London 2012 - When My Heroes Came To My Town

Growing up, the Olympic Games were something I looked forward to, and watched with great enthusiasm on television. It was something aloof, far away, and magical. The athletes seemed in the same league as the Avengers - superhuman entities competing in this celestial arena.

As a teenager, and an athlete myself, I looked up to a lot of these great men and women. My sport was triple jump, so you bet I was glued to the TV when Sir Jonathan Edwards attained the world record back in 1995 - even if it didn’t happen at the Olympic Games. At that point though, I was already jumping quite impressively at triple jump that I felt I had the ability to go to the olympics. I had smashed my high-school record years before that and with enough training, I could have jumped the qualifying distance to enter.

My parents were totally dismissive of anything apart from academics - so my art and athletics took seats at the very back. I wish my parents were aware of Mr Edwards, who himself studied physics!

I had moved to London when the city won the nomination for the 2012 Olympic games. It was like some kind of dream. Since the nomination happens many years ahead, it didn’t feel as imminent, even if the initial excitement was there. The sheer possibility of attending the Olympics, which used to be something of fantasy, actually became a thing.

As the time drew nearer, there was fear London would not be ready for the event. The incredible display put toghter by Beijing struck fear into the hearts of Londoners. China ran what was probably the most clinical Olympic Games in my living memory. The opening and closing ceremonies seemed like some kind of outwardly computer generated show from a different planet. I remember the commentary on TV from western pundits stating that only China could put up a show like that, with everyone in such synchronicity. Someone said perhaps also North Korea could.

I suppose they were alluding to communism and totalitarian authority and it’s ability to impose uniformity on the masses. That which would be impossible in a more “free” society.

The handover to London at the closing ceremony itself was a metaphor of sorts. The stark contrast between the sharply dressed personalities from China and the scruffy, unkempt Boris Johnson - then Mayor of London, was so glaring.

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Fast forward to 2012, it seemed London would definitely not be ready. The contractors scrambled to finish the massive projects they had embarked on for many years. I remember the SKANSKA signs all over the cranes and scaffoldings around London.

At that point, I was working in the borough of Hackney which was one of the main parts where the Olympics were to take place. Chunks of land from Hackney, Stratford and Bow were claimed for the Stadium and Olympic village.

There was also the opportunity to expand Stratford from a medium sized London transport hub to an International standard station. The transportation infrastructure brought in there has completely transformed Stratford with the addition of at least 3 new stations and the extension of the DLR network and District Line.

Warming up to the games, the arrival of the torch to London was a massive affair for the city and surrounding parts. Wherever you lived in the city, you got to chance to see someone running by with the Olympic flame. I got to see it twice - once as it went right past my home, and second when it went past my workplace.

I couldn’t believe how intimate the whole affair was too. I remember getting to talk to ‘celebrities’ face to face as they lined the roads the same as we normal folk did. I got to chat to Phillips Idowu, who was also one of the flame bearers, since I was there when he passed it on and he stayed back to have a chat and take photos with fans. Mr. Idowu was actually representing the UK in triple jump that year, so that was an experience of a lifetime for me.

When the games finally kicked off, I was totally immersed in the energy of it. I had to walk through the back of the stadium to get to work on a daily basis, so I was in the Olympic park every day. Every day!

Ironically I never got to see any of the events in the stadium at all, which was a huge disappointment for me at the time. I just couldn’t get tickets, as they sold out many months before the games started. You can imagine people that came from distant lands took their ticket buying more seriously. I was less committed, understandably, since it was just at my doorstep and I felt I had more time to decide.

The tickets were sold on a bizarre online auction system. There were some that became available during the games, but you had to be logged in and ready to buy within the few minutes window, which I always missed.

I did see a few events in the adjacent arenas though - the velodrome, the tennis courts, e.t.c., so I didn’t feel as though I missed out much. Besides, I was in the park everyday whereas most people watched on TV.

Nothing can describe the positive energy around the Olympic Games. Londoners were at their best. In all my years in the city, I had never experienced such good times. The transportation system, which we were sure was going to collapse on day one, ran the best it had ever done, and has ever done till now. The roads were clear, the busses all ran on time. I remember getting to work a lot more easily, when I had expected that to be a problem.

I don’t know if the government brought in a lot more resources from the rest of the country to make this happen, but what ever they did, they need to look into doing on a national scale. They got London running like Singapore.

The Olympic “helpers”, which were mainly volunteers, impressed the world. They got the longest and loudest standing ovation at the closing ceremony, and I concurred.

At work itself, it was a strange couple of weeks. For the first time ever, we were allowed to watch tv during work hours. The bossman even installed one in the middle of the office. I had an iPad with the Olympics app on it, on which I was able to connect to the events I was interested in, that weren't necessarily being shown on the main tv. I was watching the triple jump, for instance, while others watched the footie.

Talking of footie, that was the only stadium event I watched, and I had to travel all the way to Wembly for it. Again, the crowd control was exemplary, which was shocking for Wembly Stadium.

All in all, there was a massive feeling of euphoria that took over the city like a smoke cloud. For two weeks, we lived in a reality distortion field where the world was beautiful and everything was right. I would like to see the crime figures for those two weeks, I am willing to bet that crime was down during London 2012.

To add to matters, it was raining gold medals for the British athletes. Andy Murray prevailed in the Tennis. Mo Farah somehow defeated runners that were better on paper. The rowers, the cyclists, the swimmers all brought their A game for the glory of the kingdom.

After the games ended, things were only back to normal for a little while, before the frenzy restarted for the Special Olympics - The Paralympic Games.

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In my opinion, the Olympic Games were even surpassed by the Paralympics. I can’t describe it, without getting goose bumps to be honest.

Imagine the awe feel for great athletes that are able to achieve incredible things - Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Andy Murray and so on. I imagine people that are able to achieve those goals even with a disability or after a life changing accident. There’s the awe of human achievement in and of itself, but there’s also the inspiration that comes with the overcoming of life’s adversities.

I have never been inspired more than I was during the Paralympic games. There is nothing like watching blind people play football, amputees sprint or partially paralysed people swim. It completely shatters the idea of limitations to what one can achieve - on a psychological level anyway.

”If this person can do this, what’s my excuse?”

Expectedly, there were fewer people overall attending, so there were more tickets available. I bought up as many as I could afford as I seemed to be logged on permanently onto the ticket auction site.

I became totally immersed in the Special Olympics that I must have seen every category of sports taking place; athletics, swimming, tennis, boccia, fencing, e.t.c.

The technology team did an incredible job with the Special Olympics app. For every event, the app showed a schematic of the athlete’s level of disability. That made it so real for the audience.

I was nearly brought to tears during a women’s volleyball game when one of the players wheeled in with my name on the back of her vest. Not my name, but hers - we just had the same name.

I bought so many tickets that I had some events that were happening at the same time. I had been more prepared this time, and taken two weeks off work just for the games. This meant I could go to as many events as I wanted, unless they were taking place at the same time. I gave away some tickets, including a pair of amazing seats up front in the main stadium itself.

It was all worth it, seeing the look on the face of this little boy in crutches ( who I assumed was disabled) when his mother told him they were going into the Stadium. I hope he was inspired and is now doing great things to the best of his ability today, 6 years on.

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Eventually it all came to an end and everyone left, leaving Londoners to deal with the downer that follows the high. You know that feeling of anticlimax that follows a great event. I dealt with it by spending a lot of time in the Olympic village after the event.

Luckily for us, the park kept the energy going for years after, with organised sporting activities in remembrance of the events. A lot of the signage can still be seen around the park today, even though West Ham FC has moved into the property. The park itself is still open to the public to enjoy.

The only thing that I found extremely annoying was the fact that the flats (thats “apartments” to you Americans) that the athletes stayed in, that were supposed to be sold to the public at some point, seemed to have sold quickly without any major announcement. This meant I missed out on the possibility of buying one of them. To be fair, I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford one, but I would have appreciated the chance to have tried.

You can’t have a place like that in London for long though. Such prime land, next to the largest shopping complex in Europe - Westfield, is now home to a couple of corporate towers consisting of offices and hotel rooms. The vast open skyline there is in the same danger as all the open skies of London.

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Personally, it was the event of a lifetime, and I am eternally grateful that it happened in a city that I lived in, and that I had the opportunity to be part of it. I had always wanted to go to the Olympics as a triple jumper, but I got my chance in the end to at least be there. I got to meet some of my sporting heroes, and I made new ones especially at the very, very Special Olympic games.

Thank you for your time.
I couldn't post on Palnet today, so I used Busy :)