What an amazing two weeks! From the spectacular opening
ceremony to the amazing performances at some incredible venues across London
over 10,000 athletes from 204 countries have come together to deliver the
greatest show on earth.
The nation has been gripped, nothing else has happened in
the world as far as the news reporters are concerned. The world has come to
visit London over the past two weeks and the doubters will be disappointed to hear
that we could still drive quite easily around the North Circular, Our public
transport system rose to the challenge and we put on an absolutely amazing
show.
Here are some of the things we loved about London 2012...
1. We Were Good.
29 Gold Medals, 17 silvers and 19
bronze, third in the medal table behind the power houses of China and USA means
that this was the best performance at an Olympic Games since 1948 with some
amazing performances from the incredible Team GB.
2. We were REALLY good!!
It has to be said again! The fact
that it was a home games obviously made London 2012 special but the way in
which it surpassed all expectations was incredible. Athletes across all
disciplines produced spectacular performance after spectacular performance.
From the opening gold on day four
from the rowing pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning to the brilliance of
Bradley Wiggins later that afternoon, to the incredible forth consecutive games
gold of Ben Ainslea’s Olympic career to the unbelievable 45 minute gold spree
in the Olympic stadium on the middle Saturday from Jessica Ennis, Greg
Rutherford and Mo Farrah and Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Laura Trott
in the veledrome to name but a few, our athletes have shown incredible ability,
courage and passion to perform for their country.
3. Londoner’s are Happy!
It’s been a strange feeling to
see happy faces around London, we’re not used to being friendly, but the games
has erased the negativity, raised spirits and delivered a sense of pride and
given us something amazing to get excited about and talking to strangers
about!!
4. An Introduction To New Sports.
I didn’t realise how exciting the
Canoe Slalom was, how mad the BMX can be, how watchable the synchronised
swimming is and how enthralling the Taekwondo could be?! We may have been
newbies to a number of sports but if we won a medal in it we were huge fans.
5.
We Inspired A Generation.
It was the message of the games
and the performances have done just that. The foundations have been laid for
future generations to follow in the footsteps of our 2012 heroes.
Young boys
with their stick on Wiggo sideburns are out on their bikes, girls are in
training for their Jess Ennis washboard abs and the platform is their to
improve the health and wellbeing of a sedentary generation and inspire them to
achieve great things in competitive sport.
6.
Who Cares About Footballers?
After another pathetic tournament
performance for our England football team earlier this summer it was so
refreshing to see real athletes give everything to achieve their dream. Team GB
football couldn’t make it past the quarter final stage but was anyone that
interested? While the pampered premier league players were heading home in
their Aston Martins the real winners – the ones that had sacrificed everything and
given up their families to follow their dream were getting the credit they
deserved.
Athletes like women’s boxer Nicola Adams who virtually had to beg her
local community to support her Olympic hopes. I know the sell out crowds at
Wembley and Old Trafford bring in the cash to the I.O.C and that’s the main
reason they are really at the games, but should they be?
7.
Competitive Sport is OK!
It’s not the winning, it’s the
taking part.... What a load of rubbish. London 2012 has been such a success
because Team GB has been so competitive. We understand that we want all kids to
experience sport and have fun but we believe that we HAVE to install an element
of competition into school sports.
As well as the sense of achievement it can
bring, some of the best lessons we can learn as kids are through sport. How to
succeed, how to deal with failure as well as discipline, confidence and
leadership . David Cameron has announced over the weekend that he wants to
bring back competitive sport into schools, let’s hope this leads to us becoming
a major force at EVERY Olympic Games.
8.
Positivity and a Sense of Pride.
What a difference a fortnight can
make. The economic crisis is far from our minds, even the sun has come out to
lift our spirits further as the games has made us proud of our athletes and put
a smile on our faces.
9.
It’s Been Great For Business!
An added bonus for us as everyone
now wants to exercise! Our Class Studio and Personal Training Business have
been inundated with enquiries in what is traditionally the quietest time of the
year for us!
10.
The Best is Yet To Come...
The fact that everyone wants to
be a part of the 2012 games has led to a huge demand for tickets for the
Paralympic Games. The real heroes that defy their injuries and disabilities to
push their body to the limits.
We will be watching!
