Last night marked the closing ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics. When I woke up this morning, it all seemed a dream…
Had I really volunteered on the triathlon and road cycling race courses?
Did I really see the opening ceremony dress rehearsals?
Had I really whiled away some good hours over rum and jerk chicken while watching the games?
And did I really not hear helicopters this morning when I woke up?
Well, I have the aubergine and poppy gamesmaker t-shirts to prove it. So I must have been there.
I still have a few entries left to write about the games – my visit to the athlete village, a run down of the venues that I went to, some photos and thoughts about the incredible races I saw – and my favourite spectator photos… I want to record all of those memories, before I forget them, while they are still fresh…
But today, I’m still recovering. I woke up with a headache, it makes me think that I have a Games hangover… So rather than any deep or pithy thoughts I will share with you a quote written on the walls of one of the bathrooms I used at one of the venues I visited…
It kind of sums up how I feel today – like a small part of a grand history and tradition… I feel like I have spent the past few weeks respecting that tradition but at the same time I think I have been a small part of what we as a global community will take forward to future games… It has truly been a privilege to be a part of it all…
High end graffiti in the Olympic Park…
Agreed. I lived in Atlanta, Georgia U.S.A. years after the 1996 games. But it was those games that legitimized the city, becoming the 10th lgest in the U.S.A. Becoming part of the sisterhood of great world cities that have hosted the Olympics (like London, Sydney, Beijing, Barcelona, Seoul, Berlin….), Atlanta changed how people viewed her…. Perhaps London will be different (as it’s already populous and distinguished)… But as the writers here in the US have written, the London Olympics helped remind the English of the “Great” in Great Britain.