by Herman Manson (@marklives) In a stunning victory South African swimmer Chad le Clos took gold in the 200m butterfly at London 2012. Le Clos’s father, Bert, was being interviewed by the BBC shortly after Le Clos received his medal. His father, emotional and excited at once, gave an interview pundits in the States have referred to as the “media moment of the games so far.”
South Africans accessing the BBC website wanting to watch the interview with the farther of their newly minted national hero will receive nothing but the le clos father bbc interviewfollowing message “Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory.”
For the International Olympics Committee the free Internet is not a place to cross borders or a showcase of international co-operation. It is a stumbling block in coining it (more than usual).