The Magnificent Olympic Park Flowers
So many have remarked that the best part of the Olympic Park is the flowers.
Judge for yourself! Read about how the gardens were created in the Daily Telegraph.
Britain’s Secret Ingredient – The Twenty-Third Of March
Someone has just pointed out on Radio 5 Live, that Steve Redgrave, Chris Hoy and Mo Farah, all share the same birthday; the 23rd of March. They were born in 1962, 1976 and 1982 respectively.
Believe it or not they share the date with Roger Bannister, who was born in 1921.
The theme is carried on by Chris Hoy’s colleague Jason Kenny, who won gold in Beijing and London.
Kingston Comes To Stratford
On Friday night, there was a lot of Jamaican flags in the crowd at the Olympic Stadium. I think it is true to say, that after the British, Jamaica was one of the best supported nations in the athletics. But then Jamaica is a small nation and London, or perhaps New York, are the nearest they’ll get to a home Olympics.
In fact, this must have been the best games for other Caribbean nations too!
On the other hand, Usain Bolt and others in the Jamaican team, were fulsome in their praise of the help they received in Birmingham, where they were based in the UK. Did it help training amongst friends? And did it help the other Caribbean nations too?
We’ll never know for sure. But surely friendships made during these Games, will in future benefit everybody!
Saturday Night Fever
Is there any other headline for Mo Farah‘s two triumphs on successive Saturday nights in the 10,000 and 5,000 metres? Let’s hope after tonight’s exertion, his wife doesn’t give birth to the twins she’s expecting. Now that would be a double double!
I can just about remember the second of Lasse Viren‘s second Olympic double in 1976, although for his first in 1972, C and I were pre-occupied with the arrival of our third son. But I don’t think there will ever be another long distance double done by a British Athlete in an Olympic Games held in the UK. And remember, that Mo Farah has spent most of his life in London. But what odds will I get on Mo repeating the feat in the Athletics World Championships in London in 2017?
Hopefully, I’ll see it.
The last few years have been difficult for me to say the least.
Mo’s feat has given me a big lift and hopefully, the thought of seeing a repeat might keep me going.
If there is any sport, I wanted to be good at, it was running the classic distances of 1,500 metres upwards. But I wasn’t any good, although I got great pleasure in watching the classic races as they were shown live on the BBC. I can remember Chataway defeating Kuts , to claim the world record at the White City, Derek Ibbotson‘s mile record and Bruce Tulloh‘s triumph in Belgrade from my childhood. All gave me a tremendous lift, but all feats are small when compared to what Mo has done.
Hopefully, the lift I get will be proportionate. I need it more than ever I did all those fifty or more years ago.
Chasing Jessica
I’ve been trying to get this iconic advert using Jessica Ennis for a few days now, before it disappears.
Chasing Jessica
I finally caught it on a 38 bus at Islington tonight.
The Olympic Park At Night
I took these pictures as I left last night.
In fact I wish I’d taken more.
Advertising At The Olympics
The Olympics is not an advert-free zone.
Advertising At The Olympics
Surely these little cars, used to pick up the shots, discuses and hammers are nothing but blatant advertising for Minis.
Olympic Walking Routes
Yet again last night, I feel victim to the badly laid out walking routes away from Olympic sites.
From the Olympic park, they always assume you want to get away on the Jubilee line to the centre of London, so late at night they always ban you from going to Stratford, where they funnel everybody across the bridge to the station. As I want the Overground out of Stratford, it’s very difficult for me. They want everybody to walk to West Ham. It’s probably quicker and easier to get to Dalston from Welwyn Garden City, than it is from West Ham.
Let’s face it, the Jubilee line is about as useful to me, as a chocolate teapot.
In the end last night, I walked to Eaton Manor Gate and then found I just missed the W15 bus, I needed to get to Hackney Central for any number of welcoming buses home. I should have taken the Victoria Gate and walked through the park for a 277 or 30. But hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I had a similar problem at ExCel trying to get to the cable-car, where you had to walk twice the length of the Excel building to get going in the right direction. Wasn’t the Emirates Air-Line supposed to be an important part of the Olympic transport network?
I can only assume that Olympic travel routes were drawn up by someone who doesn’t walk or use a bus and probably lives in Houston. They certainly didn’t bring the 488 bus into their thinking, despite the fact that Transport for London said they extended the route to Dalston for Olympic purposes.
They certainly made it difficult for those who live close to the stadium and just a couple of Overground or Underground stops away difficult.
The View From On High
The Olympic Stadium has set new standards for views in the high seats.
But then the architect of this stadium is probably the most experienced in the world.
And The Babies Came Too!
I suspect these two babies aren’t very old and they both behaved very well!
And The Babies Came Too!
I think it shows that the seats have fairly good legroom and space underneath.
The Anonymous Widower 