Preparation : London 2012

May 05, 2012

There is no better place to be right now as the Olympics approaches, The London metropolis is buzzing and rightly so because the date is drawing closer. Almost seven years ago (6th July 2005) to be precise, The International Olympic Committee announced London as the host of the Olympic games beating stiff competition like Madrid Paris and Moscow. From then onward Local Organizing Committee spear headed by Lord Sebastian Coe who himself was an Olympic Gold Medalist, winning the 1500 meters event in Moscow and Los Angeles (1980 and 1984 respectively) swung in action straight away and having visited the Olympic Park in Stratford London for the test run of the facilities, One can just conclude no stone has been left unturned. I have always been of opinion that The Great Britain is one of the most organized countries in the world. As mentioned earlier, I paid a visit to the Olympic Park which is some fifteen to twenty minutes to where I live. I was in awe of what I saw.

From the entrance of the park, the security was of high intensity and could be compared to what is obtainable at major Airports around the world. Full search was carried out, as you have to empty all possession for scanning, while the thorough search seemed inconveniencing, the reasons are quite justifiable considering the fact that London is one of the terrorist hit list zone. I was not allowed to take pictures of the scanning area for security reasons. Taking a stroll down memory lane, London was still in celebration mood after being declared as the winner of the Olympic bid when next day 7th July 2005, the terrorist group struck several train stations across the city.

Foods and bottled drinks are not allowed to be taken into the park but you can get all these within the Olympic Park but pricer than what you will get outside the park. The plus however is the venue is close to the newly opened Westfield Shopping Centre which has virtually anything you can think of . On getting into the park I head straight for the Olympic Stadium itself to see the state of preparedness. Preparations were going on for the athletics test event later that evening; you could tell that everyone wanted to be part of the games one way or the other as there were quite a number of volunteers who were just happy to be part of the Olympic fiesta. The spectator chairs were been cleaned, the technical crew were setting up and there quite a host of journalist present.

I left the stadium and headed for the aquatic centre and hockey pitch. I made my way to the aquatic centre as it was quite a walk from the main stadium, there were sign posts to give directions to the various sports venue, visible were various food centres/café and a McDonald restaurant. On entering the centre I began to feel the experience of the Olympics as seen on the television screen, the centre was ready to be used later that evening. At the time of visit,there were few officials around inspecting the facilities to be used later that day . The most prominent colour in the aquatic venue was different shades of blue. I left the centre and headed for the Hockey pitch which was quite a long walk howbeit within the park, The Hockey pitch was painted blue and had a feel of a stadium.There were quite a number of security operatives walking around the park.Overall there were still some minor construction going on with the Olympic Park which I believe will be finished in time before the commencement of the game. You can see the pictures attached to give a feel of what I experienced.