Interviews with Olympic competitors conducted immediately after they’ve finished their race, swim, row or any other event will now include general knowledge, science and geography questions, the BBC announced today, in an attempt to make the excruciating encounters less predictable.
The news comes after concerns were raised that interviewees were increasingly able to anticipate the questions they were going to be asked by trackside reporters, and were able to rely on a stock bank of answers about how they were feeling, what the Olympics meant to them, or whether they could have done anything differently.
‘Some of the answers given by breathless and emotional GB athletes less then a minute after they’ve either just fulfilled their lifetime dream or had their expectations cruelly crushed in front of millions are remarkably similar’, said a BBC spokesperson. ‘Gave it everything I had, hasn’t sunk in yet, I just blew it, thanks for all the support back home. It’s as if they’re all copying each other. The format needs a total overhaul’.
‘Duncan Scott may have just become the most decorated GB Olympian at a single games, but can he tell us what’s the second highest mountain in the Andes, whilst still dripping wet, exhausted and unable to string a sentence together?’ said the spokesperson. ‘360 degree backflips on a BMX are all well and good but does Charlotte Worthington know what the longest running musical theatre show is in the West End? The nation needs to know.’
Richard Osman has been brought in as a consultant to turn things into a workable quiz format. Rumours that former Going for Gold host Henry Kelly will soon be taking over from Matthew Pinsent, Sharon Davies and others in shoving a microphone in front of peoples faces are said to be unfounded.