Wandering around the Olympic Park

The Olympic Park has excelled as a brilliant venue for an event of this size. It is a huge space and the layout makes it feel quite open. Aside from the competition venues there is quite a bit to see and do and hanging out in the park before/after attending an event is the norm. The landscaping is impressive with fields of wild flowers peppered throughout, a river which has nice paths for walks and interesting art scattered around the site.

I did not attend any of the events held at this stage however the fact that it was there was quite cool. This is located close to the middle of the Olympic Park and hosted events throughout the games. In the background you can see the Riverbank Arena and at the front an example of some of the wild flower gardens.

Stage for music

Park Live is a very cool space. It is basically a very large double sided screen which can be viewed from the fields and hills surrounding it which shows live sport from around the Olympic Venues. Most visitors to the park will spend time here watching, visiting and picnicking. In this picture you have a nice view of the Basketball Arena and the Velodrome with the Village to the right.

Park Live

People enjoying Park Live from the hill with the Olympic Village in background

Often while walking around the park you stumble across nice touches and this is a fine example. A classic British icon made into an interesting piece of art carefully placed in a very random spot. I saw the other half of it farther down the path.

Phone box art

As you can imagine the media is a large part of this event. Most of the media is based in the Media Centre however a couple of the larger groups (BBC and NBC) had studios in the Park. Here is the filming of the Today Show at the NBC studios located near the Basketball Arena.

NBC Studios / The Today Show

The BBC Studios were much closer to the main Olympic Stadium and had several studios inside. On the top left is the main BBC 1 studio with the open air at the top being the BBC 3 studio. In the middle were a couple more used by either.

BBC Studios

Again, walking around the place had a very unique and interesting feel. Down the main boulevards there were hoards of people and just off from there tranquil settings like this with amazing views.

Bridge over river with Aquatics Centre and Waterpolo Arena 

Next to the NBC Studio there was this. BP was a major sponsor so they got a building in the Park. I have no idea what they were doing inside, but I thought the outside was quite cool. This is a very large mirror angled perfectly for spectators passing by to see their reflection. I wonder how many pictures with the carefully placed BP logo in the top left were made and shared? Points if you can spot me.

BP mirror building

The ArcelorMittal Orbit is a piece of art created by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond. Apparently (according to wiki) it is the UK's largest piece of public art and will be part of the Olympic Legacy. There is a viewing platform at the top with views into the main stadium. You can purchase tickets to go up it in addition to your tickets to the park for £15.

ArcelorMittal Orbit

View of Olympic Stadium with Orbit 

Part of the bid that won London the games was for the event to be uniquely British. In order to help this they specified that there would be a strong presence of the typical police constable (or bobby) on show throughout the venues and Olympic Park. These cops do not carry guns and around the park proved to be quite fun. I saw groups these cops doing the Usain Bolt lightning bolt pose with fans for photos and having fun with the public. Their presence was to push home the Britishness of the games and also to provide security and I think they did a great job.

Cops on horses

The Games Continue; Other Olympic Venues

As we moved through the first week of the Games our schedule, as expected, picked up and became quite busy. Often we would have several athletes competing at conflicting times which complicated thing. We were not responsible for transporting athletes to events as there was a dedicated shuttle service for this however we were responsible for taking the CdM, dCdM and other officials to their selected events. This often meant hopping from venue to venue in order to make specific competition start times.  The Cubans mainly focused on the events that were of the greatest significance to them which usually meant they had the best chance of getting a medal.

Because the Cubans have such a strong tradition in combat sports (judo, taekwondo, boxing, wrestling and fencing) this meant that much of our time would be spent at these venues. All of these sports were held at the ExCel Exhibition Centre. The ExCel has massive halls (about 500,000 square foot) which were converted into competition venues. The ExCel is very large with one large boulevard down the middle that separates the North and the South Arenas. In addition to the combat sports, the ExCel was home to table tennis and weightlifting. Visiting each of the halls in the ExCel was interesting. Some of them depending on the sport being played proved better than others.

ExCel main boulevard

ExCel main boulevard

I was very excited to see table tennis live however the experience was not quite what I hoped. The massive hall for table tennis had the tables in the middle of the room and the stands seemed quite low and did not provide enough of a vantage point to effectively observe matches being played on one of the tables on the opposite side of the room from you. This meant that it was harder to get into the games as you spent most of your time watching the monitors in order to see what was happening. 

Table Tennis

Table Tennis action

Wrestling is a sport that I wasn't very interested in prior to the games. Olympic wrestling includes two formats: Greco-Roman and Freestyle. Although my experience spectating was better than I expected, I doubt I will be seeking out any wrestling matches in the future.

Wrestling 

Wrestling

Women's Freestyle Wrestling

Judo was an unknown to me. I had heard of it however never seen it live. I very much enjoyed the matches but I had quite a hard time understanding how it was played. Once I figured it out, I grew to like it which was good because Cuban Idalis Ortiz wound up with Gold in Women's Judo 78kg+

Ilias Iliadis (Greece) defeats Tiago Camilo (Brazil) 11 – 2 to win Bronze

Asley Gonzalez (Cuba) v Kirill Denisov (Russia)

Weightlifting  was a sport that seemed quite unappealing to me however I must say it turned out to be fantastic! Each athlete can chose how much they are going to attempt to lift and the person bidding the least goes first. As the rounds progress the amount an athlete chooses to attempt becomes more important and can invovle a great deal of strategy. The Weightlifting Arena was great and so were the crowds in attendance. I was lucky to be present when a World Record and Olympic Best were set.

Weightlifting

Lu Xiaojun (China) sets a new world record and Olympic best in the Men's 77kg weightlifting clean and jerk

Boxing was always going to be great. The Cubans have a long tradition of boxing excellence and were certainly ones to watch. Cuba brought 8 boxers to the Games of various sizes and secured 4 Medal Matches.

Boxing Arena

Opening of Lazaro Alvarez (Cuba) v Joseph Diaz Jr (USA), 21-15 to Alvarez

The site of the shooting competition was the Royal Artillery Barracks. This is a military compound which was completed in 1802 and was used by the Royal Army until 2007. The disciplines included are rifle, pistol and shotgun events. The Cubans had athletes in pistol and rifle competitions and won gold with the pistol.

Royal Artillery Barracks

Royal Artillery Barracks

My trip here was to take the CdM and dCdM to observe the a Cuban competing in the Woman's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event. This sounded very interesting as the shooter must score the highest points while shooting a limited number of rounds from 3 positions (standing, kneeling and from prone). Sadly the Cuban shooter only shot with 96.83% accuracy and finished 16th with 581 total points. The winner was Jamie Gray from USA who shot 98.61% accuracy and scored a total 592 points. The venue for this event was a long rifle range with an isle behind the shooters and in front of some bleachers setup for spectators. The seating capacity was minimal and we sat on benches directly behind our shooter. I must say that even with our fantastic front row view I had a hard time following the action. The target was so well concealed that I found myself watching the monitors and the scoreboard to try to keep up. Obviously the sport requires a massive amount of skill and accuracy however I would not say that it makes the best spectator sport. I could see this being better to watch on television where you would have a commentator relaying the significance of the goings on, and the ability to have better views of the action.

Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions

Scoreboard

Competition

Let the Games Begin; The Olympic Park

The first days of the games were fairly slow for Team Cuba. Many of the events that Cuban athletes were participating in didn’t begin for several days so the needs of the Cuban NOC were fairly minimal. One of the main tasks for this period was for physical therapists to be transported to the rowing village to treat these athletes as they were one of the first to begin competition. Another was to take the CdM, dCdM and other officials from the Embassy to and from competition venues outside of the Olympic Park where Cubans were competing. For us this meant frequent trips to the Excel Centre where Cuban athletes were competing in Table Tennis, Judo, Fencing, Weightlifting and Boxing and the Royal Artillery Barracks where the shooting competitions were held. Each NOC has a detailed list of the timings for their athletes competing so making sure they arrived in time for these events was going to be our mission. We shared these duties and have managed it thus far without too much complication. Traffic in London has been better than expected during games time thus far, and the Olympic Lanes around town help, however it is not uncommon to still manage to experience delays. 

Because things with the Cubans are running smoothly I have had the opportunity to have a nose around the Olympic Park and check things out. My first trip around the park during games time was quite impressive. The first thing that strikes you is how massive the whole place is. There are 7 venues on site including the main Olympic Stadium,  Copper Box, Basketball Arena, Velodrome, BMX Track, Water Polo Arena, Riverbank Arena and the Aquatics Center. I have managed to see several events and medal ceremonies. Sadly I haven't yet been to the BMX track or Water Polo Arena.

Handball is an interesting sport which I hadn't seen played live, so I was interested to check it out. Handball is a team sport where two teams of 7 (six outfield players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team. A match consists of two 30 minute halfs and the team with the most points at the end of time wins. It is widely regarded in European Countries but far less in the US and UK. The pace of matches is intense and I really enjoyed it as did the 7,000 strong crowd at the Copper Box.

          

Copper Box - Handball Arena

South Korea v Denmark (W)

South Korea v Denmark (W)

The basketball arena is one of the closest venues to the Village and is quite impressive to look at. It holds 12,000 and is a temporary venue that is planned to be sold and moved on after the games. I have managed to see a few games already with the biggest being USA vs Nigera last night. There was a capacity crowd for what turned out to be an Olympic Record for highest points ever scored in an Olympic Basketball match. Team USA dominated from the start and at one point Carmello Anthony had nearly as many points as the entire Nigerian side. I was sat next to two very enthusiastic American guys in London on exchange through their university. They claimed that they were sitting in Kobe Bryant's wife's seat and wound up with them through a convoluted story involving Bryant's agent giving the unneeded tickets to someone the guys knew who then passed them on to them. At first this seemed very unlikely until I looked over two seats and down one row to see Lebron James' mother and girlfriend as well as Carmello Anthony's wife/girlfriend. Needless to say, sitting 3 rows up from the USA bench I felt quite lucky to be where I was.

Basketball Arena

Argentina v Tunisia (M)

Spain v United Kingdom (M)

Spain v United Kingdom (M)

USA v Nigeria (M)

USA lineup (M)

USA timeout

USA second team (M)

Final Score

For me the 6,000 seat Velodrome is the most interesting of all the Olympic venues. It's construction is impressive and the finish is amazing. The control of temperature and humidity inside the Velodrome is key to achieving maximum speeds therefore the air pressure is tightly controlled. There are massive doors outside that lead into a small air-locked room. You are only allowed to enter the interior when the outside doors are closed. This means that it is very warm inside. The massively steeped bank oval track is very impressive as are the speed that can be achieved on them.

Velodrome

Velodrome track

Team GB set World Record for men's team pursuit

The Riverbank Arena is a 15,000 seat field hockey stadium which is also a temporary venue setup for gamestime. The playing surface is blue turf which is watered before play in order to reduce friction which helps the dimpled ball travel smoothly and reduces bouncing. I saw the second half of Australia v South Africa (men's). Australia being a strong medal favorite in the sport they walked away winning 6-0. The day after the match I was in the Olympic Village headed to the dining hall when an outgoing South African athlete started up a conversation with me. Once I figured out he was on the hockey team I told him that I was at the match. He was frank about it and explained that they were happy they played Australia early as he thought they would only improve as the games went on. He went on to say that they were not too disappointed about the loss which seemed pretty honest to me.

Riverbank Arena

Australia v South Africa (M)

Australia v South Africa (M)

The Aquatics Centre holds 17,500 and is world class and will be London's premiere aquatics centre for years to come. With the addition of seating for the Olympic Games the place feels massive and is very loud. One end has the diving pool and the other the lanes. I attended a medal ceremony for the Women's 200m where American Rebecca Soni took gold. Later Michael Phelps took gold in the Men's 200m medley giving him 20 Olympic medals. The place was electric and the noise in that place was ridiculous and when Phelps won things got silly.

Aquatics Centre

Women's 200m back - Semifinal 1

Women's 200m breaststroke Medal Ceremony - Rebecca Soni (USA) gets gold

Men's 200m Mixed Medley final - Michael Phelps (USA) gets gold

Marching orders

Every country upon arrival to the Olympic Village is offered a welcoming ceremony. This is held in the international zone which is a secured area where press and other non-accredited officials are allowed. It is as close to anyone outside of the delegation can get to the Village and is usually buzzing with activity. It is not uncommon to see large groups of press surrounding athletes giving interviews. There are shops, a beauty salon/spa (free for delegates), a bank, a phone shop and even a post office. We were given a time when we needed to have our delegation to the zone and made it without incident. The welcoming ceremony was a performance filled with exciting montages of music and drama. I think most of the delegates were unsure about the experience however they seemed to appreciate the excitement for the Olympic experience.

The last week before the Opening Ceremony has been very busy. All of the Cuban delegation has arrived with their related equipment and gear without any further problems.  Most of our delegates are happy and seem to have settled into their new temporary homes nicely. Training schedules have been set up for the athletes and everything seems to be ticking over fairly efficiently. The NOC Assistants for Cuba have been very busy making this possible. We have been taking the coaches and officials to observe training sessions for rowing, diving, boxing, judo, table tennis, cycling and athletics. This has meant that we have been able to observe some very cool and interesting things and often working 12-16 hour days. For me the most interesting to observe thus far has been the boxers. Watching these guys train has brought a new appreciation for the sport and what is involved in competing at this level.

Among my duties, I have taken team officials and physiotherapists to Eaton Dorning the site of the rowing competition and the rowing village at Royal Holloway University. This is another athlete’s village for everyone competing in rowing and canoe events. We have toured the competition venue and facilities and I can say that it is quite impressive. The size of the various lakes is impressive as is the setup of the accompanying facilities, which include a press center, vast facilities for equipment and gear, a transportation hub as well as a gym and lounge setup with video games, pool tables and a large area for internet use.

In addition to training sessions and venue inspections, I was lucky enough to be the driver for the CdM, dCdM and PA to an event at the Ambassador for Cuba to the UK’s house. This was an informal afternoon with everyone that seemed very important to the Cuban Delegation including diplomats and the Ambassador herself. The delegates and officials met in the lounge for some drinks and cigars, had lunch in the dining room then continued outside in the back garden for more drinks and cigars. The drink of choice seemed to be whisky and beer with Cohiba as the cigar of choice. This was a nice afternoon and opportunity to see the senior delegates and officials relaxing and enjoying themselves.

The Opening Ceremony has always been a large area of concern for LOCOG. NOC Services (the group that manages all of the NOC Assistants) held a large meeting to discuss the plan for the event. This was a major task coordinating many things over a very large space including thousands of participants and even more spectators. Similar to the welcoming ceremonies, the NOC Assistants for each team were issued a detailed plan including specific time to leave our residence block, which specific route to walk and where to stand. Our job was to walk the delegations from their residential blocks to the stadium where another set of stadium specific assistants would take over. 

Around the village there was a real feeling of excitement. Each NOC would get dressed up (some more than others) and gather outside their apartment buildings ahead of their specified departure time.

Argentina

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Nepal

Spain

Sudan

Cuba

At 9:06pm Team Cuba departed and made it to the agreed meeting point and entrance to the Olympic Park on time. Once out of the village there were thousands of fans and press lining the path to the Olympic Stadium. This was as close as I can imagine that walking a red carpet must be like. Standing at the front of the delegation and next to the Cuban representative nominated to be the flag bearer was brilliant. Fans screaming for attention, lights from news cameras, hundreds of camera flashes and the roar from the stadium was amazing.

We continued to the designated handoff spot and peeled off from the group as planned. The desire to try to carry on into the stadium was immense but the prior warnings at the meeting earlier and the very strong presence of security and support staff made it clear that that would not be possible so I headed off home. On my way out of the Olympic Park I got my first look at the park and Olympic Stadium up close. 

To exit the park you have to use one of several bridges that cross canals, which connect you with the exit routes. The first large bridge I came to was blocked off and we were instructed that it would be closed for the next 30 minutes or so. I carried on around to the next bridge and the story was the same. Large groups of people desperately trying to leave to make their trains and connections home were standing there in disbelief. Eventually I found a smaller bridge closed to the public but could be used with the appropriate accreditation. As it turns out I had this so I was happy. As I crossed the bridge I looked down into the canal to see two fancy looking boats, one with neon lights glowing that seemed to be setup for something. As it turns out, it was David Beckham with the Olympic Torch staged to pass it for its arrival to the stadium. This ended my evening and I managed to beat the crowd home finally making it back to see the parade of athletes. 

To wish the Cubans good luck for the games our team gave a cake to the CdM, dCdM, and other top brass.