Let the lesser-spotted games begin

Every four years, our excuses for walking past the Olympic chuggers are more elaborate.

We become desperately agitated over the drugs. We grow curiously squeamish about excessive corporate branding. Worry about plumbing in athletes’ accommodation triggers dormant health and safety instincts. We are never more concerned with the dubious administrative decisions of a far-off state and fret about their potential budget deficit. And it suddenly occurs to us that poverty and misery is carrying on as normal while some people sport and play.

In the end, we conclude that all this controvassy has put us right off — we might give it a miss altogether this time round. We just can’t admit it’s because there is a match on.