London 2012 blog

A new-starter working at London 2012 on our political relations, I couldn’t have predicted that within a few weeks I’d be made a press officer for the day, and posted to Birmingham to look after an Olympic Champion.

Yet here I was – helping out at an announcement about potential Pre-Games Training venues around the West Midlands for 2012. I arrived at Birmingham’s fabulous Alexander Stadium just in time for the press conference where Councillors, LOCOG’s Director of Sport Debbie Jevans and athlete Jason Gardener were all ready to speak about what could be achieved by hosting overseas teams. They highlighted the great facilities available in Birmingham, Coventry, Warwickshire, Lilleshall and the universities. 

The US team and others are already in discussions with Birmingham, and the press eagerly asked questions to the panel. I was soon arranging for TV and radio interviews with hurdlers and sprinters training in the background.

I briefly considered challenging Jason to run around the fantastic stadium track, but I’m glad I didn’t - he still runs 100m in 11 seconds. Maybe next time – when I’ve been here for a few months?