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.