I Went To The Olympics
Saturday, August 4th, 2012 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tourmalineYesterday vicodin_martini and I went to the Olympics - more precisely, the women's 75kg weightlifting at the Excel centre. It was a great day out, everything was well-organised and the weather and transport were good.
I metvicodin_martini at Highbury & Islington station and we took the Overground train to Stratford station - it was busy but not too bad, and it was nice to see the Olympic Park again from the train, even though we weren't going there it was exciting to see it again. There were lots of GamesMakers (the purple-and-red-uniformed volunteers) at the station, keeping everyone moving in the right direction. We took the DLR to Excel, which gave us a good view of much of the regeneration in the docklands area, including the Dome (aka the North Greenwich Arena, currently hosting gymnastics). Walking from the station to the Excel, there was a GamesMaker at every road junction pointing the way, they were all so fabulous, every one happy and upbeat. As well as all the business redevelopment at the docklands, there's a lot of residential development, much of it public sector stuff - you can tell where they've tried innovative architectural stuff which they may not do for the private sector (often it's a way of securing outside funding for a development & these days means an innovative energy-saving feature in the property or the construction process).
We got to the Excel centre in good time, just as it was getting busy. Getting through security was straightforward and quick as there were lots of security points so there was no real queueing. There were several sports taking place in various arenas, including weightlifting, fencing, boxing, and table tennis. It's a huge building, the weightlifting venue was right at the end, but we got to the hall in good time to get some drinking water and buy souvenirs - I just bought a pin and a day programme this time.
Once we were let into the arena, the place eventually filled up almost to capacity, there were a few empty seats dotted around the more expensive areas, but there was a huge bunch of people from Kazakhstan with flags. The session began with all eight of the weightlifters being introduced to the crowd, followed by the officials and the doctors - one of the officials and one of the doctors were from Britain, so we waved our flag high when they were introduced. The competition itself was in two parts, firstly the snatch, which is where the bar has to be lifted in one movement - three attempts at this, if a lifter fails all three (which one did) they don't progress to the clean & jerk, which is where the bar is lifted in two movements. The score comes from the total of the highest lifts from both forms, and in case of a tie, the lifter with the lower bodyweight wins. There was some drama of the kind you don't want when one lifter (the Egyptian I think) was carried off injured after falling back with the bar landing on her, whether she hurt her back or hit her head when she fell I don't know. There was drama of a good sort as the competition progressed, the top two exchanged the Olympic record a few times. The eventual winner was Svetlana Podobedova from Kazakhstan, as she was a lighter bodyweight than the second-placed lifter she only had to match her in the weight lifted to win.
Some pictures:
Walking round and crossing bridges at the docklands, our first glimpse of Excel
Emirates Royal Docks - one end of the Emirates Air Line
About to enter the Excel main building, which is 10000 miles long
Ready for competition to begin
Cleaning at half-time - the infloor camera cleaned with a damp cloth, the boarded area cleaned with a swiffer on a stick, and the carpeted area vaccuummed with a Henry
The medal ceremony
We were herded out quite quickly & smartly after the session, it was crowded but started to thin a bit to a more comfortable level once we got outside. We walked round a long walkway & path route, passing some of the Kazakhstan fans who were photographing their children standing with a group of British soldiers, and past a view of a cluster of old buildings from the heyday of the London Docklands. We got to the DLR station and I sawvicodin_martini onto her train towards Stratford, I thought the next one would go towards central London but they all went to Stratford so I had to change at Canning Town. That was fine, but with everything pointing in terms of Olympic venues it's hard to find which platform you need for a named station. Eventually I got to Shadwell where I changed again for the Overground to H&I (actually you leave the station, cross the road and go into the Overground station, which is the old East London line) and a bunch of guys were discussing the Overground and the Underground, resulting in the inevitable singing of the Wombles theme. My train there went back to H&I, and on the Underground then to Euston two Tiggers (or possibly two generic tigers) and a crocodile got into my carriage, so my Olympics outfit looked less noticeable then. I bought some food and just made it onto the 7.03 train home, but then there was a bit of a discussion whether it was a peak or off-peak train, thankfully there was no ticket inspection - it's not practical if it's busy. I managed to get a seat eventually, and ended up having a discussion with the guy next to me about the Olympics, he'd been down to Excel for the table tennis and it too was much more exciting live than on TV.
I eventually arrived home around 8.30ish and jumped in the shower, even when it's not hot & humid outside the LU isn't a comfortable place to be in summer. I followed the shower with a bit of a food fest as I realised I hadn't eaten much during the day, and caught up with the Olympics news I'd missed. It had been a long day, but a great day, and it was so nice to meet another LJ friend for real - thank youvicodin_martini for your company ♥♥
vicodin_martini and I went to the Olympics - more precisely, the women's 75kg weightlifting at the Excel centre. It was a great day out, everything was well-organised and the weather and transport were good. I met
vicodin_martini at Highbury & Islington station and we took the Overground train to Stratford station - it was busy but not too bad, and it was nice to see the Olympic Park again from the train, even though we weren't going there it was exciting to see it again. There were lots of GamesMakers (the purple-and-red-uniformed volunteers) at the station, keeping everyone moving in the right direction. We took the DLR to Excel, which gave us a good view of much of the regeneration in the docklands area, including the Dome (aka the North Greenwich Arena, currently hosting gymnastics). Walking from the station to the Excel, there was a GamesMaker at every road junction pointing the way, they were all so fabulous, every one happy and upbeat. As well as all the business redevelopment at the docklands, there's a lot of residential development, much of it public sector stuff - you can tell where they've tried innovative architectural stuff which they may not do for the private sector (often it's a way of securing outside funding for a development & these days means an innovative energy-saving feature in the property or the construction process). We got to the Excel centre in good time, just as it was getting busy. Getting through security was straightforward and quick as there were lots of security points so there was no real queueing. There were several sports taking place in various arenas, including weightlifting, fencing, boxing, and table tennis. It's a huge building, the weightlifting venue was right at the end, but we got to the hall in good time to get some drinking water and buy souvenirs - I just bought a pin and a day programme this time.
Once we were let into the arena, the place eventually filled up almost to capacity, there were a few empty seats dotted around the more expensive areas, but there was a huge bunch of people from Kazakhstan with flags. The session began with all eight of the weightlifters being introduced to the crowd, followed by the officials and the doctors - one of the officials and one of the doctors were from Britain, so we waved our flag high when they were introduced. The competition itself was in two parts, firstly the snatch, which is where the bar has to be lifted in one movement - three attempts at this, if a lifter fails all three (which one did) they don't progress to the clean & jerk, which is where the bar is lifted in two movements. The score comes from the total of the highest lifts from both forms, and in case of a tie, the lifter with the lower bodyweight wins. There was some drama of the kind you don't want when one lifter (the Egyptian I think) was carried off injured after falling back with the bar landing on her, whether she hurt her back or hit her head when she fell I don't know. There was drama of a good sort as the competition progressed, the top two exchanged the Olympic record a few times. The eventual winner was Svetlana Podobedova from Kazakhstan, as she was a lighter bodyweight than the second-placed lifter she only had to match her in the weight lifted to win.
Some pictures:
Walking round and crossing bridges at the docklands, our first glimpse of Excel
Emirates Royal Docks - one end of the Emirates Air Line
About to enter the Excel main building, which is 10000 miles long
Ready for competition to begin
Cleaning at half-time - the infloor camera cleaned with a damp cloth, the boarded area cleaned with a swiffer on a stick, and the carpeted area vaccuummed with a Henry
The medal ceremony
We were herded out quite quickly & smartly after the session, it was crowded but started to thin a bit to a more comfortable level once we got outside. We walked round a long walkway & path route, passing some of the Kazakhstan fans who were photographing their children standing with a group of British soldiers, and past a view of a cluster of old buildings from the heyday of the London Docklands. We got to the DLR station and I saw
vicodin_martini onto her train towards Stratford, I thought the next one would go towards central London but they all went to Stratford so I had to change at Canning Town. That was fine, but with everything pointing in terms of Olympic venues it's hard to find which platform you need for a named station. Eventually I got to Shadwell where I changed again for the Overground to H&I (actually you leave the station, cross the road and go into the Overground station, which is the old East London line) and a bunch of guys were discussing the Overground and the Underground, resulting in the inevitable singing of the Wombles theme. My train there went back to H&I, and on the Underground then to Euston two Tiggers (or possibly two generic tigers) and a crocodile got into my carriage, so my Olympics outfit looked less noticeable then. I bought some food and just made it onto the 7.03 train home, but then there was a bit of a discussion whether it was a peak or off-peak train, thankfully there was no ticket inspection - it's not practical if it's busy. I managed to get a seat eventually, and ended up having a discussion with the guy next to me about the Olympics, he'd been down to Excel for the table tennis and it too was much more exciting live than on TV. I eventually arrived home around 8.30ish and jumped in the shower, even when it's not hot & humid outside the LU isn't a comfortable place to be in summer. I followed the shower with a bit of a food fest as I realised I hadn't eaten much during the day, and caught up with the Olympics news I'd missed. It had been a long day, but a great day, and it was so nice to meet another LJ friend for real - thank you
vicodin_martini for your company ♥♥
