Olympics - horizontal bars, horses and handsprings

So having had a great day at the ladies' all round team final the day before, we were looking forward to our second day and the mens' individual all round final - even if we knew there wouldn't be any free bubbly this time!

We had another easy journey there and were soon settled into our seats close to the 2.78m horizontal bar.  A little higher up today, but still a great view and being in and amongst the main stands, we were with more people and so there was a lot more atmosphere around us.

We also started off with some good news as we heard that Team GB had just taken gold and bronze in the men's individual road cycling time trials.

 There was a slightly tense moment during the introductions when the announcer clearly wasn't sure of his information.  Bearing in mind the still recent embarrassing faux pas when the wrong Korean flag was shown in the women's football, we all knew what the problem was.

The person waiting to be introduced had the letters KOR against his name and the announcer obviously wasn't sure whether it was North or South.  The guy concerned clearly knew what was happening too, and to his credit he was fairly good humoured about it.  The announcer eventually worked it out, and introduced the competitor from the Republic of Korea.
With two Team GB men, Kristian Thomas and Daniel Purvis, in the running, we again had plenty to cheer about, and at the point when both went at the same time, the noise in the arena was deafening.

Had Kristian Thomas managed to nail his landing on the vault, he might just have been able to get into bronze, but he had so much speed and length in his dismount that he had to take a step or two back, and in doing so lost those vital points that could have kept him in medal contention.

Still, both did well, and just having two male gymnasts in the final is more than could have been predicted a few years back.

So we weren't on the podium, but we were amused to see it being set up for the medal ceremony.  The podium was positioned on the floor, by which I mean the square used for the floor routines, not just the ground.  But of course the floor mat is always being used for the events, so it can't be there permanently.  The solution is to lower the podium in from the ceiling, and gradually edge it into the right position.

We had two fantastic days at the North Greenwich Arena.  We obviously enjoyed the skillful gymnastics that we saw, but we were also impressed by how well organised it all was and how friendly and helpful the security people and volunteers all were.

Good job everyone.

Olympics - beams, bars and backflips

Having not got any gymnastics tickets in the ballot, we were quite pleased to be able to buy some online just a few weeks ago.  They were late afternoon / early evening sessions at the North Greenwich Arena, so we could do these in day trips from where we are staying in Kent.

Apparently we can't call the arena the O2 because they aren't sponsoring the Olympics, so it became the North Greenwich Arena instead.  Mind you, even twelve years on, I still think of it as the Millennium Dome, so it generally takes me three goes to get the name right!

We had bought tickets for the ladies' all round team final on Tuesday 31 July and the mens' individual all round final on Wednesday 1 August.  The tickets were all the same price and for the second day we knew that our tickets at the bottom of the upper section be a good view because we had been to an event here before.

However the first day's were for a bar stool in the fourth row of a hospitality suite, so we weren't quite sure what to expect.  We were a bit concerned that the bar stools might be extra seats added at the back, and that it might be one of those places where the focus is on the hospitality rather than the event, so the actual view isn't really all that great.

Having heard all the warnings about congestion in the centre of London, we decided to avoid it and take advantage of the free shuttle bus from Charlton station to the arena.  The train journey was painless, we were guided by one of the many station staff helpers straight onto one of the lovely new Olympic buses.  These buses have apparently caused quite a stir amongst bus spotters, and there were a few out today, noting down numbers.

With such an easy journey, we were at the venue long before the appointed time.  We passed through the security checks quickly and were soon killing a bit of time looking at the merchandise, succumbing to a T-shirt and a 2012 pin badge.

With well over an hour still to go, we figured we'd make our way to our seats and perhaps eat the sandwiches that we'd brought with us.  When we arrived,  we were very impressed.

We were in one of the lower level suites, which was just above the press section, near to the asymmetric bars.  Our bar stools were at a little raised table behind the three rows of proper seats, but had a great view out over the arena.  It was just high enough to get a good overall view of all of the pieces of equipment, but still very close.

We had known that there would be food and drink for the fully paid paid up hospitality guests, but we hadn't expected that we would be allowed to have it too.  So when we were told we could have it, we forgot about our sandwiches, and instead helped ourselves to the buffet, washed down by multiple glasses of bubbly that were regularly brought round. We even got a free programme.  And all the while we could keep up with other events on the plasma TV.  Perfect.

So we were already having a great time before the gymnastics even started.  They kicked off with a bit of a warm up, with some introduction of the events and a few displays, but whilst Ok, they were obviously time fillers until everyone got to their seats.  Thankfully in the main the seats did fill up.  There were a few empty ones around, and a whole bank given over to soldiers, but mostly it was full.

It was interesting to see that the judges were just as pleased to be a part of the Olympics as everyone else.  When they came in during the preparation stage to get all of their things ready before their formal entrance later, we spotted them excitedly taking photos of each other.

It was great that Team GB had qualified for both finals, even though they weren't expected to have any chance of a medal, because it meant we got the full atmosphere of cheering on Team GB athletes.  And one thing we noticed with competitors was that they always show respect to their counterparts by applauding them as they are introduced.  Few others do, especially in the ladies team final.

The USA fans were out in force as their ladies were expected to take gold, but we reckon we still made more noise than they did, even though they were actually winning.  Our girls put in a great effort and did really well, but as I suspect you already know, they weren't quite good enough to be up in the medals.

Olympics tickets

Way back when the UK won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics, we decided that we would take advantage of it being in our hometown and go to see it.  We hadn't actually set a budget at that stage but, both of us had reasonably well paid jobs, so we had agreed that we would be prepared to spend quite a lot on tickets in order to get a great experience.

Of course, by the time the ticket sales process actually came around, we were already in the throes of being made redundant, had taken the decision to go travelling, and were planning our first year away.  We considered forgetting about the Olympics and saving the money, but quickly dismissed that thought.  After all, if part of our plan for travelling was to be in places when big events were happening so that we could be a part of them, why on earth wouldn't we take the opportunity of our own home Olympics.

We spent hours planning which tickets to apply for in the ballot.  We applied for our permitted twenty sessions each, but decided to try to maximize our chances for our ten favourite ones by both applying for them.   Unlike a lot of people, we weren't bothered about going to the opening or closing ceremonies.

Rather more predictably, we were keen to see some athletics, and also fancied the swimming, track cycling and gymnastics, so probably like the majority of other applicants, they formed the bulk of our application.  But we also included events like equestrian, BMX biking, hockey, table tennis, water polo and badminton, which we thought might be generally less sought after.  And of course we wanted to try to go to some finals, trying to get a balance of our personal favorite events with those where Team GB had a chance of making it into the finals and maybe even winning a medal.

In terms of price, we decided that if we were going to have a decent chance of going to some good events, we had to be prepared to spend a lot of money, and set ourselves a shockingly high budget of £5000.  And then because we knew that we had no chance of getting everything we applied for, we actually applied for £16,000 worth of tickets.  If we had by any freakish accident got them all, we would have had to put a lot up for resale, but we figured and hoped that if it came to that,  people probably would buy them.

It took us a long time to decide on price bands for the events.  We eventually settled on a mix of some only in the lower bands, but going up to the mid to high levels for those we most wanted to see.  We drew the line at any of the £300 plus tickets though.

When the results were announced, we ended up with just one pair of tickets each.  Initially we were disappointed, but as we spoke to others, we soon discovered that a lot of people didn't get anything.  And we were lucky in that the tickets that we did get are for athletics finals.  They are in the higher price ranges, so we are paying a lot for them, but we were thrilled that we would be getting to see some fantastic events within the stadium itself.

I know that the ballot process was tricky, and that it was disappointing for those who didn't get anything - lets face it, we were hoping to get more than we did so I understand that.  But I did think it was rather sad when I heard that some people I knew were actually resentful of the fact that we had got a pair each and they had got nothing.  I could see why they might feel that way if they had applied for the amount and value of tickets that we had, but these are people who only applied for a few, and only at the cheapest prices.  That was always where the competition would be strongest.  They wouldn't be prepared to spend what we have on the tickets, so it seems odd that they begrudge us having done so.  Happily, most people didn't react that way, and I am pleased to say that most people I know who really wanted to go along to something did eventually manage to get at least one set of tickets.

Although pleased with the tickets we had got, and content to use our leftover budget to offset what we overspent on in our first year away, we did still think it would be nice to try to get along to another type of event too.  And, after a lot of time on the Olympics website and many unsuccessful attempts, we finally managed to buy some tickets to the gymnastics.

So we have ended up with four sets of tickets.  Our gymnastics tickets were for the ladies all round team final that was on Tuesday, and the men's individual  all round final on Wednesday.  We had a great time at these, which I will do a blog on soon.

But we are even more excited about our athletics tickets for next week.  For our first day we will be seeing the mens' 200m final, 800m final, triple jump final and the last two two decathlon events (javelin & 1500m), as well as the ladies' 800m semis, 4x400m round one, and the javelin final.  On the second day we will be seeing the mens 4x100m relay round 1, 4x400m relay final and the pole vault final, as well as the ladies' 4x400m relay round 1, 4x100m relay final, hammer final, 1500m final, and 5000m final.  I have no idea whether we will actually get to see any Team GB athletes in these events, though I think we have a reasonable chance in a few of them, but it should still be an amazing couple of days.  And if we see a Team GB medal then all the better.

But regardless of whether you have tickets, are watching events on one of the big screens, or from the comfort of your own home, I hope you are all thoroughly enjoying the 'greatest show on earth'.