We can officially mark attending an Olympic Games off our bucket lists! Some of us more than others. Scott went to a total of seven events! I went to five, and the kids each went to two to three. I couldn't pick a favourite moment. It was all incredible. I overheard a couple on the train home from one of the events sharing with another couple that they first went to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. They loved it so much that they have been to every summer Olympics since then! I can certainly see why! The Olympic bug bites and you want more! While I don't think we are booking our 2016 tickets to Rio just yet, we are still suffering from a bit of Olympic hangover!
Our Olympic tickets!
Our first Olympic event was the men's road race, which amazingly went right through our neighbourhood. We just had to walk down to the end of the block. We watched the race on TV and when we saw it was getting close to our part of town, we just walked down the street. Now how cool is that?!
The racers arrive! And at this point, if you blinked you'd have missed it! Amazing that in about 20 seconds the whole thing was over! But wow, was it impressive! Being inches from the riders, you could feel a big gust of wind! Amazing power!
Motorbike camera crew
Talk to the hand!
After the race was over, we grabbed our bikes and got to ride the official road race route around our neighbourhood. Still the same streets as before, but somehow more magical having just be christened by an Olympic event!
Cavendish love!
Day two, and we're out to see the women's road race!
Dallin missed the men's race the day before because he was in bed sick. He was only just well enough the next day to walk to the end of our street to watch the second race. He was pretty worn out after!
You could only get into the Olympic Park if you had a ticket to an event inside the park. I managed to get tickets to two different basketball games on different days, so Scott was able to take Madeleine on the first day (when Dallin was still too weak to go). I'm so glad they got to have the true Olympic experience!
A couple days after Scott took Madeleine to the Olympics, he was able to take Dallin to another basketball game (and he was finally over his illness!).
These tickets were amazing (according to Scott :) Hey look there's Tony Parker (it's impressive that I even know who this is!) playing for France.
If Scott were typing this post, he'd tell you who these uber-famous NBA players are sitting in the stands next to him. He was pretty stoked!
Team USA! It was pretty cool for Scott to get to watch some of the best NBA players play for team USA!
Coach K (I know you're impressed now!)
If you were around London during the Olympics you'd likely see dozens of these Olympic-clad volunteers at any given moment. They were everywhere!
I was so excited for my day at the Olympic Park. We had tickets to two events in one day, one inside the Olympic Park and one in another venue not far from the Park. We got up early and headed to the Park so we could spend the day there before our first event. I was so excited, like a giddy child the whole day. It was perfect!
I was so excited that I even had MY picture taken several times! I hate pictures of myself, but when else are you going to the Olympics?!
Entering the Park was just like going through airport security
Getting our tickets scanned!
Orbit, a giant ascendable sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor. I can't quite figure out this piece, but going up provides amazing views over the Park!
Stunning views over the Olympic Stadium!
Inside Orbit were two giant, very expensive (like millions) mirrors. They were cool.
One of two giant McDonald's inside the Park
Apparently the queues for the Olympic Megastore can get scary long!
BBC1 and BBC2 studios
Filming at BBC2 Studios
In front of the Olympic Village
NBC Studios in the Olympic Park
Go Team USA!
Park Live, the giant outdoor "TV room" in the heart of the Olympic Park
Team GB rowing medalists
The closest I'll ever get to an Olympic medal!
Watching Team GB take gold and bronze in the triathlon on Park Live with hundreds of GB fans
Such team spirit!
Ground zero
The Aquatics Centre
In front of the Aquatics Centre
Our first glance of the Aquatics Centre!
The 12 finalists for duets synchronised swimming
The judges take their places
Team USA
Team GB
I have to admit I spent a good deal of time watching these guys!
Sat right next to family members of the Japanese team
Russia takes gold, Spain takes silver and China takes bronze
The Russians were just unbelievable! Truly amazing to watch!
Russian national anthem
The Korean team taking photos with adoring fans
Leaving the Aquatics Centre
Goodbye Olympic Park!
At the ExCel Centre for the weightlifting final!
Behind the scenes
The finalists
The judges
The weights crew functioned just like a pit crew at a car race
Moments before the German medal hopeful lost his chance for a medal, and nearly broke his neck
The weight bar fell on his neck and gratefully rolled down his back, but for a split-second it looked like he could have broken his neck. It was very scary!
The Iranians dominated, taking gold and silver. It was interesting being surrounded by a crowd chanting "Iran, Iran, . . ."
Iran gold, Iran silver, Russia bronze
Our last event was the men's football (soccer) final! What an experience joining 86,000 people for this big event! Brazil vs. Mexico
So many people!
Teams Brasil and Mexico take to the field!
Mexico celebrating their second goal!
Mexico wins!
Medal ceremony
Leaving just before they raised the flags for the Mexican national anthem saved us from an 86,000-person queue at the tube station. Yeah, good call!
Goodby Olympics! We miss you!
Monday, September 3, 2012
London 2012: Olympics Part II
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1 comment:
Awesome! Thank you for posting such detailed pics. It really gave me a sense of what the games were like. Great job London! Quite spectacular games and venue.
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