Friday, 3 August 2012

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.



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