What has come over Beatrice?

Well that's that then, the matter is settled. The aliens who once resided within the brain of Michael Campbell, later relocating to the more fertile pastures of John Bracewell's mind, are now firmly ensconced between the ears of Beatrice Faumuina. We were always uncertain about where they'd settle next but the past week has provided some clarity.

Queen Bea, it seems, is now a "Prize B ... .". If gold medals were to be awarded for petulance she would be returning home an Olympic champion. The outburst at reporters following her discus flop was unhinged enough, but last week's request to leave the athletes' village early only confirmed the extent of her excommunication. And maybe the shallowness of her commitment.

Presumably, the aliens will be delighted with their new lodgings. They probably saw promising signs as early as 2006, when, apparently mortified at being criticised and written off in the press, Famauina slapped a media ban on herself, breaking it occasionally only to tell the media she was not talking to the media. Anyone with an antenna could pick up the tell-tale signals. It's a wonder she's not become the mother ship for an invasion force.

No wonder Beatrice bombed in Beijing. If one of the first things she could think of after her dismal effort in the qualifying round was: "you can't take this moment away from me, no matter how much you write it off," she was clearly living in cloud cuckoo land from the start. For goodness sake, who would've wanted to take the moment away from her? It was rubbish anyway. The surprise is she didn't want to throw it away herself.

Another delusion was that the media were trying to push her towards retirement. "Sorry to disappoint you all", was Faumuina's response to questions about her future. It just shows how little she knows about the fourth estate. To put it bluntly, as a former champion she was more-often-than-not pleasantly boring. As a washed-up, bad-tempered super-bitch she's proving far more newsworthy. The media have never been so fascinated.

There are the contradictions to consider, for a start. How could someone be so thin-skinned about public criticism, but have such a thick hide when it came to the business of walking out on their Olympic team-mates? How could she be so precious on one hand but, on the other, have no compunction about asking New Zealand officials to pay the extra travelling expenses caused by her intended defection? There are more faces here than Big Ben.

I mean, it's not as if she couldn't have been aware of the impression she was creating. Chef de mission Dave Currie has already described her request to leave Beijing prematurely as disappointing. "People support you and you go out and support your mates," he said. In other words, Faumuina was turning her back on the New Zealand team. There could hardly be a more damning assessment.

The concern now is that, robbed of her dream of finishing her career in dizzying triumph, the 33-year-old will choose to continue for all the wrong reasons. Resentment, stubbornness, obduracy. Wanting to prove folk wrong. Denial, anger. The longer she remains bitter about her lot, the harder it will be to step down with any degree of decorum. At the moment she comes across as a leaden-footed, supercilious prima donna. It's not a good look.

Faumuina has wasted no time insisting she will continue; that she's looking forward to next year, and good luck to her. She is entitled to carry on for as long as she wants, particularly in a world that conspires to shorten the careers of most elite sportswomen. But if she does, she'd be wise to consider the small matter of public goodwill, or at least the rapid rate at which her reserve is dwindling.

Truth is, most people couldn't care less about her jousting with reporters; in fact many would probably line up to offer their congratulations. Indifference to the philosophy of team support, however; the idea of turning one's back on one's teammates, is something else altogether. It's about more than being a poor loser. It's about being an embarrassing loser.

Especially so when you consider Faumuina was not only the flagbearer for the previous Games in Athens but also the face of the New Zealand Olympic team, used to promote the concepts of friendship, unity and team spirit. She was, and is, supposed to stand for solidarity; for a shared vision, for family. But, as with so many aspects of the past fortnight in Beijing, it turns out that she was just another fake. A Prize B masquerading as Queen Bea.

- © Fairfax NZ News