- With London spread out behind her, cross-country course designer Sue Benson is nearly over the moon about the work she’s done on the Olympic project.
- Photo © 2012 Nancy Jaffer
July 27, 2012--Everyone sees the Olympics differently. For the athletes, of course, it's all about competition. For the fans, it's about cheering on their favorites. For the patriots, it's about national pride and inviting the whole world to share it. For the taxi driver who delivered me, exhausted, to my hotel tonight, it's about traffic headaches and new rules that come with the Games, which are interfering with his way of making a living.
"I was rooting for Paris to get it," he confided, thinking back to the dramatic moment when London was awarded the 2012 Olympics; he knew even then it meant trouble for him and many others whose lives have been disrupted.
Of course, it can't be business as usual during the Olympics. Looking at the bigger picture, though, the effort involved has to be worth it. The mood is generally festive and even the weather has cooperated, as last month's incessant rain has stopped. Not only the city, but the whole country, has gotten behind the Games in every way, and what was once a wasteland now proudly sports a landmark stadium. Flags and Olympic-boosting signs are everywhere. I particularly liked the British Airways billboard that said, "National anthems don't sing themselves," advising people "Don't Fly, Support Team GB."
For me, today was rather typical of what I've encountered at recent Olympics, only the details differ from country to country. A 5 a.m. start, then a two-hour slog by foot, bus and shuttle to get to the venue at Greenwich Park, many miles from the hotel that I was assigned by the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Or was it the Olympic Deliverance Commission. No, no, wait; the rather inept ODC was on the BBC series "Twenty Twelve" that I told you about earlier this week. But as I've said often here in the last 24 hours, sometimes it's hard to tell reality from a comedy show. And when my bus passed a pub colorfully called "The Hung, Drawn and Quartered," I felt as if it was named in my honor.
So then I'm told at the venue that I have to get the vest photographers are required to wear at the MPC, the Main Press Center, also many miles away. After an equestrian interlude in which I watched the first eventing horse inspection (everyone passed, more on that later) and a cross-country course walk with designer Sue Benson (give me a minute, I'll get to that, too) I walked to a nearby train station (which now is being closed for the duration of the Games so people can walk further to a larger station), took one train, transferred to another (hauling my 75 pounds of cameras and computers) took a crowded shuttle bus and wound up at the MPC.
The noise level there generated by thousands of people churning out information and photos is a blur of languages. It has help desks for everything, a number of commercial tenants, a bank, souvenir shop (of course) and places where you can buy food (the one where I purchased water had run out of sandwiches hours before the opening ceremonies). I was trying to beat the clock and get out of there before they stopped running buses back to the train station, as they shut everything down for the ceremonies. I rode a vastly overcrowded bus to the station, which was swelling with early arrivals for the ceremonies. Luckily, I caught a train called the Javelin, which was great; fast and air conditioned. At that point, I think I was more impressed by it than the Olympic stadium. Then I found my cab driver, no mean feat since five people had told me five different places to go to get a taxi. I still wasn't in the right spot, but he took pity on me. And that leads me to note that when you ask 20 different people here directions to get somewhere, you get 20 different answers. It's probably because so many of those helping out are volunteers; you have to admire them, giving up vacations to do what are often exceedingly menial tasks, and in many cases they are not well-informed or directed properly by the ODC; sorry, I meant LOCOG. But they are always nice, including the young soldiers who go through all our bags at the entrance to every venue (think of polite airport searches with a charming British accent.)
Throughout the city, people are gathering to watch the opening ceremonies. I hope I can stay awake for them, but I doubt it. However, I've seen excerpts from the rehearsals and it is astounding.
They have created a British farm scene with live sheep and horses, not to mention a thatched cottage that has smoke coming out of the chimney. It's a tableau that is exactly what you think of when considering the country's pastoral tradition. That might be more astonishing than the special effects, which make up such a great portion of the ceremony.
With each Olympics, starting with the groundbreaking 1984 Los Angeles Games, the opening ceremonies have become grander and more of a production. I feel the parade of the athletes, which used to be the central reason for the ceremonies, is becoming less and less of a focus, which is too bad, since the athletes are the foundation of the Games.
That brings me full circle to fill you in on the action (or lack thereof) today at the venue. First of all, Greenwich Park is magnificent. The oldest royal park, it's the home of the Royal Observatory, the Royal Naval College and the National Maritime Museum (where the press center is located). It's also where Elizabeth I (not to be confused with the current queen) signed the death warrant for Mary Queen of Scots. Just thought I'd throw that in.
Facilities, including the arena and stables, are built over the ground on pylons or supports, so as not to damage the World Heritage Site. It's a heart-stopping location, with a magnificent view of London, which was a little hazy today.
