Watching History Being Made

View from my suite seats during the 2012 Olympic Men’s Gymnastic Team Finals

Kayla Hanley

London, England 

Who would have thought that on a cloudy, and rainy Monday I would walk with royalty, watch like celebrities, and see history being made all within 3 hours. Being at the Men’s Gymnastic Team Finals on July 30 allowed me to do all of this and made me experience the Olympic spirit first hand in a venue covered in pink.

China won gold, Japan won silver, and Great Britain won bronze causing the crowd to arise in chaos. Great Britain medalled for the first time in the past 100 years for the team finals within the summer Olympics. Originally they were placed in silver followed by Ukraine but due to a Japanese appeal they were awarded bronze. No matter what the place was every fan in the crowd was on their feet showing their support.

Seeing the reactions to the entire crowd was really indescribable. Flags from USA, Great Britain, China, Ukraine, France and many others were flying all throughout the arena in every corner around the stage. As I was looking down at some of the fans from my suite seat I could see fans with tears in their eyes knowing that their nation had just accomplished the task of medalling which is the goal for every athlete here in London.

I had chills and goosebumps the whole time that I was watching the athletes compete at a different apparatus because I couldn’t believe that I was actually at an Olympic event in person. This was an event that I have been watching from home at every Olympic competition since the age of 8 and not only was I a fan but a journalist which was more than I could ever dream of.

Everyone seems to know the importance of the Olympic games when they watch each event on their televisions at home. I thought that I knew the significance and that feeling of pride when watching the athletes walk to the podium yet being there to experience and first hand see their reactions really was priceless. More often than not when one watches the games from their televisions at home they do not get to see the reactions from the audience and to me that was one of the highlights of this event.

China-Gold Japan-Silver Great Britain-Bronze

Not only were the residents of London and those visiting the city supporting the men, but also Prince Harry and Prince William were in attendance. I could see them from my seat and they were directly in front of me and they were on their feet cheering and standing the whole time. I am not sure whether or not they were there the whole time but they were there to see their home country take the bronze medal which really was a great accomplishment for the entire country.

As I am writing this and looking back at being in North Greenwich Arena for this team finals around I am still in shock and awe at experiencing something that will be talked about for a very long time. Being from America it is unfortunate that USA only placed 5th but seeing the strength and drive that Great Britain had, as well as China and Japan, they deserved their places. History has finally been in the making here at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and I am proud to say that I am a part of it.

Bang for the Buck(ingham Palace): Olympics start in London with Opening Ceremonies

By: Olivia Arbogast

All eyes were on England last night as the Opening Ceremonies kicked off the 2012 Summer Olympics. Fans from all over the world gathered around the city to watch the ceremony, filling places from Trafalgar Square to Hyde Park to Green Park.

In a small nook in the middle of London, more than 1,000 eager spectators watched the events unfold on a small projector in the Duke of York Square, by Sloan Square.

The countdown for the London Olympics began more than seven years ago when it was first announced that the city won the bid for the games. The sign in Trafalgar Square displayed the countdown until the final minutes.

“We run lots of events with the projection screen,” said Will Lewis, the manager of Duke of York Square. “We did throughout the summer … for a variety of events, including Wimbledon, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the English National Ballet.”

The spectators stayed actively involved throughout the ceremony, standing when “God Save the Queen” played and cheering for Mary Poppins when she defeated Lord Voldemort.

“I’m not going to lie, my expectations were very low for the opening ceremonies,” said Patrick White, of London. “But I was close to tears within the first five minutes of the ceremonies. It exceeded everything I thought it would be, and I loved how they highlighted the Industrial Revolution.”

Hadrian’s Wall native, Anna Roberts, agreed.

“Everything is usually underplayed in England,” she said. “Expectations are never built very high. It was interesting to see how they chose to represent the country – from an engineer to J.K. Rowling to a couple of different musicians.”

Not even rain could detour the audience as gray clouds threatened the event all evening and well into the night.

“We actually wanted it to rain a little more so people would leave,” Roberts said. Then, he said, there'd be better seating for them.

But seating was not in short supply, as Lewis brought in extra chairs for spectators, as well as extra security guards.

Viewers gather in the Duke of York Square to watch the Opening
Ceremonies. BBC reported more than 27 million viewers for
the ceremonies, 

“This is a very unique occasion,” Lewis said. “It is always difficult to guess the crowd, but we figured that it was going to be big. We hired a bunch of extra security for this event in particular to watch for crowd control that sort of thing.”

Vendors from around the area set up tents to offer their services to the spectators.

“All of the vendors belong to the square – 35 all together,” Lewis said. “It is a prime local area, and this event helps them to get the word out about their services.”

In addition to the Opening Ceremony, Lewis said that the square would also be projecting the Games for nine more days.

“We will also be showing the 100-meter dash and the closing ceremonies, among other events,” he said.