Having been lucky enough to watch three Olympic sports, we (the family) enjoyed our once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Athletics stadium is fabulous - personally I would rather watch sport there than in the insipid (new) Wembley. It was also good to get into the Aquatics Centre and be part of a large crowd for a swimming event (ok, it was synchro swimming but more of that later).
Olympic football at Old Trafford was good as well (Egypt vs Japan) - 71,000 people cheering on a fairly good game. Old Trafford did give us a taste of what to expect at the Olympic Park. The crowds were just a crush and security was a real crowd-slower (as opposed to the Olympic Park where the Army was in charge and whizzed you through).
Lessons Learned for LOCOG.
1) Ticketing - not impressed at all. Why have so many tranches of applications? And why were so many people disappointed? Just get them all out in advance and let people have at least one sport from their application if at all possible. I know that you have to give x% to corporate and x% to dignitaries, but the sight of so many empty seats at venues (particularly basketball and diving) where we had tried time and again to get tickets was galling. Just as bad were all the corporates who were there for the business not the sport - you could tell who they were by the fact that they were always up and down in the seats in front of you, coming back 10 minutes later with the next round of beers and not really bothered about the sport. Please get them a hospitality tent where they can enjoy the sport on a big screen in the background and leave the seats to the real fans.....that meant many nights of chasing last-minute tickets: handball, no; volleyball, no; basketball, no; diving, no....all of which looked to have plenty of empty seats when we watched on telly, but synchronised swimming - yes!!
2) Photography. Come on. We're not doing something that has not already been done before.....I was not assuaged by the lack of any real information beforehand about what kind of camera you can take. Lots of people have DSLRs these days and to only see bits that said "...nothing bigger than 30cm...." was no real guide at all. Andy Hooper wrote a nice little book called 'Capture The Moment' that seemed to be at odds with what LOCOG were telling or not really telling us. In the end we had the sight of Tom Daley asking for a re-dive due to all the flashes on a myriad of compact cameras, and instructions from LOCOG for us not to publish any photos taken. I'll have a look in a couple of weeks to see how many non-official pictures come up in a Google search. We're not terrorists, we just want to take a picture of an inspiring moment and share it. Will the athletes who took pictures at the Opening/Closing ceremony and have posted them on facebook be hounded?
3) Stadium design. Fab, though it is unbeliveable that you cannot see the top of the 10m diving platform from the top half of the top tier of seats in the Aquatics Centre. A little faux-pas in whoever checked the CAD on that one.
4) Prices. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most people so although we baulked at £95 per head for the athletics, it was worth it. To then charge people £4.60 for a pint in a plastic glass or £8.50 for a dollop of Thai curry was making the world and his wife pay London prices. On the plus side, being able to bring in a bit a our own food was very welcome.
5) Sponsors. Top marks to Coca-Cola for their red-and-white block. A bit of entertainment in the queue, some stuff to play with on the way up, a free picture with the Olympic Torch at the top and a party in the basement. In a close second was Samsung with it's digital postcards and pin badges. Thereafter it was just unadulterated sales pitches for the captive masses, and the film by BMW was just mind-numbingly tedious. 7 years and a bootful of cash and the most exciting thing about your pavilion was the water cascading down the outside....?!?!?! oh, and EDF - everyone was impressed with their photo with a 3D Victoria Pendleton but has anyone actually managed to download a copy....???
6) Games-makers and the park. Absolutely wonderful. A nice bunch of helpful people that have given a very positive impression of GB. The wildlife park running through the middle of the park was also a touch of genius and a welcome sit-down and catch-up with the big-screen.
7) Security. G4S were conspicouous by their absence. Well done to the UK Armed Forces. They were efficient, friendly and got the job done. Personally, they should have been in on it from day 1 and monies spent on private security instead have gone to veterans charities. Overall the Games passed without an incident (that we know about) so congrats to all the efforts that made that happen and let everyone attending feel safe.
8) Information. Hmm, do I dare wear my Pepsi t-shirt and Nike trainers? Can I take a camera to the football? Could do better. All of this should have been sorted months beforehand and been clearly publicised.
9) Sustainability. Very good! Everything was well made (-1 for the Aquatics Centre...) and with a mind to the environment/what would happen to it afterwards. Someone will have to address how they take off the top tier of the athletics arena if West Ham are going to take it over...=:~)
10) Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Once you got over the thought that Danny Boyle was just making a favourites tape then it was very entertaining. Perhaps a little bit long on both occasions, but a great impression of GB which will stay with the world for a very long time.
Overall verdict: 9/10 and a seat on the IOC for Seb - well done London 2012!
