27th July – 12th August 2012
Dear family and friends,
On the 23rd July Ralph and I flew over to London and moved into 10 Northcote Road situated in the northeast of London, 40 minutes away from the Olympic Park by bus. Ralph accompanied me and stayed for a week. I was glad for that. As you can imagine I was quite excited and asked myself constantly: “How will I cope with my new role at the Olympics?” Vanessa and Miggy welcomed us in a warm and open manner… although we only arrived around midnight.
As you know, my role at the Olympics was the one of a “Dignitary Assistant”. I was responsible for organising the official programme for a Sports Minister. This included booking transport to venues, providing guidance and information on specific events. Dignitary Assistants were part of the International Dignitary Programme at the Olympics and Paralympic Games. As you can imagine Sports Minister’s programmes may change quite often and sudden. Assigning a Sports Minister to a specific Dignitary Assistant seemed to have been quite a challenge for the Regional Coordinators. I only knew a few days beforehand that I am assigned to the European team, this meant, that I will work for a European Sports Minister. But still I did not know for whom until one day prior to his arrival on 27th July 2012.
Louise called on this day and informed me, that I will be responsible for the Hungarian Sports Minister, Attila Czene. The Hungarian Sports Minister is a Swimmer and Olympian Medallist himself. In 1992 he won Bronze in Barcelona and in 1996 he won Gold in Atlanta, both in swimming, 200 m Individual Medley.
On the day of the Opening Ceremony I met Attila Czene and his wife to welcome them in London. Of course I was quite nervous and I prepared my words, the first sentences for welcoming them in London (you know my obsession about preparing myself properly…). And as so often it did not work out the way I was prepared. Never mind it was a very pleasant encounter. I met quite a young, open-minded Hungarian couple. The start was all about introducing ourselves and discussing the way of working together.
As the Hungarian Sports Minister planned to stay until the end of the Olympic Games, two Dignitary assistants were assigned to him. My colleague Jill and I met each time we “handed over” the Minister. For the time of the Olympics we organized the official programme for Attila Czene and his wife Petra and accompanied them to the venues. Dignitary Assistants were not allowed in the venues to watch competitions. Whilst waiting for the Minister to come out of the venue, we prepared the next steps of the programme, calculating travelling times, booking transport and informing people as needed. We also had the chance of exploring the surrounding area and catch the atmosphere. This is how I got to know the Olympic Park quite well.
The history of the development of the Olympic Park is a fascinating one:
“The Games presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform the Lower Lea Valley. For the past 400 years, much of the area has been used for heavy industry and since the late 19th century around half of the site has been used for domestic and industrial landfill. Soil-washing machines were used successfully to clean more than 1.4 million cubic meters of contaminated soil on the site, 80% of which was reused on the Park.” (Source: leaflet about the Olympic Parc)
The London 2012 Games will revitalise the Lower Lea Valley, transforming one of the most underdeveloped areas of London into sustainable and healthy neighbourhoods. For the London Organising Committee it was very important to embed sustainability in its planning from the start. All the venues are either transformed or adapted into buildings for the community, sports, culture or business. The elements of the temporary buildings are reused elsewhere or recycled.
During the Olympic Games I was also given a role as a chaperone for the Opening and the Closing Ceremony. At the Opening Ceremony I was responsible for Sports Minister from all over the world. I had to welcome them in a coach and explain the procedure for the evening. I also escorted them from the coach drop off point to their designated area. It was a highlight of the Olympics, as I was also able to watch part of the Ceremony life in the Stadium. The Opening Ceremony was a great show – they say it was the greatest show on earth – it was really impressive. The show was called “The Isle of Wonder” by Artistic Director Danny Boyle. The Ceremony was a journey through Great Britain’s history. It opened with an idyllic countryside, led through the Industrial Revolution in which Britain had a leading role followed by another revolution in 1990, which we are still experiencing. The digital revolution. Did you know that the founder of the Internet is British? The computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee was onstage.
Throughout the Ceremony words of great British poets were spoken, characters from great children’s literature were read and a broad variety of music was played. We listened to the London Symphony Orchestra, they played “Chariots of fire” and Mr. Bean played on a keyboard with one finger. This humorous part was really surprising, I could not stop laughing! More music was booming out, such as British pop music through the decades, Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Relax”, the Pistols or the Who. Another big surprise was when the Queen sky-dived out of a helicopter with James Bond. It remains a secret back here in England, how the organisers could motivate the Queen to be part of this sequence. This Friday night is unforgettable and we all knew: “The long awaited XXXth Olympic Games are actually here”.
Yesterday, Sunday 12th August again, I was given a role as a chaperone for the Closing Ceremony. This time I was responsible for the Olympic Family, this means I accompagnied mainly IOC/NOC members to the Stadium and back to the hotel in a coach. This time I even could watch nearly the whole Ceremony, I did not see the end of the show though as I had to be prepared for the return journey.
The Closing Ceremony was an evening to celebrate. After 16 days of competition we could attend a great show which was all about London, British people music and culture. It was a journey through a day in the life of the city, from early morning rush hour to glittering sunset. Again the athletes were onstage. Musicians such as George Michael, Annie Lennox, Mike Rutherford, Jessie J, Tinie Tempah, Taio Cruz, the Spice Girls, Brian May and Roger Taylor from the Queen and many more transformed the stadium into unforgettable party.
The XXXth Olympic Games London 2012 brought together 204 nations. 10’490 athletes competed and 200’000 people were working for the Games. Great games and I was part of them – an overwhelming feeling.
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| Olympic Stadium and Orbit at sunset |
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| Olympic Stadium and Orbit in daylight |
Did you know that England was the birthplace for the Paralympic Games? In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organised a sports competition for World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries in Stoke Mandeville. Four years later, competitors from the Netherlands joined the Games and an international movement was born. In London 2012, 4’200 athletes competed in 20 different sports – the biggest Paralympic Games ever.
