Reporter

Bells and glory at the Handball final

24 August 2012

Anne Helene Harbitz reports on going to see Olympic Handball final with her parents and husband Andy Roland-Price, Head of Group Accounts in the Finance Division.

“When we first told my handball enthusiast parents that we were going to try and get Olympic handball tickets so we could all go to the Women’s semi-final, my parents immediately scoffed, and said, “No, no, we want to go to the final, the final!”

Handball is extremely popular in my native Norway, at all levels, and when it comes to the Summer Olympics it is the only sport we’re practically certain to get a medal in. Winter sports is more our thing and when the Olympics were held in Lillehammer in 1994 we were frequent spectators at events there. Having taken gold in Beijing and being reigning World Champions, our medal hopes were high for London 2012.

Thankfully Norway reached the final and the excitement was high as we descended on the Olympic Park with our Norwegian flags, and cowbells. The latter is a Norwegian custom from the Lillehammer Olympics and a staple of Norwegian supporters ever since. Andy represented the UK with a Union Jack.

Stewards with megaphones were situated along the path to the stadium and were smiling and cracking jokes. It was a buzzing atmosphere and a bit surreal to finally see the big athletics stadium and the Orbit up close. It brought home, that we were finally here, and part of the Games.

Interestingly, despite being virtually an unknown sport in Britain, the t-shirt that was sold out in both souvenir shops was the handball one. Luckily we managed to get one at a small stall outside the basketball arena, a large white futuristic looking cube, where the final was being held.

The place was swarming with our fellow countrymen with flags, cowbells, and patriotic shirts and trousers, even a Norwegian flag suit! It was almost like at Lillehammer. Inside, the arena was packed and wild cheers of “Norge Norge” (Norway) followed by cowbell noises rang through the air, with the occasional chant from the supporters of our opposing team, Montenegro. The Mexican wave flew by several times and at intervals people were dancing in the aisles.

The game was thrilling and rather tense at times. Especially towards the end when Montenegro kept catching up with us and we nearly lost our one point lead. With only two minutes remaining Montenegro leveled the score again, and the Norwegians tried to score rapidly three times in a row, with the Montenegrin keeper saving each one. Luckily we managed to get another one in at the end and with 30 seconds left, Norway were in attack and the stadium rose to its feet. The whistle blew and Norway had won!

By that time we had no voices left but the sound of bells ringing through the air was deafening. At the medal ceremony we managed to find a bit of voice left to belt out the national anthem.

Later on after exiting the arena we were caught up in a crowd of Norwegians celebrating outside and were filmed by NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Service. The crowd was jumping up and down, ringing bells, waving little flags and chanting. My parents probably being the most enthusiastic ones!”

Tags: London 2012
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High fives, gold medals and questionable sustainability

23 August 2012

Lorenz Gruber (Electronic and Electrical Engineering) reminisces about being an Olympic handball volunteer for three weeks.

“Now it is over, what a fantastic event it was! It is sad that it is over but on the other hand I could not have continued my style of living for a lot longer than those three weeks. I am not saying that I worked extremely hard but it was the times of the shifts and the tedious traveling that were extremely exhausting. To be more precise 95 per cent of my work time was sitting in a corner and checking people’s accreditations. I know this sounds really boring if we were not sitting on the field of play and could watch all the handball games from very close:) That’s why I would not have changed my job with anyone’s. I will certainly never see as many handball games in such a short period of time ever again (unless the Olympics Spirit gets me again and I apply for Rio – but who knows what will happen in those four years).

I think I saw roughly 30 games of handball in total. Having talked about my work in the previous blog posts I will now describe my impressions of fans and teams which I got over those three weeks, as you do get to know them a little.

The most astonishing thing was both Team GB handball teams. I have never and doubt I ever will see two teams lose so badly and still receive so much support from the spectators. I am not trying to make fun of British handball. Everybody was expecting them to lose as it is just not very popular in the UK. It is rather the amount of support despite them losing by 10 or 20 goals that truly impressed me. I can’t imagine what the scores would have been like without this massive home support:) Let’s hope the slogan of the Olympics holds true and a new generation of British handballers will be inspired.

Training methods

Another thing that struck me over the three weeks were the very different training methods of the teams. I always enjoyed watching the female Norway team train as they had such a positive spirit. They were constantly motivating themselves by giving each other high fives and smiling at each other in contrast the Russian female team were subjected to a coach who constantly shouted at his players. It is good to know that the former training method got Norway the gold medal in the end.

It was impressive to watch the female South Korean team as despite lacking in the inches and pounds of some of the other teams they were extremely quick and determined and managed to get into the semi-final and only lose in extra time.

I have to mention here that the Hungarian coach was the only one who thoroughly thanked us for what we were doing. As it turned out he had been a coach in the German handball league and so I got to know him a little better (as I am German) and I became a little Hungary supporter! In the end Hungary managed to come fourth which surpassed most people’s expectations.

From Geography lessons I envisaged Hungary as a small country with a relatively small population. This definitely did not hold true in the London 2012 handball arena. There were a huge number of passionate Hungarian handball fanatics Their songs even appeared in my dreams one night which did not happen with any other team. Once though I wished I had taken earplugs as I was sitting in front of three elderly Hungarian ladies and they managed to really upset my ears.

Last but not least there was the male French team who were favourites from the beginning and stayed this throughout the entire tournament, securing their second consecutive gold medal. Watching “Les Bleus” was always worth it as players and fans (not including GBs home advantage) were just the best. Having lived for a year in France this is clearly a biased opinion.

The downfalls of the Games

Not everything was brilliant: I think the Games were a true success for the country and the athletes although there were a couple of things that did upset me throughout my time at the park. I have not talked to a single person that said the food given out during the shifts was enough for them. In fact we only got one food voucher for an eight hour shift. The food was of high quality but the staff kept refusing to add a little extra which was obviously not their fault but the management’s. This is even more sad when you watched the people in the Olympics family lounges that are attached to each stadium having the nicest ‘all you can eat’ buffets after each game. My worst experience was on a morning in the staff canteen when I saw they were closing down. When I asked they told me they would have to throw away the food that was left over (which was a lot). Then I asked whether I could have some as they were throwing it away and the answer was “NO”. Since that moment I am strongly in doubt whether this is what they call ‘Sustainable Games’.

I appreciated the effort they put into handing out healthy food to the volunteers. With our food voucher we were entitled to one drink as well. And yet every time I stood in front of the fridge I became upset again. Thanks to Coca Cola we could choose between water, Coke, Fanta, Sprite and their zero sugar versions. I do not mind drinking a fizzy drink every now and then but most of the time I took the water. In the Olympic Family lounge next door they had healthy 100 per cent orange and apple juice….

On the last day of the Games I wandered round the souvenir shops as it was they only day to get into them without getting squeezed and I found the perfect souvenir to remind me of the Olympics. It was a nice frame with a picture of the Opening Ceremony on the left, a metal board with the Olympic slogan written on it, and a special area into which we could put our volunteer accreditation. When I looked at the price I had to hold on to something not to get blown away! They were charging £130 for this. As this was clearly not targeted for tourists but for volunteers they are even trying to make money from people that worked for free for three weeks instead of giving it to us as an appreciation for our work. We did get something from LOCOG: five Olympic pins and a relay baton. From all the multi-billion dollar sponsors of the Olympics however we got nothing…

And then of course there was the empty seat issue but I am going to skip this one as it has been discussed thoroughly.

These were my bad experiences, concentrated.

In conclusion my three weeks of volunteering were pretty stressful but even more fun. And it hasn’t put me off – which is why I have put my name down to do some more shifts during the Paralympics!

Tags: London 2012, Olympic handball blog
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Men’s 50km walk race at the Mall

22 August 2012

“Wearing red, white and blue, waving our national Chilean flag and blowing my tricolour trumpet, my boyfriend and I headed to the Mall.” Research Assistant in Nutritional Epidemiology, Deborah Navarro Rosenblatt (Public Health), reports on going to see the men’s 50km race walk race on Saturday 11 August.

“I bought tickets for the men’s 50km race walk race at the last minute, after hearing that Edward Araya, a fellow Chilean, was participating. Having already signed up for  women’s football and men’s hockey, this decision was made more out of patriotic duty than enthusiasm. Expectations were low: who wants to pay to see people walking for over three hours?

After a thorough but tactful security check by a soldier, we were met by a wave of flags from across the world. All this against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace – in my opinion the most astonishing London venue. To my surprise, Chilean Araya was accompanied by athletes from other Latin American countries like Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala and El Salvador so I had to spread my appreciation amongst all the  participants (while obviously giving most of it to Chile).

I was impressed by the technique, endurance and effort required of the athletes. To see the concentration, determination and passion in their faces was an incredibly memorable experience. This impressed me even more than the thought of walking a distance equivalent to that between the Mall and Gatwick in 3:36 hours, as the eventual winner, Russia’s Sergei Kirdyapkin, did, setting a new Olympic Record.

By way of context: race walkers must be in contact with the ground at all times, with the leading leg straight from the moment of first contact, on pain of disqualification.  These strict rules, coupled with the staggering heat, proved too much for Edward Araya, who agonisingly exited a few laps before the end. The image of Serbia’s Nenad Filipovic collapsing almost in front of my eyes is seared in my memory, as is the disbelief of the two disqualified Guatemalans.

Benjamin Sanchez was one of those to pull through. Tears of pain and determination streamed down his face as the injured Spanish walker, the crowd roaring him on, stumbled over the finishing line. He was one before last, but he made it.

I left part of my heart – and my voice- with these enormously determined athletes, whose dedication disproved my earlier dismissal of race walking.  For the Latin American walkers, as for me, merely experiencing London 2012, having come from so far, was unforgettable.”

Tags: London 2012
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The Closing Ceremony – surreal but spectactular

14 August 2012

Pamela Agar, Head of Digital and Creative Media (Communications and Development), shares her experiences of reluctantly going to the Olympic Closing Ceremony on 12 August at the Olympic Stadium:

“I’m a little ashamed to admit, particularly given I know how lucky I was to have a ticket at all, that I considered not going to the Closing Ceremony. After multiple trips to the Olympic Park over the past fortnight to see swimming, diving, water polo, cycling, hockey and athletics (as I said, I’m lucky), I wasn’t sure I could face dragging my heavily pregnant frame back over to Stratford to see a somewhat random musical line-up leaked in the press in the days before.

Not a fan of One Direction, George Michael or Madness, I considered selling my ticket – but I had a feeling I’d really regret not being part of the closing spectacular in my home city. So at 19.30 on Sunday night, I found myself in the penultimate row of the packed Olympic Stadium taking part in the pre-show warm up. For 90 minutes, we practiced countdowns, dance moves and singing responses for the actual ceremony, as well as enjoying fabulous music, multiple Mexican waves and a sneak peek of the crew setting up.

Showtime arrived quickly, and it was quite a thrill as the clock counted down knowing that where we were sitting was the focus of hundreds of millions of viewers around the world. It was an impressive scene – with the London skyline filling the arena. I’m glad we were so high up in the stadium as the aerial view was spectacular as the show got underway – I loved the opening scenes of commuter London and the colourful street party.

As the show progressed into the lengthy musical segment, each scene felt a bit disjointed and lacking a general theme that the Opening Ceremony had enjoyed. Nevertheless, there’s something incredibly special about being involved in an event with 80,000 participants – so I found myself singing along to pop music that wouldn’t normally be my cup of tea!

And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry as the flame gradually went out – having looked forward to the Games since the bid was first announced, I still can’t quite believe it’s all over. It’s been an incredible fortnight, and even a horrendous journey home on Sunday night that saw me crawl into bed at 2am didn’t wipe the smile of my face!”

Tags: London 2012
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The blistering pace of the Brownlees

13 August 2012

Tim Porter, Senior Research Executive (Communisations and Development) went to see the Olympic Triathlon in Hyde Park on 7 August and shares his experiences:

“With free-to-view spots across Hyde Park and two British brothers tipped for a gold-silver finish, it was not surprising that Tuesday’s triathlon was very busy. I had attempted to buy enclosed area tickets in the original lottery, but had predictably been unsuccessful.

The Twittosphere was filled with pre-race buzz – spectators tweeted about six to ten deep crowds and thousands (estimated 200,000 in total) tried to reserve a piece of action over two hours before. Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, from Bramhope in Yorkshire, have been burning up the triathlon circuit over the last few years. Less known than Ennis, Hoy, etc, they have risen to the top of their discipline aged 24 and 22. Their recent success has coincided with triathlon being one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.

I completed a couple of tri’s a few years back. For me there were two elements that made it tough. Firstly the fact that you are constantly moving for nearly three hours, and the energy that saps as a result. Secondly, moving from one discipline to another is disorientating and confusing for the body. For me it is one of the toughest and most exciting sports, so catching a glimpse near to Imperial was a great Olympic moment.

We attempted to catch the 1500 metres swim, but as non-ticketed viewers and despite being tall, it was only a flailing arm or two. Trees, periscopes and stepladders were well used. The cycle leg travelled down to Buckingham Palace via Constitution Hill, and there were several kilometres of viewing out of the 43 total. The cycle was the most viewed section with seven loops of the park. Although they raced past at close on 30 mph, we got good views of the Brownlees fighting out the lead, chased by a larger peloton. The run seemed out of reach for us, but Hyde Park has two large screens for the games, so we joined thousands of others for the 10 kilometre jog.

Finishing the cycle in the lead group, Alistair took the start of the run by storm, setting a blistering pace, with only Jonny and former world champion Javier Gomez staying with him. This was brilliant running, taking the race to the others, in blunt Yorkshire terms. Jonny drifted back into Bronze, not helped by a 15 second penalty for a transition infringement. But Alistair stretched Gomez on the penultimate lap and cruised to the win – walking over the line draped in the Union Jack. Inspiring, thrilling and relentless. I will hopefully, one day, complete another tri – if my body can handle it.”

Tags: London 2012
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Nine seconds of brilliance – watching Bolt!

13 August 2012

I think if you were to ask the country “Which Olympic event would you most like to see at London 2012?” I think the resounding answer would be “Men’s 100m Final”. This is perhaps proven by the fact that over two million people applied for tickets for the Athletics evening session that included the event. Former sabbatical officer Jason Parmar (Chemistry), was lucky enough to be one of the 80,000 people in the stadium and reports on taking his mum to Super Saturday:

“The 100m Men’s Final is internationally recognised as the event that defines the “fastest man/person in the world” and let me tell you, the event does not disappoint! The session is actually over three hours of different athletic disciplines and medal ceremonies so there are plenty of incredible events to watch and enjoy before the epic finale to discover the fastest man in the world.

Being by far my most expensive and prized ticket, of which I had two at category B, costing £295 each, I had to choose who to take with me wisely. So I chose the most obvious option – take my mum and give her the ticket as her birthday present.

Having been to a lot of events before this I knew what to expect, but I really wanted to make the most of this day and do as much as we could. The session started at 18:45, but I met my mum at 14.00 sharp at King’s Cross St Pancras to catch the Javelin to the Olympic Park in Stratford.

The Javelin in itself is worth mentioning as it is not only free with every Olympic ticket but it is INCREDIBLY fast. It takes a mind-boggling six minutes! Only six minutes to go from St Pancras to the Olympic Park in Stratford – if only the rest of TfL came anywhere near to those speeds!

After our short journey, we grabbed lunch at an excited and happy Westfield (and although busy, we did not have to queue for GBK). On our walk to the Olympic Park, all we were struck by was how happy everyone was!

It was incredible, I’ve lived in London for three years and I’ve never seen anything like it. They’re not drunk, it’s not some sort of trick – everyone just seemed genuinely happy, and they were showing it.

As you walk around the area, everyone smiles and all the helpers get you excited by cheering, telling jokes, laughing, giving out high 5’s and talking through smiles as they direct you.

After all of this, me and my mum walked around the park, took in the fantastic scenery, atmosphere and the beauty of the park, with the small rivers, bridges, flowers and buildings. We headed inside early and got out our Union Jack flags ready for the event.

Once inside the stadium we talked to the people we were sitting next to and around, almost entirely Team GB fans and created a little community within our section of the audience. We watched the events we were privileged enough to see, including the medal ceremony for Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah! We also saw Christine Ohuruogu get Silver in the Women’s 400m final before the biggest event of the Olympics.

Before every single race the camera pans across all the athletes and you can hear the accompanying ROAR of applause for each athlete. Unsurprisingly, Usain Bolt was met with an explosion of noise, cheers and flashes of cameras from the entire stadium. There’s also the silence before the race, as everyone mimes a school lesson “shhhhh!” before the race. But for this one, it felt significantly longer, perhaps a combination of it genuinely being longer to get the crowd silent and the huge amount of tension in the stadium before the final trigger.

Even though the event was only nine seconds long, it felt a lot longer and nobody in the stadium could tell who was going to win until about seven seconds into the race! It was right at the end we could see Bolt pulling away and DONE!

The shortest event of the Olympics, the most intense and amazingly, probably the best to watch and be at!

After the event my mum and I hung around. We checked out the park at night including the water art-installation under the main bridge (which most people miss) and getting a night photo at the BP mirrored photobooth before a walk to West Ham and the District Line home.

To summarise this incredible spectacle is difficult, so I’m going to use a quote I read in the media on the day: ‘These are the hottest tickets in the world and everyone who has one knows it.’ I know I will remember the day for the rest of my life.”

Tags: London 2012
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Mexican waves and high spirits at Wembley Stadium

10 August 2012

Tim Porter, Senior Research Executive (Communications and Development), went to see Mexico play Japan in the football semi final at Wembley Stadium – he shares his Olympic experience:

I have been fairly disinterested in Olympic football so far. Firstly we are completely saturated with football for nine months of the year, not including World Cups and European Championships as well.

Secondly British footballers seem at the opposite end of the sporting spectrum to the athletes in Team GB. Overpaid, underachieving English footballers have been totally eclipsed by the modest, gold plated heroes of the track, velodrome and rowing lake. The legacy of the Games, hopefully, might be for young sportsmen and women to wish to emulate Hoy, Ennis and Wiggins, rather than the Rooney’s and Terry’s of Premier League excess. The sporting irony which saw Team GB win six golds on Super Saturday, while GB footballers lost on penalties (again!) was as thick as it gets.

That said, this is the Olympics and tickets have been precious, so events should be enjoyed. The football competition allows three players over the age of 23 and the rest under, so generally there are no stars on view. Although I struggled to think of any Mexican or Japanese footballers that I know of. Wembley is an extremely impressive stadium, if you haven’t visited, with good views no matter where you’re sitting. There were many honorary Mexicans in the crowd, most likely based on tequila experiences, and genuine tourists and expats. Likewise for Japan, although the Kendo Nagasaki mask I saw looked really uncomfortably sweaty.

Often Mexican waves begin during dull matches, but the ones at Wembley reflected a good spirit and were genuinely Mexican. The atmosphere was fairly benign, although slightly passive, as the vast majority were neutral, buying the tickets hoping for a Team GB semi-final.

Japan took the lead through Yuki Otsu then a Marco Fabian header levelled. It would be hard to describe the match as thrilling, but Mexico just about had the edge. And a defensive mix up led to a good goal by Oribe Peralta then Javier Cortes scored in the last minute.

For those who scored it probably doesn’t get much better – a moment at one of football’s most historic stadiums (albeit re-constructed) must be one to remember. For the fans, a good afternoon, and a bit of authentic and inauthentic Mexican culture. The mariachis kept the crowds on Wembley Way entertained for the near one hour wait to get to the tube station.”

Tags: London 2012
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New fans and vociferous supporters at the wrestling

10 August 2012

Emma Caseley, Head of Strategic Projects (College Headquarters), reports on going to see the Women’s Freestyle Wrestling on 8 August at the Excel Centre with her husband Mike and 16-month old son Matthew.

“Wrestling wasn’t my first choice of Olympic event but, having failed to get tickets for some of the more popular sports, we felt very lucky and excited just to be going to the Games. As we headed for the train I had no idea what to expect from the day. The DLR was busy with people headed to Docklands, but the usual commuters had been replaced by a multi-national crowd, all slightly giddy to be going to the Olympics.

The wrestling has been taking place at the ExCel Centre, a massive exhibition space which has been turned into five arenas, each hosting different sports. As we arrived with our son in the buggy, we were ushered through the accessible entrance and then straight into the venue by smiling and efficient volunteers and security staff. Everything seemed incredibly well organised.

ExCel was already busy with spectators attending the morning sessions, and we had plenty of time to wander around the enormous hallway which runs the length of the building. There was a great atmosphere, mainly due to the thousands of Irish fans who had come to see Katie Taylor’s semi-final in the boxing.

As we approached the wrestling arena, music was playing and the crowd was being warmed up. To add to our excitement, as we arrived we were told that our seats had been upgraded, and we were seated in the second row! We had a fantastic view of the three mats in the centre of the arena where the bouts were to take place. The session was women’s freestyle wrestling, the 48kg and 63kg categories. The sport is very quick and exciting. Each bout lasts a maximum of three periods of two minutes, with a 30-second break in between periods.

For much of the session all three mats were in use at once, so there was always something to see. The aim is to force the back of your opponent’s shoulders down onto the mat, and points are awarded by the referee. It wasn’t always easy for us to see why points had been awarded, but that didn’t spoil the excitement! Speed and agility seemed to be just as important as pure strength.

Things were very fast-moving, and we moved quickly from qualifiers to the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals all during the same session. The crowd was made up of curious neutrals and vociferous supporters, who made their presence felt with foot-stamping and flag-waving enthusiasm.

Along with Japanese, Poles, Canadians, Americans and Swedes, there were also Mongolians, Azerbaijanis and Kazakhstanis. Our toddler was fascinated by all the activity, lights and music, and was very interested in his fellow spectators. By the end he had made friends with the large group of Azerbaijan supporters behind us.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The atmosphere at the ExCel was brilliant, and that’s also been my experience at the cycling road race, the women’s marathon and on the streets in the past week and a half. It feels like the world has come to London, and we’ve been able to show the best of what London can be.”

Tags: London 2012
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Converted by Olympic football

7 August 2012

Angela Rochester, PA to the Senior Vice Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (the joint medical school being developed by Imperial and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore), won tickets to go and see Olympic Football on Wednesday 1 August 2012 at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester. She describes her experience:

“I hadn’t applied for Olympic tickets as I didn’t think I had a chance of getting any, so I felt really lucky when I won a pair of tickets to the Olympic football match between Spain and Morocco thanks to Sport Imperial. Football is not my favourite sport but I entered the competition because I thought it would be a great experience for my boyfriend.

It was a bit hectic getting to Manchester from London and I rushed from work to meet my boyfriend at Manchester Piccadilly, and headed to the stadium. I was more anxious about travelling to the event than excited! But I did not need to be as they were very organised at the station and shepherded us onto the right trams.

Once I saw the stadium and experienced the jovial atmosphere outside, I was in a much better mood. The security was quick and efficient and we got into the stadium without queuing.

When we went upstairs it was a real ‘wow’ moment for me. It was my first time in a stadium and I was impressed by the size and we also had very good seats so we would be able to see all the action. The experience made me change my mind about football. It was much better watching it in a stadium.

The stadium was packed and the friendly spectators really added to the atmosphere. I really got into it; doing the Mexican wave (it seemed like a hundred times – the crowd were really enthusiastic), shouting and clapping. When I commented that a footballer was offside, my boyfriend’s jaw dropped (obviously impressed by my football knowledge?!)

The match was enjoyable and Morocco was stronger in the first half but both teams were lacking in their attacking skills and the outcome was 0-0.

I feel that the London 2012 Olympics have been really inspirational so far and they have not only shown London at its best but other event locations around the country.

The next day at work I was exhausted but went on to play netball afterwards. My team won 28-8 (obviously inspired by our GB athletes), and I then wondered why netball is not an Olympic event as there may be a career there for me!”

Tags: London 2012
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The aquatics and London all abuzz

7 August 2012

Grant Danskine, Operations Manager, Sport Imperial went to the Men’s synchronised Diving at the Aquatics Centre on 1 August. He shares his experience of London 2012:

“Having been in Trafalgar Square on 6 July 2005 when Jacques Rogge of the International Olympic Committee uttered the magical (to me) words …. “The games of the 30th Olympiad 2012 are awarded to the city of….. ….. London” the celebrations for 2012 began there and then for me and the last seven years have flown by.

I applied for tickets on the 2012 website and did not manage to get any tickets the first or second time around, but luckily for me my friend in Switzerland managed to get some so I went along with my partner and my friends from Switzerland who flew over especially for the Games.

Travelling to Stratford was so easy – I even managing to watch our own Imperial student Melanie Wilson in the rowing on a big screen at St. Pancras Station en route to the Javelin train which whisked us there in a little under seven minutes. Entry to the park was seamless with no queueing and the friendliest Troops in the world ensuring security measures were carried out with the minimum amount of fuss. The volunteers added to this with their cheery personalities and offering to take pictures of us as a group without even being asked and genuinely wanting to help in any way they could to make everyone’s visit as memorable as possible.

The Aquatic Centre is very impressive but the climb up the many flights of stairs was almost too much for two old ladies we passed on the way up to the highest seats in Olympic Park ! Despite the distance from the diving pool the view was fairly good, and the competition was a good one with some unbelievable dives involving twists, somersaults, tucks, pikes and other mind boggling contortioning taking place with a minimum of splashes on entering the water. Peter Kaye and the John Smith diving board advert came to mind once or twice but the competitors were taking it seriously, and no bombing took place.

London is buzzing in a way I haven’t seen for many many years and the worries over transport problems simply do not seem to have materialised. People are talking to each other on buses and trains – and visitors from abroad are even complimenting us all on how friendly we are!”

Tags: London 2012
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Dizzying heights at the basketball

7 August 2012

James Lewis, who is doing a PhD in Earth Science and Engineering went to watch the Basketball in the Olympic Park with his parents. He reports on his experience:

“After all the anticipation, all the media reports predicting disaster and warnings of a transport apocalypse from TfL it’s finally here, a so far mostly flawless Olympic Games. Ever since the brilliant Opening Ceremony it’s been a slightly surreal but wonderful experience watching the events and living in this city.

Last week I got the chance to experience things first hand and went to go and see the women’s basketball. I’ve been lucky enough to get tickets to several different events and for this one I took my parents. We arrived at the park at 11 am and getting through security was very straightforward. In fact it was so quiet they looked very happy to see us. We came in through the north entrance from which there are great views of the velodrome and the Olympic Stadium and the Orbit to the south. Despite the thousands of people in the park the wide avenues and crowd management from the games maker volunteers meant that it was surprisingly easy to get around. The buildings were well spaced with lots of areas dedicated to grass and trees with the grassy banks around the River Lea acting as seating for a massive central TV screen floating on the water.

After a quick explore of the park it was time to go to our event. There was some queuing but everyone was good-natured. Looking west you could see the city’s fantastic skyline including the Shard, the Gherkin and the Eye. It remains to be seen if the Olympic Park can bring the same prosperity to East London but everything so far looks really positive.

While we were queuing a recording by Peter Dickson – of X Factor and E4 voiceover fame – went out every five minutes or so. Unfortunately they had only given him one fact to read so by the time we got in we were extremely aware of the fact that all of the doors in the arena were 2.4 metres high to accommodate the extra height of the basketball players.

Our seats were high up and gave a fantastic view of the whole arena. The steep sides meant that the noise and the atmosphere were incredible; it’s definitely not a stadium for vertigo sufferers! Being high up also gave us the advantage of avoiding ending up being embarrassed on kiss cam or bongo cam during the breaks in the games.

Two matches were scheduled for the afternoon session, Brazil vs. Australia and Great Britain vs. Russia. Some enthusiastic Aussies had smuggled in a horn and a big flag into our corner and they cheered on their team to a 67-61 victory. It helped that the Australians seemed to be about half a foot taller on average than their competitors. Their tallest player was a terrifying 6’8. Then it was the main event.

The roar as Great Britain came out was enormous and being amongst 12,000 people cheering on your home side was an incredible experience. Our support was definitely needed, Russia are ranked third in the world, Britain 49th. It seemed like a miracle might be on the cards when GB pulled ahead to 10 – 2 in the first five minutes. However, Russia’s superior skill soon began to show and a painful number of three pointers solidified their lead, but this was no ordinary competition. The fighting spirit of the home nation, who brought the score back to 58 – 61 with 54 seconds remaining, eclipsed the gulf in the team’s rankings. Sadly Russia maintained the edge but it was a fantastic match and a fantastic experience.

If you get an opportunity to attend an Olympic or Paralympic event I cannot recommend it enough.”

Tags: London 2012
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Olympic cheer and victory at the boxing

6 August 2012

Michael Barclay, who is doing an MRes in the Chemical Biology of Health and Disease in the Department of Chemistry went to see Olympic boxing at the Excel Centre with his dad.

“A sceptic or “miserable person” could shrug off the London Games as just another Olympics. It’s all on TV anyway, and apart from the lack of any time difference, what does it matter if the games are here or in Beijing? Yet the most enduring feeling of my visit to the Excel Centre on Wednesday was how the Games have truly taken over the city. Within around 30 minutes of meeting my Dad in the pub before we headed off to the bouts we stumbled across the runners up from the Quadruple skulls (pictured below), hanging about on the street with their silver medals!

It was something I hadn’t really thought about when I left College and headed for Excel. This wasn’t just some sporting event, this was the Olmypics and the Olympic experience is something that cannot be denied or ignored. The atmosphere within the arena was definitely a big part of it. It was electric. Sure we all got excited when the British lads were fighting as you’d expect, but the excitement barely faded. I’m not particularly much of a boxing fan, and these tickets were a gift from my dad, yet I spent most of my night screaming and cheering for boxers I’d never heard of.

The highlight was probably the final bantamweight bout, which was between an Azerbaijani and a Japanese boxer. For two rounds we watched as the Japanese athlete was outclassed but he came back fantastically in the third round. The crowd were furious when the Azerbaijani was still declared the victor although this decision was overturned the following morning.

All in all it was a fantastic and electric night, offering an experience far different from your average sporting events and I can’t wait to see my next game!”

Tags: London 2012
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