts.

He won the middleweight boxing gold medal at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp and successfully defended it in Paris in 1924 – the ‘Chariots of Fire’ Olympics.

After dominating his weight class at the Antwerp games, Mallin returned to the continent four years later to defend his title in Paris.

That was where he was involved in one of the most controversial fights in Olympic history when he faced Frenchman Roger Brousse in the quarterfinals.

At the end of the bout, Mallin showed the Belgian referee a number of bite marks on his chest. The referee ignored him and read out the verdict, which awarded the fight to Brousse in a 2–1 decision.

Although most observers felt that Mallin had dominated the fight, he declined to lodge a protest.

However, a Swedish member of an international boxing association protested, and an inquiry revealed that Brousse had inflicted severe bites on Mallin’s chest.

Brousse was disqualified and Mallin advanced to the next round, leading to a near riot by the hometown supporters of Brousse.

In the finals the next day, Mallin defeated fellow Briton John Elliott to successfully defend his title but the match was held in an atmosphere of turmoil, as French fight fans loudly protested the disqualification of their hero.

As a result of the Mallin-Brousse controversy, some observers even called for an end to the Olympics, citing the nationalist tension resulting from the competition.

So Mike Tyson wasn’t the first boxer to use his teeth as well as his fists against an opponent.

Harry Mallin’s brother Fred was an equally talented boxer and he represented Great British at the 1928 Olympics, losing the bronze medal bout.

Two years later he won the gold medal at the British Empire Games in Hamilton, Canada and, like his brother, won five English Amateur Boxing Association middleweight titles in a row.

The reason why I know all this is that my grandfather, Horace Smith, a Derby Borough police boxer, fought Fred Mallin in the ABA middleweight final at the Royal Albert Hall in 1932.

Mallin won his fifth and final ABA title that night and I remember my grandfather telling me about the experience.

Forget lottery funded support and full-time training.

My grandad headed to London after completing his shifts for the police and when he weighed in he was over the middleweight limit and so had to head down to the furnace rooms below the Albert Hall to skip off the excess weight.

He then took part in three bouts in one evening, reaching the final to get beaten by the great Fred Mallin.

He continued to box and won the European Police Middleweight title in 1937 and took part in several exhibition matches against world champions including Len Harvey and Jock McAvoy on Derby County’s Baseball Ground in aid of the war effort during the Second World War.

So memo to the BBC: this country has a rich history of sporting heroes, some with even better stories than our modern athletes.

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I WAS otherwise engaged in a drinking spot in York after the races, when Sky Sports broadcast their new Friday Night Football show last week.

The Whippet Inn was lively enough (I’m delighted someone has taken inspiration from the brilliantly named pub in Carry On At Your Convenience) but unfortunately I missed Manchester United great Ryan Giggs offering this insight to viewers: “To win the Premier League, it’s a war of nutrition.”

Food for thought.

Have a great weekend.