When the gods of the sports field live for ever

Questions of style and usage in last week’s Independent

One of our reports said ‘With immortality within reaching distance ...’ (Getty)

We nearly used the word “immortality” in our front-page headline on Friday, previewing the Rugby World Cup final. The word is a cliche of sports reporting. In one of our reports of the Wales vs South Africa semi-final, we concluded: “Naturally, this wasn’t the way he would have wanted to end it: beaten by three points with immortality in their grasp.”

And in one of our previews of the final, we said: “With immortality within reaching distance, the danger lies in looking beyond the 80 minutes and envisioning life as a World Cup winner.”

What it means is “a sporting achievement that people will remember for a while”. But it is one of those overused metaphors that, if anything, diminishes the achievement it describes. And where do metaphors for superlative sporting performance go after that? Omnipotence, omniscience and the transcending of the very idea of winning and losing?