My Olympic Summer
Words and photos by Andrea Edwards
No matter where you were in the world this summer belonged to the Olympics with the focus centered on London, my home city. It is only once in a lifetime that the Olympics are likely to come to your home country and there was no way I was going to miss it.
I had always supported the Olympics coming to London, although in the eight years leading up to the event this was definitely a controversial stance to take. From the initial joy of winning the Games to the shocking attack on London the next day, through changes in Government, fears of recession and questions of why we want to spend money on sport when most families are in dire straits. Not to mention the worries of venues not being ready, tickets not being sold and security risks, the journey towards the Olympics was certainly tumultuous with a large section of the British public apathetic towards the whole thing.
It was not until British cycler and Tour de France winner, Bradley Wiggins, rang out the world’s largest harmonically tuned bell at the Olympic Opening Ceremony did the whole country finally get the Olympic spirit. And what a Ceremony? Danny Boyle’s Isle of Wonders took you through almost 300 years of British history from the industrial revolution to James Bond and a spectacular entrance by the Queen, with homage to the National Health Service and the wealth of British literature and music, as well as Mr Bean and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. This Olympic ceremony reminded us that we have more to celebrate in Britain than just the monarchy, pomp and tradition. To other nationalities the ceremony may at times have been baffling, filled with in-jokes, but it perfectly summed up the British sensibility. It had warmth and humor, at times was irreverent, but always idiosyncratic.
From that first day the country was behind the Team GB athletes. Even some of the hardest critics among my friends couldn’t help but get swept up in the Olympic fever and made a desperate scramble to get tickets. Even for my part I left it a bit late to get tickets for any of the headline sports but I managed to secure tickets to the ever so exciting women’s team semi final of table tennis! But I would have been happy to see anything; I just wanted to be a part of the Olympics.
Travelling home after a year away I immediately noticed the difference in London. Everyone was happy. The mood in the city was fantastic. It was as if every glorious summer day had rolled into one making each day brighter than the last, instantly lifting everyone’s spirits. It didn’t matter that the actual weather was the usual British offering of cloud; rain and intermittent sun; people were full of the joys of the Games.
The Olympics were able to crack the hardened veneer Londoners tend to have partly due to the fantastic army of Olympic volunteers, the so-called Games Makers who directed tourists, kept spectators moving and provided information always with a smile and a greeting. Londoners are not used to that kind of friendly manner and it spread like wildfire across the city and country.
Of course it helped that our Team GB athletes were doing so well on the track and field, in the pool and velodrome with the medals rolling in. It reminded us that we have more to celebrate in UK sport then our over paid footballers.
This feeling was electrified at any one of the Olympic venues. I visited the London ExCel Centre, which was the largest competition venue at the Olympics, home to table tennis, boxing, judo, wrestling, fencing, taekwondo and weight lifting.
As you approach the venue the purple and orange T-shirts of the Games Makers start to vividly appear and greet you with their boundless energy. You are quickly and efficiently taken through security before heading up into the noise and excitement of the arena. Like me, for the majority there they just wanted to be a part of the Olympic experience with many people proudly wearing their Team GB T-shirts and waving Union Jack flags. It didn’t matter that we were actually seeing China and Korea battle each other out for a finals place.
There were of course Chinese and Korean supporters in the audience too, the Chinese being the most vocal, chanting a special cheer for their team. They definitely over powered the Korean cheers and my own “Go Korea” got lost in the hubbub, except at one particularly tense point there was a lone cry of “Go Team GB” which broke the tension with mutterings of laughter.
The game itself was a white wash and over pretty fast. Korea didn’t win a single game in the three matches of the semi final. The Chinese dominance was unyielding and even the tactics from the sidelines of the Chinese coach, being the last person in the entire arena to stop clapping for every single Chinese point won, would certainly have been off putting for the Korean team. However, just being there, seeing the venue, watching the sport, being with supporters, there was a community spirit I have never felt before and certainly went hand in hand with the general feeling of pride and happiness the country seemed to have to be hosting the Games. I would not say that British people are particularly patriotic, certainly not like Koreans, too much history of the Empire and negative connotations of the British flag to contend with. But for those two weeks this summer I have never felt more proud to be British (although it does make me cringe to even admit that). Britain was the green and pleasant land that welcomed the Games and will hopefully have a lasting legacy of sport for generations to come. In the mean time the summer sun fades, the grey skies return and the hard shell of London sets with just memories of the summer that was.