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!”

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!

“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.”

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!”

Over the last two weeks  the Imperial community has cheered on two of its own student competitors, played host to 14 Olympic teams training at Ethos and been in the stands for everything from the Opening Ceremony to the  Women’s Freestyle Wrestling .

Reporter speaks to Neil Mosley, Head of Sport and Assistant Director of Commercial Services about his experiences of London 2012, and the event which the Division has been working towards for almost 10 years.

How have the Olympics been for you?

I’ve been here for 12 years and can honestly say it’s been the most enjoyable two weeks of my Imperial career.

How do you feel about what the Division has achieved?

From the announcement that London had won the Olympic bid I always knew we would be supporting the triathlon teams as we are located so close to Hyde Park. We specifically refurbished the Energia gym to support the Olympic teams. It’s been the culmination of many years of work and for it to have been completed so successfully is of massive credit to the team.

What has been your highlight?

Probably seeing Nicola Spirig – the Swiss triathlete – win gold. Her stay at Ethos has been planned for over two years and we were really involved in everything from arranging special opening times of the pool, to allowing her to bring along a chef to ensure her nutrition was optimal. I went down with a team from Ethos to watch her compete in Hyde Park – we managed to see the swim and the cycle and then watched the finish on the big screens. When there was a photo finish after two hours of ridiculous endeavour I was so, so pleased when they finally announced she had won.

Who was the most inspirational athlete you saw train at Ethos?

I have to say it was amazing watching the Brownlee brothers train in the pool – every lap was done competitively – there was no cruising. I watched their race in Hyde Park too and it was fantastic when Alistair won, and seeing Jonny get bronze particularly after his penalty was fantastic.

Have you been to any of the Games yourself?

Despite working long hours and some evenings, and opening the pool at 4.30 am on some days to allow athletes to train, I’ve managed to fit in going to see 13 events – two volleyball games, the road race, women’s marathon, mens’ and women’s triathlon, two basketball games , hockey open water swimming , taekwondo, fencing and swimming!

Read more about Imperial’s involvement in London 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.”