This was the first time the Games had been held in one city three times. With never being to the games before I made up my mind when we were awarded them in 2005 that I would have the two weeks off work and get as many tickets as possible. I ended up with nine for the main games and two for the for the Paralympics. Listed below are events which I went to and a story about the days
Day 1. Saturday 28th July. 9/30 until 14/10. Rowing at Dorney Lake, Eaton, Berkshire.
Myself and my wife Anne went to this, it is not a long way from where we live. It was a 9/30 start at the lake so we had to leave home early to get there on time. We got the train to Windsor there was then free buses to the race course, then it was about 30-minute walk, all travel in London up to zone 6 was free if you had an event ticket.
It was a
very hot day and we had standing tickets, or laying on the grass tickets. We
were about just under half way along the course and the racing was all heats,
but we got near the front and had a good view of the boats going past, there
was about 10 races with GB teams in a fair few of them. We left a bit early and
had lunch in Windsor before we went home, “as you do!”
This was a rest day from the games but not from
other things. My 60th Birthday was coming up in the September and my
daughter Jean had arranged for a photo shoot for me, my children, grandchildren
and of course my wife Anne.
It went really well and everyone enjoyed it and the photos came out really well. After that it was back to Jeans for lunch, so it was a nice day.
Day 3. Monday 30th July 15/30 until 17/50. Table tennis. Excel – North Arena 1.
We did not have any events yesterday and Anne was
back to work today until next Wednesday. I set off earlier than I had too as I
wanted to have a walk around Waterloo station as it had just had a refurbishment.
I had lunch at the South Bank Members club (I am a member) then on to The Excel
I had never been to The Excel before and I was very impressed, it is very large and had about four events going on at any one time. In the arena there were 4 tables and each had a game going on. There were two sessions on while I was there, it was women's singles and each one had one game that went to 7 sets. I have never seen live table tennis before and I really enjoyed it, very excitin
Day 4. Tuesday 31st July 14/10 until 16/50. Water Polo Olympic Park.
This was my first time in the park, I was really
looking forward to it,
There were two games on in the session, the first was Australia 7 Kazakhstan 4. I enjoyed the game a lot and now understand a lot more about the sport. There was a lot of Australians there and they were much the better side. I did not stay for the second game as it was so hot and also, I wanted to meet Anne at Waterloo from work, so we could both go home together.
Day 5. Wednesday 1st August 12-00/20-00. Tennis at Wimbledon.
I was looking forward to this as I had never been to Wimbledon before, I was not disappointed. I was on centre court, all be it right at the back. First on was S Williams US beat Zvonareva Russia 6-1 6-0, it was over very quickly, Williams looked so powerful. Next on was N Djokovic (Serbia) beat L Hewitt (Australia) 4-6 7-5 6-1. I did not realise at the time but Andy Murray the British number 1 and the worlds number 4 was coming on next. Murray GB beat M Baghdatis (Cyprus) 4-6 6-1 6-4. The crowd just went mad when he won, but all the GB players have had great support no matter where they came.
Murray went on to win the men’s gold and the mixed doubles silver.
Day 6. Thursday 2nd August 9-30 until 12/30 Judo – Excel – North Arena 2.
I was not looking forward to this so much as some of the others and it ended up being the highlight of the games for me so far. I had a front row seat and was sat next to a brother and sister who were into Judo and were friends with one of the GB female players. There were 2 mats with a bout on each, the men's -100 kg and women's -78 kg. It started with men then the women, it was continuing with the winners fighting again shortly after they had won. We had one GB lad who went out in the first round then we had Gemma Gibbons who was the friend of the people I was sat with. She had gone up a weight to be in the Olympics but was not fancied much. I saw 3 of her bouts. It was a really good day and again the support was great. I saw her 3 fights in the morning then rushed home to see her win the semi-final in the Market Inn, the pub facing Bracknell train station, then got home, but she got beat in the final to get silver. After the second round she was fighting with a broken thumb. But she did so well, and to follow her with her friends was great.
Day 7. Friday 3rd August – Rest day.
I did have a rest day this day.
Day 8. Saturday 4th August – Rest day.
Anne, I, daughter Jean and her husband Paul went to the Isle of Wight for the weekend to my sister Jeans, it was also her husband Roy’s birthday. We went out for meal in the evening and had a nice time.
This was
dubbed ‘Super Saturday’ – it has been voted the greatest sporting moment of all
time. It saw British trio Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah all
strike gold within just minutes of each other. In all GB won 6 gold medals that day. We
watched the three after the evening meal in the local British Legion, again
just great atmosphere, everyone was cheering and roaring.
Day 9. Sunday 5th August – Rest day
We came home on the Sunday from the IOW.
Day 10. Monday 6th August Women's football semi-final at Wembley. Japan 2 France 1.
The first half of this game was one of the worst halves
of football I had seen for many years, but I am pleased to say the second half
was a lot better. Japan took the lead just before half time and got a second
early in the second which sparked France into life, they scored then missed a
penalty. I stayed in a hotel that night not far away so I did not have to drag
all the way home late then back the next morning. I have been to a lot of games
at Wembley mostly England and while it was not full it seemed a lot more
relaxed with a lot of families and women there.
Day 11. Tuesday 7th August 13/30 until
15/30 Women's Handball, Copper Box Olympic Park. Quarter Finals Spain 25
Croatia 22.
I left the hotel about 7am so I could get to the park early and have a good look around, while I did not see it all last time, I saw more this time than the week before. I enjoyed the match very much, it is good to see another new sport, new for me that is!
The Cooper Box has a large amount of sun tubes in its ceiling which give a lot of natural light. Like the rest of the complex again it was very impressive. While I was walking around the park I saw Chris Evans the then BBC Radio 2 presenter carrying out interviews for his breakfast show.
Day 12. Wednesday 8t August 13/00 until 15/30. Wrestling – women's freestyle. Excel – North Arena 2.
48kg, Gold - H Obara Japan. Sliver - M Stadnyk. Bronze - C Chun US. 63kg Gold - K Icho Japan. Silver - R Jing China. Bronze - B Soronzonbold. This was the first day in the week that Anne had joined me, she was off work for the next 3 days. There were no GB contestants on today but still a good day.
Day 13 Thursday 9th August – Rest day.
Anne and I stayed in London two nights, we spent
the day going around London doing the sightseeing thing then went to the
theatre in the evening to see ‘Muma Mia’ the musical which is about ABBA songs.
A very enjoyable evening, with people on their feet and dancing up and down in
the aisles.
Day 14. Friday 10th August. Taekwondo. Excel – South Arena 1. 15/00 until 18/00.
Men 80kg. Gold - S Crismanich Argentina. Silver - N
Garcia Spain. Bronze - L Muhammad GB. Women 67kg. Gold - K Hwang Korea. Silver -
N Tatar Turkey. Bronze - P McPherson US. Another new sport for me, we enjoyed it
and saw Muhammad in the afternoon but he got beat then, but won the bronze in
that evening that we saw on TV.
In
the area outside the arena that held the Taekwondo there was an area set up with
mats etc which children could take part and, in some cases, contestants took
part also.
Day 15. Saturday 11th August - Theatre in the Park
We go to this every year and meet up with friends.
We meet in the park (Regents Park) and have a picnic then go in for the show.
We saw the Tony Award winning, Ragtime
the Musical, directed by Timothy Sheader. As always, not disappointed.
Anne and daughter Jean above in the park.
Paralympics.
Never
having been to the Olympics before I just enjoyed it so much. I went to sports
that I wouldn’t even watch on TV, but like the theatre you cannot beat live
sport/entertainment. I think one of the things I enjoyed the most was how
friendly people were to each other. People were talking to each other on
trains, stations, pubs, hotels asking where they had been and what they had
seen. I heard one chap say, “everyone is happy, even the f------ coppers are
smiling!”
As this
was my main two weeks off and I was going to be 60 years old in the September I
had a party nearby early in the month then for my birthday (the 12th)
we rented a large house in Devon and 10 of us from the family went there for a
week. So, all in all it was a very enjoyable time.
The photo above is daughter Jean and I with the troch after the Paralympic rowing.
Round Up.
It was in fact one of the best times I had over this summer. When we won the games in 2005, Anne and I were on our honeymoon. The next day was the London tube bombings, Anne would have been on one of the trains had she not been off!
The
press/media here as always were slagging it all off when we were awarded the
games. They were saying, “it would not be ready on time, it would be a mess,”
and lots of other things. Not only was it finished in plenty of time and
everything went well and it was one of the best games ever and was really well
supported. Also for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games and the
Football World Cup (and possibly the last) not one construction worker was
killed during the whole construction phase!!!
As this is the last of my write up on London 2012, below are some more photos of this very enjoyable time.
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