WE are all celebrating Bahrain’s successes in IAAF World Championships, but the booing that followed Justin Gatlin’s narrow victory in the men’s 100m final on Saturday night was an ugly sound, and it was meant to be.
The noise, which is thought by some linguists to carry a particular menace because of the volume at which an “ooh” vowel can be shouted, is a sign that something has gone seriously amiss in the compact between an audience and the performers they have paid to see .