We've been caught up in all the excitement of the Olympic games and were lucky to get tickets for the basketball at the Olympic park. We also took the opportunity to watch the men's time trial going through Kingston, so we got caught a fleeting glimpse of Le Colonel Wiggo himself.
We got a superb impression of the organisation of the games in London. The Javelin train from St Pancras to the park was swift and comfortable, the welcome at the park warm and efficient, security fuss-free and friendly. The atmosphere around the park was exciting, food not unreasonably priced and of fair quality, and the venue we experienced was superb. We watched two basketball matches: Lithuania versus Nigeria and Great Britain against Brazil. We had the distinct impression that basketball fans have a short attention span, what with the constant entertrainment in the warm-up, time-outs and half time, Mexican waves, singing, kiss cams and chanting. It was a lot of fun.
The Lithuania match was one which made some minor headlines owing to the racist behaviour of a small group of fans. From our position we were only aware of the non-stop whistling from them every time Nigeria, clearly the inferior team, got the ball. Not quite the Olympic spirit. One Lithuanian fan was subesequently fined for his behaviour, which included making a Nazi salute at one of the black volunteers. He claimed, in his defence, that this was normal behaviour in sports venues in his country.
Talking of the volunteers, they were superb. Numerous, friendly, helpful and clearly glad to be part of the celebration.
The following day we found a spot on Kingston bridge to watch the time trialists speed through. This was rather exciting too, partly because we knew we were witnessing a British sporting phenomenon, partly because of the knowledge that we were sharing the excitement with many others. I took the chance to pay a visit to Tiffin School, close to the town centre, where I taught for four years from 1980.
Exciting times, as they say.
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| Le Colonel Wiggo sur le pont de Kingston |
The Lithuania match was one which made some minor headlines owing to the racist behaviour of a small group of fans. From our position we were only aware of the non-stop whistling from them every time Nigeria, clearly the inferior team, got the ball. Not quite the Olympic spirit. One Lithuanian fan was subesequently fined for his behaviour, which included making a Nazi salute at one of the black volunteers. He claimed, in his defence, that this was normal behaviour in sports venues in his country.
Talking of the volunteers, they were superb. Numerous, friendly, helpful and clearly glad to be part of the celebration.
The following day we found a spot on Kingston bridge to watch the time trialists speed through. This was rather exciting too, partly because we knew we were witnessing a British sporting phenomenon, partly because of the knowledge that we were sharing the excitement with many others. I took the chance to pay a visit to Tiffin School, close to the town centre, where I taught for four years from 1980.
Exciting times, as they say.
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