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Anyone suffering from a case of post-Olympics blues, that well-known national affliction which follows two glorious weeks of tears and triumph? Louise Small offers some ideas for a cure
1 Get ready to cheer on the heroes of the Paralympics which begin on August 29.
It’s not too late to grab a ticket for some of the many sports on offer with 2.1m tickets out of a released 2.5m sold. It will be televised on Channel 4 so you can still watch archery to your heart’s content.
2 Watching Olympic footage on repeat is one way of filling the void in your life. The BBC iPlayer has endless clips of all your favourite moments. Listen to the voices of the highly excited commentators as Mo Farrah or Usain Bolt cross the finish line.
3 Dress yourself from head-to-toe in Lycra and head to the gym. All that time watching the Olympics from the sofa will have given you boundless energy.
4 Follow your sporting heroes on Twitter. Belfast boxers Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlon provide plenty of witty banter and you can catch up with how Tom Daley’s training is going for Rio.
5 Book a holiday. London 2012 will provide common ground for conversation with other tourists. You can compare how your country did with theirs. You can also pretend to be Michael Phelps in the pool.
6 Start saving for Rio. There’s only four years to go until the Olympics moves to its new home in Brazil in 2016. That gives you plenty of time to save enough cash to follow your favourite sports to the other side of the world.
7 Missing the football? Panic no more as the Premier League kicks off on Saturday with what should be a mouth-watering return to action.
8 And if you can’t wait that long, there’s some international football action at Windsor Park on Wednesday night. Northern Ireland will play Finland in a friendly with kick-off at 7.45pm.
9 Organise a charity fundraising Olympic or Paralympic event.
You could get into the spirit of the games by dressing up as your favourite sporting personality for the event. Phillips Idowu-style socks or a Cathy Freeman running suit, anyone? Raising money for local sports clubs or charities will be greatly appreciated and will help others.
10 Join a sports club. Has the Olympics whetted your appetite for judo, fencing, gymnastics or volleyball? If so, give a sport a go – it could be you on the podium next time round.
