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Touchline • Issue 18 • 33
T
he 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi delivered one of the
world’s great sporting spectacles. With 98 events across 15
disciplines, it boasted a feast of entertainment and endeavor.
Sport takes central importance across the world, but it has
particular resonance in the UK. It was the UK, after all, that codified a good
proportion of the world sporting events that take place every day - including
the curling event at this year’s Winter Olympics
As we all know, curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet
of ice towards a target area which is segmented into four concentric rings.
It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard, and will no doubt played an
integral role in the nation’s sporting imagination.
But as with the London Olympics of two years ago, which attracted the
scrutiny of the world’s media and a plethora of security analysts, areas such
as Chechnya, Dagestan and Georgia - all nations close to Sochi’s location on
the north coast of the Black Sea were all to become a part of the narrative
Two bombings in Volgograd and reports of suicide bombers dubbed “black
widows” in operation prior to the Olympics, prompted the US government to
say it viewed the Games as an “attractive target for terrorists.”
It is hard for us sports lovers in the UK to get our heads around this kind
of talk. Sport is ingrained in our collective psyche as being a topic of fierce
pub debate, tribal loyalty, or even national handwringing -like when the ball
clearly crosses the line but the linesman somehow misses it, as happened
in the last FIFA World Cup when Frank Lampard had his shot ruled out
against Germany - but security nonetheless played a major role in the Winter
Olympics.
Yet Sochi was merely a part of a greater festival of sport that we are
enjoying this year. The FIFA World Cup is currently taking place in Brazil, the
spiritual home of football and we can also look forward to the upcoming
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and the Tour de France visiting the UK
once again and commencing for the first time in Yorkshire. Of course, these
events are not without risk, and it is here that the Lloyd’s insurance market
comes into its own as a leading provider of specialist sports cover for
participants.
Indeed, when it comes to the blue ribbon events of the year, the top athletes
will certainly be well-advised and have appropriate bespoke protection.
But worryingly, at the amateur level there is still a lack of education of the
benefits of suitable insurance cover.
With diverse participant bases, it can be challenging for sporting bodies to
satisfy the varied insurance requirements of their membership. Having access
to additional products is therefore crucial to ensure peace of mind, whatever
your sport or performance level.
Ultimately, whether you operate as an amateur tight head third eleven prop
in the Rugby union or an elite Olympic downhill skier, advice about personal
welfare and insurance protection will always be needed -and the London
insurance market is particularly well serviced to provide it.