The Spirit of the Olympic Games

A number of people have asked me this week about my Games Maker experience which has triggered my process for reflection.  On a day to day basis I enjoyed myself about 40% of the time.  I think the reason for the low score is that I was disappointed that I was not able to contribute more and use my skills and abilities.  I was so caught up in Olympic fever and the spirit of the Games that I wanted to work hard, to feel that I was doing something valuable and worthwhile and never quite reconciled the fact that I wasn’t expected to do anything other than to just stand, smile and greet the public pleasantly and not see any sport.  I had not anticipated that there would be a lot of inactive down time, standing around doing nothing for hours.  But when I was busy, giving useful advice to spectators, helping people on to mobility buggies, I did get a buzz from it.  I worked with a handful of interesting, fun people but mostly there was little humour.  So it was a mixture of highs and lows.

Much of the positive feedback and appreciation for the GMs was very gratifying and did give us a boost but the reality of daily life was very different.  The outward appearance and willingness of the GMs helped to mask some of the chaos and poor organisation under the surface.  I found it remarkable that there were  no seats next to the mobility stops and no shade for anyone in the Park.  The general public were irritated by the empty seats in the venues and there was confusion over the process of the recycling of seats.  Granted it was a formidable logistical exercise, imposing incredible organisational demands particularly in the deployment of 70,000 volunteers.  In that context I had to remind myself how extraordinary it was that so many people were willing to give so much time and energy for a common goal and for no reward.

What kept me rising at 4.45am and retiring at 2.00 am (not on the same days), working 11 hour days, was the bigger picture. It is what I have been referring to as the spirit of the Games.  The spirit of fair play and competition, the spirit of the home crowds cheering on not just British athletes but those of all nations, the good natured spirit of all the international visitors and volunteers with their abundant enthusiasm, kindness , politeness and joy.  The athletes themselves encouraging and supporting each other.

Most importantly,  it was the sporting events that marked the triumph of the human spirit.  There were extraordinary feats of skills and endurance.  All the athletes were inspirational, demonstrating their courage, flair and passion. And in some cases it was simply the taking part, such as the female athletes from Islamic countries where it is unusual to see women have a prominent place in public - notably Sarah Attar from Saudi Arabia wearing her hijab. Even when faced with disqualification, like Victoria Pendleton, they were graceful.  Almost every event was contested honourably.  There was honest competition and the pursuit of excellence.  It has been amazing for sports lovers everywhere. Team GB did astonishingly well with its 29 gold medal tally and 65 medals in total.  There are now a host of golden post boxes throughout the UK, including one outside Chiswick Town Hall, commemorating each British gold medal performance. The legacy of the sporting heroes will carry on - Bolt, Farah, Hoy, Ennis, Ainslie,  Wiggins, etc.

On top of this there were the stunning ceremonies.  Britain didn’t try to compete with Beijing - instead we did our own thing with history, humour, culture, style and a touch of eccentricity, ending in a huge, music party.  The  venues were both attractive and practical. The army managed security with good humour and added to the atmosphere and success of the event.

I am not the most patriotic of people but I did feel proud that our country could host a world event in an environment of such strong political and economic headwinds and to do it so splendidly.  It has even made us recalibrate our views of London.  The public transport worked faultlessly, disruption on the roads and overcrowding on the Tube was minimal. And people started talking to each other.

The Games turned even the most cynical into complete addicts. It was euphoric! They were the Golden Games and I do feel privileged to have played my very small part.  

The Closing Ceremony From The Bleak North

I feel disingenuous writing about my disappointing, last day working on the closing ceremony after just watching the play back of the Closing Ceremony itself.  Thought the show was fabulous and it did make me cry!  It made me feel proud to have been a part of London 2012 and proud of everyone who had contributed and participated.  Truly glorious!  Will write a blog in a few days when I'm less tired and can be more considered with a reflection and overview of my life as a Games Maker.

In the meantime, back to Sunday.  Much of the Park was closed so there was little choice over roles.  All my first choices for posts had been taken (and I was half an hour early). I was put on the black team for the first time - Eaton Manor Gate - it was even more remote and further from the stadium than Greenway. Should have realised there would be a reason it was black.

The shift began in the usual fashion - a briefing in a room near the canteen for all the EVS Games Makers in the Common Domain.  But as it was the last day, we all had to sing  a song to the head of EVS for the Common Domain Team,  to the music and most of the words to the Beatles song - Let It Be.  I so wanted to!  I had written three emails to her in as many weeks and had no response.  Then we sang Happy Birthday to three working volunteers.  We were told that we were to be segregated into north and south and couldn’t mix for the rest of the day then duly tagged.  Au contraire! I had spotted Lisa (she has appeared twice before in my blogs) who was in the opposite sector so we texted during the song, planning our rebellion. Much of the feedback and appreciation of the GMs has been very gratifying but the reality of life as a GM has been different. The outward appearance and the willingness of the GMs to help has masked some of the chaos and poor organisation under the surface.

After 2 hours at the most northern part of the Park, having only one very nice conversation with a guest of Cadburys and a free crunchie bar, I told the Team Leader I would move to a busier post in the Park.  For an hour I wandered around taking more photos on the small old Pentax stuffed in my red and purple Games Maker bag.  Also, had it in mind to visit all the marketing venues such as the Coca Cola Beat Box that had missed previously due to the busy lines but disappointingly, they were all shut.  Felt very conspicuous as there were so few people around and with the segregation issue.  It's not easy to blend in wearing an unusual, bold colour mix uniform.   Called Elaine (orange hat) to see if she wanted to meet for a drink, had previously established she was also working at the OP today.  Headed towards her in Corporate Hospitality only to find the three first bridges blocked by huge, dense, lines to go into the stadium, they were half an hour late on entering in order to allow the acts to rehearse.  Seemed Elaine was going to be too busy.  Found out later that she managed to get into the stadium by pushing a client in a wheelchair and been allowed to stay and watch the show.  SO lucky!  Lisa and I had actually conjured up that idea but when it came to it we didn’t quite have the nerves to carry it through.  I should emphasise that Elaine's was legitimate or she will be cross.

Called Lisa who was drinking with some friends who invited me to join them.  A lovely lady from Lisa's home town had won an amazing package for the day - best seats in the stadium, lunch with Carl Lewis, after show party and a hotel room - all for a £20 raffle ticket .  SO so lucky!  Her and her handsome male friend invited Lisa and I to join them in the champagne bar.  Just what we needed - our own celebration to finish.  Had such a fun time.  Then they headed off to their swanky seats while Lisa and I went for our chicken pie and soggy veg in the canteen.  Back to reality!

It was to be a long evening with hours of nothing to do, but we did meet up again with the maverick, avuncular, Keith.  We had gone full circle - this team of three had been the first team for all of us at the rehearsal for the opening ceremony.  Keith had talked his way to into the north section and by coincidence I found myself standing next to him.  Annoyingly, 60 of the south section GM's had been invited into the show if they had a different top to change into .  The north side GM's, got to watch the non famous athletes parade into the stadium and much later dribble out.  Including the very famous, and very normal, looking Chris Hoy - who could not thank us volunteers enough.  Keith tried really hard to get us into the stadium but it was not to be.  We did get to hold a rope for a short while to keep the volunteers out and the athletes through and that was as close as we got.  Hmm - wonder which side got the best deal?!

The army forced us to the sides of the Park for the fireworks and we stood scarily close underneath them.  They were amazing!  And especially up close!  Left the park at 1.00 am with my battered silver baton (it kept falling out of my full bag) and certificate from Lord Coe for Keith to drive me scarily, home as we narrowly avoided hitting cars and buses.

day and night

Thursday, 9th August, was swelteringly. I did not want to be standing outside in the sun all day with my delicate, pale, English skin, so negotiated hard to be inside an Information Point tent.  Seems everyone had by now realised this was the most interesting role and everyone wanted to be there, plus you got a seat and a PC to watch the events in any downtime.  However, some people had specially trained to do it, making it a harder bargain with the Deputy Head.  So she put me in the area called Greenway Gate (the green team - my least favourite colour) - better known as the back of beyond.  It leads to West Ham tube where the park managers have been trying to persuade all spectators to use rather than Stratford Gate but not  informing them that’s it’s a 30 minute walk.  So quite a number arrive disgruntled, sweaty and tired.

Walked into the park and picked up the baton from Alan and Helen Bancroft with Henry and Laura  who were just leaving through Stratford Gate in willful defiance of the park managers' attempts to direct traffic through Greenaway. Good to see British contrariness is alive and well and boosted by the Olympian spirit.

I handed on the baton to my cousin Amy, and her family, Paul, Joshua and Daniel Smith over a Macky D drink - cheapest in the park.  Amy deserved a gold medal for travelling from Nottingham on such a hot day with two young children and in her eighth month of pregnancy.  They justly deserved to see to see Usain Bolt and David Rudisha win their gold medals - what a night!  And they stayed to the end!

 

For the remainder of the day three of us Games Makers sat in the tent scrabbling around for things to do - chasing the shade at the edge of the tent, attracting punters of which there were about three an hour, getting pathetically excited over lost and found items that could be inserted into the PC.  The big plus was going home at 20.30.

Friday, 10th August

Greenway Gate

Another negotiation to get into an Information Point tent with success but again assigned to Greenway.  But what a contrast - a much better day!  The Information Point had been moved outside under an umbrella and there were many more spectators using the Gate.  My stalker found me in the briefing session on arrival and by coincidence (really!) was also on the Green Team.  He walked me along the pretty river bank to our station and actually turned out to be fun.  We returned to the canteen together about an hour later for the "party" for volunteers of cakes, ice cream and speeches -that was how it was sold to us.  Arrived with half an hour still to go, after a 15 minutes trek in the sweltering sun, to find that everything had gone!  Could they not at least have organised another Cadburys, purple (like the GM shirt) trolley of ice cream?  Still, gave me another opportunity to meet up with the very nice Jane again, the publicity lady from neighbouring Kew , who I hope to meet for coffee soon. 

Then for the unrivalled drama of the day - found that something had been stolen from our lost property site.  It took an hour of bureaucratic endeavour and four people in the hierarchy to deal with it, only to be told to write a report.  Still, managed to leave at 21.30, waving goodbye to Jane as she climbed up the Orbit.  The day had gone fast, I had actually enjoyed it, had some good conversations with a number of people, I had laughed! But home too late for a Friday night curry!  

Finally, the uniform!i

Olympic Action

So this was the Olympic Games - faster, higher, stronger and definitely louder. With the cauldron to our left and the Olympic and British flags flying straight in front of us we were ready for the action. And who knew that women hammer throwers could be so graceful and athletic - the combination of speed, balance and strength is amazing. Then it was Mo time. We all know that he's cool but just to prove the point he ran in his shades. In spite of a few rough house tactics trying to trip him up he did what he had to do. A leisurely mid morning jog to qualify safely and then go and rest up ready for the final.

The final track event of the morning was the heats of the women's 800 metres and this was when the Olympic spirit came to the fore. There were the girls from Pakistan and Palestine, no doubt overcoming great obstacles simply to compete. There was the girl from Turkey who pulled up with an injury with 300 metres to go but was determined to finish and in doing so was applauded all the way to the finish line. And finally Sarah Attar, the first woman to represent Saudi Arabia in athletics. The rest of the field had finished but she still had over 150 metres to go. The whole stadium recognised the significance of her simply being there, encouraging and cheering her all the way home.

We left the stadium with the buzz of witnessing Olympic action at first hand to explore the park. It's difficult to say whether the number of people, the sense of enjoyment or the general goodwill are the biggest impressions. The deisgn of the park is wonderful and the buildings, particularly the velodrome and the aquatic centre are a triumph. 

Amongst the colours and nationalities the Dutch were always visible through a combination of unnecessary tallness and top to toe orange decor. Swedes and Danes were searching for handball tickets, Kiwis were decked in all black, including some questionable Scouser style jet black curly wigs and the Aussies were keeping a low profile. And NBC have opted for the full cliche quota with a union jack decorated mini and a red phone box on the concourse outside their studio.

Park Life!

Hurrah!  At last I find role that is more stimulating.

Yesterday began at 6.20 am with a good morning from behind me as a lined up to sign in for the day. Yes, still on time!  It was the northern guy who had pecked me on the cheek last week.  Is he stalking me? Strange that he is directly behind me out of 70,000 volunteers.  He then came and sat by me as I had coffee to wake me up.  I made my excuses quickly as he told me he would come and find me later!

I had asked to work in Information today as Mobility was not really getting me anywhere!  I had to do some negotiating with the staffing team (of which I was meant to be a part) because I had not been trained!  Was told to go to Britannia Row, opposite Park Live (the big screen) where I had been before.  But this time in a nice white tent away from the sun, sand, wind and rain - it just gets better I thought, especially as I was to work with two nice, young, friendly guys.  They quickly showed me the ropes and I jumped straight in.  We were quite busy with most people requesting maps (despite the fact the same ones were sent with their tickets) until the events in the  venues began at 9.00.  We then had about 2 hours with little to do so we sat and watched the games on the PC.  From 11.30 the crowds began egressing (official Games Maker terminology), so much so that I found it difficult to go and have lunch with Elaine (sporting her increasingly battered orange Panama hat) who treated me to a salad on her EDF vouchers.

 I had progressed from "where are the toilets?" to how do I get the recycled tickets, which incidentally they have stopped issuing because they deem the Olympic Park to be too crowded.  They do change the rules almost daily!  No wonder the public get confused and annoyed at times.  I assisted a father and son from abroad get to see Stamford Bridge, gave out info on the Leonardo exhibition, helped many people plan journeys to other venues,  completed a number of lost and found reports (no children today, thankfully), advised on what could be seen for free in the Park, as everyone had been advised to come 2 hours early and as a result had plenty of time to kill and a lesser quota of "where are the toilets?"  My Park knowledge, gleaned from being posted in different locations, came in very useful.  Being mostly busy of course meant that time went faster.  I finally felt I was doing a more worthwhile job and actually helping people.  Everyone was nice and friendly.  A better day! 

And aren't Team GB doing brilliantly!  There is a great spirit in the Park which is a joy to witness.  Came home and watched the Games on TV.  Seems I can't get enough!

Had scheduled day off today and won't be working tomorrow  because we have tickets to the Stadium - Mo Farah in the 5000m heats. Hurrah!

Keep moving - Mobility is the key

But will it provide access to a venue?

Friday was a good day.  I was excited going into work on Friday morning to witness the opening of the Stadium to the track and field events and the buzz of the Park.  I caught the bus at 5.00 as it became light.  The night bus had other Games Makers on it so didn’t feel alone with drunks as had expected and very surprisingly, felt awake.  Caught the Javelin for the first time at Ben's favourite station - St Pancras -  he preferred it to Paris! It was full of the purple and red army.  Met a lovely physio based in the Velodrome - how nice! It’s a very fast way to get across town.

Walking into the Olympic Park at 6.15 was actually quite moving with the early morning light and lots of red and purple movement.  I asked to be moved into Mobility into what is known as a Stop with a walkie talkie - definitely a promotion! Would not be doing any driving, however, not because they had heard about my driving record but due to not being trained to drive the buggies that go 3 mph. I was positioned in the area right by one of the entrances to the Stadium known as World Square.  Immediately met two more interesting girls who I could tell were more fun than anyone previously.  Their mission was to get into a venue by pushing in someone in a wheel chair every day and so far they had achieved it.  Who knows if they pushed each other? Within minutes our post of 3 were asked to do things by our very effective team leader. Then it was quiet while we waited for the huge crowd to start pouring in. Whilst we waited a TV crew arrived and asked one of the young, attractive girls to pose for the camera - a Locog shoot for the closing ceremony.  She declined and as a last resort they asked me.  Having been involved in TV production I know what it's like to try to get people to do things so I agreed, possibly out of boredom.  So I walked into the camera and posed as she had requested - sadly, minus my hat and shades.  Oh no!  What was I thinking?  I had had no time to get my hair cut or do my roots but worse than that  I had got up at 4.45 and had no time to shower, wash my hair and put on make-up.  Apparently there was no budget for costume and make-up.  Now here I was potentially exposing myself in this raw state to the world.  What was to be done?  Well obviously make myself look such an idiot that no-one would ever believe it was me so when she asked me to look cheeky I went along copying her movements - she was really quite engaging, cute and impish.  She should have been on camera!  I am relying on the fact that 50% of what is shot ends up on the cutting room floor but if it doesn’t - I will deny it's me if anyone asks!  Would be incredibly ironic if I am shown on screen as representative of the enthusiastic, role model, Games Maker when I am probably the least enthusiastic cheerleader/Games Maker.

My role as a Mobility Stop consisted of assisting people to get on and off mobility buggies and sometimes helping them into wheel chairs.  Within a short while I was busy and became more so when we had a lost teenager who had become separated from her school teacher whilst taking a photo for them.  It took half an hour for them to realise as we kept calling the emergency contact mobile that was switched off.  Just as we were calling the school the teacher appeared.  The lost teenager was quite anxious so I spent time trying to tell stories to keep her occupied such as my getting lost story -aged 4 on Blackpool beach, being taken to a lost children's caravan, waiting what seemed like days to be collected and being anxious that my nan wouldn’t be able to afford the half crown to buy me back.    A few minutes after she had been found, I noticed she had left her information sheets with me - notices about 4 days worth of tickets.  Lucky girl! Needle in a haystack to look for her? - Possibly, but I managed it against the odds!  Actually felt like I had played a role and done something worthwhile - hurrah at last!  But not for long as I was then sent to Victoria Gate, also known as the back of beyond, and sat in the wheel chair talking to the friendly security guys and another EVS Games maker clicking everyone in to count numbers because the ticket scanners throughout the park were not working.  Stayed for about an hour and a half before lunch at 11.00 (oddly).  On my return I was posted on the opposite side of what is known as the spotted bridge (due to the circles of colour in the middle) of World Square with the Gloriana (the Queens boat for the Jubilee) below me.  Took lots of pics of people with it and had much more interesting conversations with people as they waited for the mobility buggies to arrive because just like proper buses, they arrived 4 at time after a 10 min wait.  No-one had previously had the ingenious idea to provide seats at the pink mobility points so it was another day of standing and chatting to occupy the time of the disabled passengers standing, waiting, patiently.

Saturday - not so good.  Same early start but weather cold and dull with imminent rain.  This time met another lady similar job to me but based in the Stadium.  Able to watch everything.  The Olympic Life really isn't fair!  Offered to do Mobility again thinking this was  more interesting but not today!  I was out at The Aquatic Centre near the Orbit which had few spectators until 1.00 when it opened.  Was partnered with a lady who was used to bossing people around.  Nice enough but not really fun.  However, my friend from the BBC, Elaine, came and entertained me while my partner was at lunch and for the first time I laughed as a Games Maker!  Thank you Elaine!  She is working for EDF, getting paid and having a hard but jolly time working there.  The Next plastic poncho got its first outing.  Think I helped one pregnant lady onto a buggy and helped get off one wheelchair other than that it was the usual yes toilets in front of you, water fountains next to what looks like the wailing wall and photo in front of the Orbit and stadium? Sure!  Left cold, wet, miserable and tired!  Then what a great night to be home watching the sensational Team GB win so many medals.  Completely moved me and turned my mood around.  So maybe I will give it another shot on Monday.

Pics and positivity

No time or inclination to write about yesterday's dull day.  Day off today - great to have Ben home. Have been working on my positivity.  The Olympic Park is amazing.  The buildings are fabulous - especially at night.  More pics of those another day when I have mastered downloading from my mobile.  The atmosphere, incredible and the spectators very enthusiastic.  The gardens, gorgeous.  So I must try harder to enjoy the boring job!  I must remember where I am and it is an extraordinary event. Off to bed now - have to leave at 5.00 am tomorrow for a 9 hour shift for the opening of the Athletics in The Olympic Stadium.  Have offered to drive the mobility buggys for a change but doubt they will let me (NOT because of my driving skills).