The Javelin train from St Pancras was so quiet and fast that we arrived early at the Olympic Park so were able to enjoy a walk and then a meal in the open air. In fact when I had last seen this area of London it was a dismal dirty mess. Some complain about the huge cost of the Olympics but in my view the money is well spent. That part of London would have remained a vast rubbish heap for generations if the need to clean up and redevelop fast had not arisen. That is the kind of once in a life time incentive provided by the Olympics in my view.
Dad (age 92) last attended the Olympics in 1948 when he saw the men's 10k final. No gold medals for team GB on dad's night in 1948 but Mo Farah's run 2012 at c. 27.5 minutes was really exciting to watch yesterday evening and he just pipped his American friend Galen Rupp to the finish and win the gold medal.
The packed 80,000 crowd including the 4 of us, was ecstatic with excitement. As I had run 10k that morning with good friend Chris over Wimbledon Common before setting off for the Olympic Park and as our time was about an hour,I realised that we would have been more than lapped had Mo been at Wimbledon earlier - what talent and tenacity he has.
But that was far from all. Jessica Ennis whose achievements at winning a Gold medal in the heptathlon probably rank as one of the best British results of all time, was so deserving of her success that the whole contingent of heptathlon competitors walked the circuit of the stadium with her to greet and thank the crowds of spectators.
Meanwhile in the stadium there was Greg Rutherford quietly getting on with his long jumping then much to our amazement and glee, his 8.31 jump was another GB gold medal winner of the evening.
A Fantastic and memorable night out with 3
generations which we all loved.
You lucky fellow, Jerry! Fancy choosing Super Saturday of all days! I watched everything on TV and the atmosphere was quite extraordinary, so I can't imagine what it must have been like for you actually being there.
ReplyDeleteAfter all my sour words about the Olympics I'm absolutely hooked.
Greetings Barnaby - I agree! The London Evening Standard yesterday commented about Saturday night's session in the Olympic Park:
ReplyDelete"For all the success of the sailors, cyclists and rowers, the most indelible memories were those tense moments on the track as three determined individuals gave British athletics its finest hour. This was a moment of national ecstasy to enter the annals of sport alongside Bobby Moore lifting the 1966 World Cup and Jonny Wilkinson’s nerve-shredding drop goal in Sydney nine years ago.
Sometimes, there is no need to do more than revel in the moment, to take vicarious pleasure in the success of supremely talented athletes rather than trying to overburden their performances with wider interpretations. But like it or not, sport always has wider significance — one reason it is taken so seriously.
This is especially true when confronting racial boundaries. Think of Jesse Owens destroying Nazi theories of supremacy, Basil D’Oliveira forcing apartheid South Africa to cancel an England cricket tour and France’s multiracial football team giving a riposte to the racists by winning the 1998 World Cup.
In a similar way, those 60 breathtaking minutes on Saturday might become a significant moment for Britain. For as so often in the past, the skill and successes of sporting heroes symbolise something far more profound than just the longest jump or fastest run."
The women's football final with friends this Thursday night is my final Olympics visit. Interestingly when I booked the tickets a few weeks ago, there was no interest in women's football at all. Even though there is no British involveent in the match (USA v Japan) the match is now apparently a sell out.