Now here is the amazing thing: though he had the list of runners, and presumably had had enough time to become familiar with the favourites and their names, not once over the 1,600 metres of the race did the commentator identify a single face, or even a team. He even said several times, “The team in blue is in the lead”—which we could see for ourselves, of course—and in the end, only three seconds after the race was over, with a really dramatic finish by the Kerala anchor, did he manage to identify the team. Not once was the quality of the race commented on. Actually, it’s rather a matter of wonder that he identified the winner correctly. After all, the odds were seven to one against him.Those who watched the event, or read of it, will remember that the lights in the stadium failed later that evening, and medals were given out by torchlight and the lights of mobile phones. There were no foreign athletes there, after all.