Mini Olympics was no small feat

Aug 15 2008 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PERTH sportsmen and women have returned victorious from the second Mini-Olympics in the city’s twin town of Aschaffenburg.

The Fair City came out on top in a three-cornered contest involving opposition from Germany and Cognac four years ago.

And they retained the Mike O’Malley Mini-Olympics Twinning Quaich after some exciting contests in five sports – football, gymnastics, golf, swimming and table tennis.

A 58-strong party left Perth for Bavaria on August 4. It was led by Councillor Bob Ellis, chairman of Perth and Kinross Sports Council, and vice-chairman Jim Hitchen.

They both paid tribute to the hard work of the trip organisers – a small committee led by Elaine Oliver.

“I would like to say a big thank you to them – and also to those who donated gifts for our hosts.

“Thanks also go to the three local Rotary Clubs – Perth, Perth St Johns and Perth Kinnoull – for their very generous donations which virtually paid for the polo tops and tracksuit bottoms which looked very smart on all of our competitors.”

After their arrival, the competitors attended a civic reception where they were welcomed by Bürgermeister Herr Werner Elsasser.

The next day the contest started, with the football and table tennis teams taking part in the first leg of their competitions.

The footballers won 4-1 but the table tennis team lost, despite putting up a great fight.

The next day the golfers had an early start for the first of their two matches over a difficult course. They lost to their hosts who had the advantage of local knowledge on a hilly and twisting course.

The gymnastics and swimming competitions were staged later that evening.

The gymnasts involved a straight, one-off contest, which Perth won.

That was followed up by another victory by the swimmers in the first of their two events.

The last day of competition involved the final golf match, in which Perth put up a great fight and won two individual rounds and just lost another by one point. But the Aschaffenburg team came out on top overall.

Then it was down to the three remaining disciplines – football, table tennis and swimming.

The Fair City representatives took the football after a convincing 4-O result but Aschaffenburg hit back with a win in the table tennis.

Everything then hinged on the swimming event. And after a couple of delays because of thunder and lightening, they emerged victorious – and Perth were heading home with the Mini-Olympics Trophy for the second time.

Accepting the silverware from Bürgermeister Elsasser, Councillor Ellis paid tribute to the competitors from both sides for several excellent competitions, played in a very sportsmanlike manner.

And he said he looked forward to hosting the 2010 event in Perth.

“The twinning events are very valuable indeed and must be kept up,” stressed Councillor Ellis.

“Just learning about the culture of the different towns alone is an experience and the new friendships that are forged makes these ties even stronger.”