Tag Archives: TeamGB

Our Greatest Team Athletes Parade

London 2012, , , ,

So the Olympics and Paralympics of London 2012 were over, but that didn’t mean the end of the fun by no means!!  Taking an extra day off work I stayed in London so that I could see the Athletes Parade.  Leaving our luggage at the hotel, I wandered onto the Strand to find it nearly deserted so went up to Covent Garden before mooching around to Trafalgar Square.  By the time I got there (having found a few mascots to photograph on the way), there were quite a few people gathering so I decided that I had probably better choose my place.

As the main part of the crowd was the Trafalgar Square side of the roundabout by Admarilty Arch I decided to go the otherside as it meant that I could get only 1 person back from the road and with a pretty clear view.  Now all that was required was to wait!  Thankfully the weather stayed (despite a few drops of rain) dry and not too hot so most of the crowd survived the long wait no problem.  I did see three people taken away, one by Ambulance, after collapsing but they were all awake so hopefully they are all ok.

Despite the wait, and the ever growing number of people and therefore getting a bit cramped on space, the crowd was in fine spirits and two sides of the road just along from where I was started chanting in response to each other and then they had a mini race between one member of each – anything to keep amused!  By this stage the police had pretty much closed off the road (apart from the Household Calvary that came past twice), and cyclists who got a big cheer (we were quite bored!).

At 1pm, the big screen in Trafalgar Square kicked into life and started showing the Channel 4 coverage (inc adverts) so we were able to see the parade leaving and making its way along and it was obvious that Trafalgar Square was not the only place that there were huge crowds, but they were all along the route – fantastic!!  The atmosphere was just amazing, and even the police were still on a high – police on horseback and motorcycles were even going along and highfiving spectators!

BA as one of the main sponsors were handing out boards to allow people to put a message on for the Athletes, and I eventually got hold of one that you can see in my picture here (taken much later on) :

I was starting to get quite tired, hungry and thirsty by this stage as I’d been standing in the same spot for 4 hours but despite having food & drink with me I didn’t want to move or have too much of it for fear of needing the loo and therefore having to move so small sips & nibbles it was.  Luckily, the parade finally reached us at around 3pm, just before which the people in front of me moved so I was able to get right to the front – lucky!

Seeing all the athletes was fantastic, and especially as it was just done by sport in alphabetical order with Paralympians and Olympians mixed up together – just as it should be.  It turned out though that I’d picked the wrong side of the street as most of the most well-known of the athletes were the other side of the lorry looking away from us as they went past as that was where most of the people and the press were – doh!  Still I managed to see quite a lot (when the guy next to me wasn’t waving manically in my face) and take a few photos and videos and I was very happy to be there to cheer and support the team.

Once all the floats had gone past, we mostly all stayed standing where we were and watched the Mall celebrations on the big screen but at least I was at last able to eat my lunch and have a drink without fear of missing the parade!  The flypast was great, especially the Red Arrows (as usual) and noone really wanted to leave after it was over.  I wandered over to Trafalgar Square and saw the Gamesmakers and other people still celebrating and dancing but they then closed the live site (boo) so we all had to leave but that didn’t stop the dancing!  I was pretty tired by now having been standing for so long so I decided to head off, weary but so pleased that I’d come and seen the parade and been a part of the celebrations for Our Greatest Team!  Roll on Glasgow 2014 and Rio 2016!!

(Some of the photos I took are on Flickr here)

Post London 2012 Olympics Thoughts

London 2012, , ,

My original plan when the London 2012 Olympics started was that I would blog at least every event I went to, if not every day. Unfortunately I completely failed on this – in fact managing to blog only my first few event days successfully. I also wanted to post my pictures/videos on Flickr and YouTube as quickly as possible but making sure that they were tagged and labelled appropriately. For the most part I managed to get my stuff online with tags but it’s all unlabelled and uncommented and (thanks to burst mode on the camera) probably far too many of them!  If you’re feeling brave, you can see my Flickr Sets here…

The reason for this? The fact that the Olympics were on at least 18 hours a day and travelling to and watching the Olympics was a lot more tiring than I thought it would be! I therefore find myself at the end of the two weeks very tired, and well behind in my plans though I have managed to go through the  2000-odd photos I took of the final night of athletics, the marathon and the closing ceremony today and trim them down before I posted them online!!

So what can I say about the Olympics that hasn’t already been said?! Well nothing probably! It was fantastic, compelling, heartbreaking, motivational, inspiring, tense, nerve-wracking, sensational, happy, lively, and above all else just plain FUN as London welcomed the world and their athletes as part of the ‘Greatest show on earth’. Never in our (and definitely Locog and Lord Coes) wildest dreams could we have imagined that the two weeks would go so well, with hardly any problems (bar the odd tube issue) and with pretty much everyone saying how good it was – they must be breathing a huge sigh of relief now .. and then moving on to the Paralympics of course!

Two of the biggest successes (outside of the sport) have to be a) the way the police and army were received and how friendly they all were – definitely good to have some good PR on that front – and b) the absolutely amazing people that were the volunteers. They always seemed to have a smile on their face and be willing to help (or find someone who could) no matter whether it was first thing in the morning or last thing at night, and to think they did all of this for FREE often having to get up really early and having very long days. The sport may have had the stars like Bolt, Farah and Ennis but those two groups we’re collective stars in their own right!

I suppose I really should talk about the actual sport at the Olympics! The fact that Team GB (Let’s Go GB, Let’s Go!) did so well was actually above my expectations – I thought we might just beat Beijing in terms of Golds and overall medals and maybe finish 4th in the table. To come third (we’re the best country in Europe!), and to easily outperform in every discipline (apart from maybe swimming which underperformed and athletics which did okish) was just amazing! Who can easily forget Super Saturday(s) or Magic Monday?? I feel very privileged to have been there to witness some of these events in person (though I only saw TeamGB win two Gold medals live) and the rest on TV or via the BBCs very efficient and extensive online coverage (hats off to the staff at the BBC and especially Claire Balding).

Obviously to go with the highs (what a double by Farah, Beth Tweddle getting a medal at last, and a dominant performance all round in the Velodrome), there were also some disappointments (one day we will get the 4x100m relay round reliably!) but on the whole our athletes gave their all and delivered above and beyond performances even if sometimes they felt they’d failed us by ‘only’ coming second or by not getting a medal when we could all see they had done their best and that’s all we asked. I can still picture our rowers having to be helped out of their boats as they were so exhausted for example, but then minutes later (still unable to stand up unsupported) giving a tearful apology – no need for it from any of you!

It was also good to see some of the less popular sports have so much coverage – for example Handball (hands up all those who had heard of it before the games!) which did a lot to raise their profile and hopefully get more people taking part in them.  The initial reports are that lots of clubs for every sport have reported an increase in interest which is fantastic!  I know it will tail off after the paralympics and peoples memories fade, but I hope at least some of the people who were enthused stick to it.  My health precludes me from being one of those people unfortunately but otherwise I think I would be getting into Archery which I find fascinating and I was so glad that I got to see it at Lords.

I know that a lot of established athletes performed well at the games, but what was also encouraging was the number of young athletes coming through which certainly gives hope for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and of course the 2016 Olympics in Rio and beyond.  Some are already Gold medal winners (stand up the womens team pursuit cycling team for example), whilst some show lots of promise (i.e. Katrina Johnson-Thompson in the Hepthalon – in fact there seemed to be quite a few in athletics).  Now they just need to get the backing, support and coaching they need to continue to improve and be able to keep it up and represent the country in the future.

Looking back over the two weeks, I’m hard pushed to pick my ‘best’ moment – there were so many of them!  Kath Grainger winning Gold at last, Chris Hoy winning Gold and crying on the podium, Mo Farah doing the double, the roar in the Stadium whenever TeamGB were involved, etc, etc so I think I’m just going to have to go with the whole atmosphere at the Games – everyone seemed to just have a good time, not grumble (too much) about the queues, be friendly and (I’ll say it again because its so true) just have a fantastic time!

I feel so privileged that I was able to go, and that I got to experience something which I don’t expect to happen again in my lifetime (a home games that I can get to).  Special thanks to my boss for letting me take the whole two weeks off so I could immerse myself in the experience – I think he knew that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate otherwise as I’m such a sports nut!  I still can’t really believe that its all over, and that all the athletes have headed home, but I guess all good things do have to come to an end…

Except they don’t as I can now look forward to the Paralympics – woo hoo!!  Roll on the 29th August and Lets Go GB, Lets Go!!!

TeamGB and the Olympics start today!

London 2012, ,

After all the waiting, the sports of the 30th Olympiad start today at 4pm with TeamGB women taking on New Zealand.  Unfortunately I’ll be at work but thats not going to stop me from watching no way!!  Thanks to SlingPlayer I can connect up to my Sky Box at home and stream it to my work PC in a window and carry on with my work at the same time – yey for Technology and an understanding boss!!

There has been much written about the standard of Womens Football in the press and online by fans of the mens game who often fall into ‘the must all be lesbians’ or ‘its a terrible standard compared to mens’ camps.  First, no not all women footballs are lesbians, but so what if some are?  It doesn’t make a difference to how they play, like it wouldn’t make a difference if a mens footballer was gay and at least they don’t have to hide the fact that they are.

Second, yes Womens football is different to Mens just like Womens Tennis is and Womens Golf is etc etc.  You have to appreciate the sport for what it is and who is playing it.  Most womens teams work on a yearly budget that is about the same as some premiership footballers get paid in a day, and most women footballers have to have other jobs in order to support playing yet they still have the drive to succeed and do it which they should only be applauded for and supported (I myself have given money to the Newcastle United Womens team who recieve NO money from the mens club but who are ‘graciously’ allowed to use the name and strip though they have to buy it themselves).

Yes, sometimes womens football looks a little less skilled even at the top level but it takes time to increase skills from the grass roots up.  The teams now are leaps and bounds over what they were 10 years ago, and that is only going to improve as more and more people play and they get more support and coverage.  Of course, if you know your history at one stage (in the early 20th century) Womens football was more popular than Mens and therefore the FA banned them from playing, so you can’t blame womens football for being ‘behind’.

So lets get behind TeamGB and womens football in general and celebrate it for itself, not try and compare it with the mens game!

TeamGB / ParalympicGB Supporters Scarves!

London 2012, , ,

Ever since they were announced, I’ve wanted the official TeamGB and ParalympicGB supporters scarves (I know, sad right?).  Only available from Next, I really wanted to see them before I splashed out on them though just in case they looked (in reality) a bit rubbish!  Many times I went to the Next store in town, and even asked a couple of times (very much out of character for me!) but no joy.  Finally this past weekend they HAD THEM ON DISPLAY!  Woo hoo!  Not quite sure how I’m going to wear them, but they look GOOD!

Supporters Flags!