We think the groupings of the facilities are great making many of the venues within close proximity to the Olympic Village. It really will be a compact Games. We also enjoyed getting out to Eton Dorney, Hadleigh Farm and to Weymouth for a look around at the facilities outside London.
Me with Don Tricker and Jake Wilkins outside ExCeL:
London has really played to its strengths by using iconic venues such as Lord’s, Greenwich Park, and Hyde Park. We timed our trip nicely to Horseguards Parade, the venue for Beach Volleyball, as we watched the changing of the guard, reminding us of Britain’s history and tradition.
Holden Point lookout provided a fantastic view of the work on the Olympic Park. It is great to see so much activity and to see the Olympic Stadium and all the big venues taking shape so quickly.
While in London, we took part in a session of the Olympic Village Operational Planning session at LOCOG’s offices. As an ex-athlete (I competed in the Mountain Bike event in Athens 2004) I spoke about requirements from an athletes’ perspective. It was good to see the level of detail that LOCOG is going into at this stage, involving all the various teams within the organisation – from transport to security to communications.
We have made some good contacts here in London this week and we look forward to coming back again, and bringing a large team of athletes here in 2012.
