Hi Folks
This week I am gloriously happy. I don't think in my entire life I have ever been able to say I have been 'gloriously happy'. There is usually something niggling at me. The reason for my perky mood is that I got to attend the Olympics on Monday 6th August. And not just any Olympic event, I actually got tickets for the stadium so I was in with that huge crowd. I'm sure many of you are probably sick of hearing me bleat on about it, not least if you follow me on Twitter or are a friend on Facebook. But it has been a dream of mine to go to an The Greatest Show on Earth since I first understood what it was all about around aged 12. I never actually expected it to happen. So when I got my tickets offered to me in the ballot I was speechless. I remember just weeping like a complete nutter. I'm remembering it here as I type and its making me well up now as well. I know it must seem strange to some folk that I am such a die hard fan of the Olympics. I can't put my finger on what made me start loving it so much, all I know is 'I do!'. I will watch any event and when I originally went into the ballot, I ticked every single box for every single sport for both Olympic and Paralympic sports. I wanted to see it THAT badly that I didn't care what sport I got as long as I got to go.
The excitement on the build up to it over the last year has increased exponentially the closer it has come to my big day. My brother Ben is as nuts on the event as I am and so I was really excited when he was planning to come back from Cambodia just for the games. Unfortunately, due to the ridiculously high prices that flights cost it was unachievable. I had four tickets so I invited my uncle to take my brothers place. We are a bit sport fanatical as a family. That is to say, we love watching it haha, not actually partaking.
The day started really early, 5:15am - this makes for a very tired Gemma. But spirits were high and my boyfriend Sean was kind enough to drive us up to Stratford for the main event. The park is absolutely huge. The TV set doesn't really do it justice. There is so much to see!! I took the wheelchair for the day, I never would have managed even to get to the Olympic entrance gate without it. Everywhere is a lonnnnnng walk. I'm really glad I made the decision to do so or I would have missed a lot of the magic.
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| Outside the Olympic Park |
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| Ready to go into the Stadium :) |
When we got settled in our seats there was enough time to soak up the enormity of the stadium from the inside. Everyone on the opposite side in the tiers just looked like dots. On our day (Day 9) the stadium was full to capacity - 80,000 people. Even though it was the qualifying heats, it felt like a medal event. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. Whenever anyone ran past on the track or anyone threw a shot put/discus on the field, the crowd just erupted, no matter what country the athlete was from. We were lucky enough to see the 1500m qualification round for the women, 800m qualification for the men, the Women's Shot Put, Men's Discus and 200m Hurdles for the Women. So much to see, I just didn't know where to look!!
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| Hannah England in the 1500M Qualification - she's wearing the knee high white socks |
We all came in our Olympic T shirts, waving flags all the way and with a lot of Olympic fever!! Was great to see so many people from so many nations doing the same. I even painted my nails with Union Jacks. A day I will remember for the rest of my life, so lucky to have shared it with my loved ones too. I have some great photos and I cant wait to get some of them printed. Now the heat is on to get some Paralympic Tickets on the official website. I would love to see some Wheelchair Basketball and Cycling, though as always, any sport will do for us :)
