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.