I have just returned from a week in Guatemala for the 119th IOC Session.
My week started off with huge delays when our plane got struck by lightning as it came in to land over Mexico City. This was a pretty nerve-wracking experience for all on board and our plane ended up being diverted to Acapulco where we had to spend the night. The next day consisted of more delays while our plane was checked by an engineer and I eventually landed in Guatemala City at 3am on Tuesday morning – nearly 36 hours late. This unscheduled stop-over reminded me of being back in the Bid days when planes frequently went to wrong destinations and bags were regularly lost!
Once in Guatemala, I was driven to my hotel, part of a zone consisting of all of the hotels and conference centres involved in the Session. I was very impressed with the volunteers working with the Guatemala NOC who were remarkably friendly and very effective.
The main objective of our trip was to update the IOC Session on London 2012’s progress to date. Our presentation seems to have gone down very well and there was wide-spread approval of our new logo. It was an excellent opportunity to explain to international partners the thinking behind our logo and we are therefore pleased by the reaction.
The highlight of the week was, of course, the selection of the host city for the 2014 Winter Games, which Sochi won. Sochi’s Bid was supported by Russia President, Vladmir Putin, who was in attendance in Guatemala. Sochi also brought an Ice Rink to Guatemala on which ice-ballet took place on most nights in the build up to the vote. We enjoyed the hospitality party on the night of the celebration. It is only when you have been through a bid that you can truly recognise the relief of winning after the years of hard pounding. Now their real work starts!
