When London was named as host city back in 2005 I knew I had to be there. I viewed the Olympic Games as a once in a lifetime opportunity and to say I was excited does not do credit to how I was feeling. Small children the night before Christmas have not been as excited as I was about the Olympics.
I consider myself very fortunate to have got tickets, as so many people tried and failed to get any. I had a pact with my friend Sinead - I said if I got any she could come with me and she said if she got any I could go with her. So Sinead was my Olympic partner and she journeyed back from Ireland especially for the event.
We headed to the Olymmpic Park in Stratford on Monday 6 August 2012, with men's basketball tickets clutched in our sweaty palms! Doom mongerers before the Games had predicted travel chaos, security glitches and disorganisation. Nothing could have been further from the truth. We took the Javelin from St Pancras International to Stratford International and arrived around noon. Our first sight was the enormous Olympic Stadium!
We spent the entire afternoon walking round the very large Olympic Park, having a look at the exterior of all the venues, taking in some Equestrian action in the Park Live on the big screen (including seeing a Team GB gold medal to loud and partisan cheers!) and we went up the Orbit to take in the views from 200+ feet up.
The Orbit was both excellent and disappointing. People are divided on its architecture - Sinead labelled it an "eyesore", but it is certainly interesting and does afford you great views not only of the Olympic Park but large parts of London too. My main gripe was with the bizarre red piping, which obscured the view of the Olympic Stadium - it was actually impossible to get a photo of the Olympic Stadium without one in the way! What a shame.
Our tickets were for an evening session at the basketball, from 8.00pm - midnight. We saw two qualification matches, including Spain versus Brazil and Argentina versus USA. Predictably Spain and the USA won their matches, but it was hugely entertaining and the atmosphere was brilliant. We even had Michelle Obama, Evander Holyfield and Ludicris for company!
By the time we came out of the Basketball Arena it was pitch black outside and the venues were all lit up, including the Olympic Stadium. We left tired, but happy, having had a truly memorable day as part of the Olympic Dream!
My Olympic experience was complete the next day, with a trip to Hyde Park to watch the Men's Triathlon. approximately 300,000 other people had the same idea, so several of the nearest tube stations had to close for safety reasons and we had something of a longer walk to get there. We found a vantage point (albeit, not a brilliant one) and drank in the atmpshere as the triathletes zipped past for the cycling element of the race. We headed into the Centre of Hyde Park to watch the end of the big screen and arrived just in time to see the Brownlee brother cross the line to win gold and bronze.
It was a wonderful end to a brilliant (if exhausting) two days and left me feeling so proud, not only of the achievements of Team GB athletes, but also of all the organisers for what was such an efficent and well-run event. It really brought out the best in people, it made everyone in the country so proud to be British (and to show it, for I have never seen so many Union Jacks in my life!) and put a smile on people's faces. In years to come I will be able to say "I was there!" and that fills me with pride.
Well done GB, we done good!
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