Olympic Games Maker Diary; 11 Aug (Saturday)

 

 

 

 

The final entry in my Olympic Games Maker diary is for the afternoon of Saturday 11 August 2012. I was confronted with the realisation that this was my last day; my last shift as a Games Maker. No more travelling up to London, no more early starts, no more advance ticket purchases …and no more Olympic Games. I got to the Olympic Park early so that I could walk to the other venues and take some photographs in daylight. Only then did I realise the enormity of the park. I came across the BBC studio from which Gary Lineker, Sue Baker, Jake Humphries, Gaby Logan, et al had been reporting daily, the huge BP angled glass screen, the velodrome, the basketball arena and the hockey pitch.

I got back to the Print Room Distribution 1 (PRD1) about 17:00 in time for the start of my last shift. After my early meal break, it was back on my head doing the same old thing. A job that had been alien a couple of days ago had now become routine. Everybody knew what they had to do; they just got on with it …quietly and responsibly. No fuss, no disagreement, no dissention in the ranks. Part of the way through the shift there was a noticeable lack of bodies, but the remainder redoubled their efforts to make sure that the results were delivered on time. We were instructed to run down the photocopiers of paper and toner. The last print out was a summary for the whole athletic events; when these were distributed to their delivery points, the party was really over. It was only then that I heard the fat lady sign.

We all hung around until the team from PRD2 joined us, before the ubiquitous group photographs were flashed-off. The person in charge of distributing the printed result made a short speech thanking us for our sterling efforts before the final flourish of goodbyes. Despite the vast crowds, I managed to meet up with my son & his wife at the exit to The Orbit, adjacent to the 455 steps which lead down from the viewing platform. They had got tickets to see the individual diving event, featuring Tom Daley, in the Aquatic Centre. As I got off the train at Hertford East who should I meet but …Geoff Cordingley (another editor at Herts Memories).

…and in conclusion

Looking back, my time as an Olympic Games Maker could be likened to that of a dragon fly; the life span was exceedingly short but with an arduous amount of wing flapping. As I walked around the Olympic Park, I was met with a friendly greeting with a constant smile from security staff, armed forces personnel, police officers and other Games Makers. What was surprising was that most of my peers turned out to be team-players. Nobody stood on ceremony; everybody mucked-in regardless of their status. I had worked with an incredible group of people, most of who were dedicated to the task in hand. They did not have to be told what to do; they just got on and did it. Pragmatic people who did what they had to do, the like of who I will never meet again. It was an unbelievable experience, one that I would not have missed for the world. The reality is that, I will never experience another Olympic Games in London again in my life time.

The End