So, as I write this up the Olympic Games have finished and we are rapidly approaching the final ceremony.
If we turn the clocks back a few weeks, from what I saw and heard, there was minimal excitement for the games itself, a bit of moaning about London dwellers having their city taken over, whilst prices for tickets seem to be escalating rapidly out of control. We were unsure if we were properly prepared, and if it would even be a success, not only on a sporting front, but a commercial side too with the eyes of the world firmly staring upon us, some already predicting failure (Cheers Mitt Romney)
The day of the opening ceremony, I remember at work we were discussing about it at work. It was something we'd watch, but nothing to be excited about - with us happy to lounge on our sofa's at home and quickly flick onto it between episodes of Come Dine With Me or suchlike. Danny Boyle was put in charge of blowing our minds, and frankly I thought it might have all just come off a bit pretentious.
How wrong was I. Brighton Beach had put up a giant 100ft screen to remain up during the Olympic Games, starting with the opening ceremony and by all accounts it was absolutely packed, with a fantastic atmosphere. Not just that but the ceremony itself was fantastic. I certainly had my doubts at the start, tweeting some kind of bored confusion, however giving it a bit more time it really started to take wonderful shape. It was fantastic, so fantastic I ended up watching it again - it was the talk everywhere, Twitter, work, Facebook, the pub, the world. London had really announced to the world that it meant business and we had no intention of letting the occasion overshadow the fact it was being held in London and we wanted to really make it one to remember.
What followed were just over 2 weeks of brilliance. Honestly I was not prepared how much I'd get sucked in. I found myself watching something every single day, flicking between what I thought was some great coverage by the BBC. That is without SKY (so just the 3 channels for me), watching an absolute multitude of sports I'd never even considered watching before, ranging from Shooting and Hockey, to Taekwondo and Sailing. It was unreal. My TV was on from as soon as I got in from work and didn't stop watching until long into the night, even at work we had TV's on from time to time, yet I never ever got bored or felt like it was too much! Whilst I was obviously supporting Great Britain and following our athletes with a keen interest, some sports just have world class athletes you just want to watch, simply because their might not be another like them for a long time. Michael Phelps in the swimming, Usain Bolt in the 100m/200m, they simply command your attention, you are drawn to them. And boy did they not disappoint, Bolt especially seeming to lull alot of people into thinking he wasn't at his best and Blake would usurp him. Though he really showed everyone what the Olympic Games meant to him blasting to gold on both his runs. Great Britain itself though really did us proud .We had expectations with people like Sir Chris Hoy, Rebecca Adlington, Tom Daley and Bradley Wiggins, but so many more stars have now stepped up to the plate and become national heroes. Mo Farrah has been fantastic, winning two golds. Jade Jones, Louis Smith, Nicola Adams and Anthony Joshua. But what I think is being so fantastic about these worthy winners is in this modern era where we are always trying to encourage the youth of today to take up sports more, these people are so strongly supported. All through the Olympics the support of our athletes was fantastic, the atmosphere was incredible, and that's just my opinion from watching it on TV. These people's lives will change forever after these games, but also hopefully they encourage more of the countries youth to want to follow in their footsteps. Considering the media are so eager to criticize rappers for setting bad examples and creating negativity with beefs and whatnot, all during the games they were constantly giving support to our athletes all through the games, and attending events, which has maybe broken a barrier between. Their support has really helped to give the Olympics and the athletes a larger fanbase and a really positive message, as well as maybe showing those who feel it's not really 'cool' or whatever to watch the games, or support them, that it's actually a good thing to get involved.
All in all this is probably going to be the biggest event that we will have on home soil in our lifetime. Fine for a few weeks the Underground may have gotten crowded, the parks may have been packed, and congestion may have been awful, but you were part of the Olympic Games, and the biggest sporting event on the planet. And it has been fantastic, with minor issues, and we've shown the world that given the chance we can put on a sporting spectacle. We should be proud of what's happened here, and it is 100% something that one day you can look back on and tell your kids or grand kids all about.
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