Olympic Games '12

The Olympic Games 2012 took place in London from July 27th till August 12th.

Along with a comrade, I wanted to experience this world event and of course support the Belgian athletes. Obtaining tickets isn't easy. You have to fill in an application for a ticket and wait for a positive outcome. Hoping for good ambiance in the city as well as some astonishing performances in the stadium, I left for London with a Belgian flag. My ticket was valid for the qualifying rounds in athletics. I had also filled in an application for other events, but these weren't pointed out to me unfortunately.

On arrival in St. Pancras station, I immediately saw the "Olympic feeling". There were these huge Olympic rings above the railway lines. We got brochures and directions. London was well prepared. There were stuarts in crowded places all over London who guided spectators to the venues or pointed out directions throughout London. There were also signs to the venues in the metro's and metro stations. The streets were filled with people waving their country's flag. You could easily recognize the dutch with their typical orange colors... The supporters from the neighboring country's shouted: Hey België!, Ah, les belges!,... Terrific!

Along with some other events, athletics took place in the Olympic Park. There were these big screens which showed other events all over London. We did a little walk a saw some other venues.  There was the Velodrome, Aquatics Center, Riverbank Arena , Waterpolo Arena,... The food and beverages were to all expectations very expensive. After a quick visit to Olympic Store, we went to our destination: Olympic Stadium.

Qualifying rounds may not be as important as medal races, but you will see more athletes. Not only the Borlée brothers, but also international names such as Usain Bolt, Oscar Pistorius, Yohan Blake, Tyson Gay,... stood at the starting line .
Steeplechase, pole vault and pentathlon were also scheduled.
In the streets of London, at Buckingham Palace, I saw race walking.



The Belgian House was a place where Belgian supporters could meet. Here, you could meet athletes and watch competitions on a big screen. We visited every day. There was plenty of drinking Hoegaarden en Stella and in the garden there was a Belgian fries stall. What a patriotism!
Since I play badminton myself, I was very pleased to meet the representative of Belgium, Yuhan Tan! Tim Maeyens, who broke the Olympic record rowing a few days ago, agreed to stand on a picture with me!

Next to the Belgian House was the Cycling Center where you could ride some classic routes like the Brabantse Pijl, Tour of Flanders, Luik - Bastenaken - Luik,... on Merckx bikes (obviously).
I had a good time during The Games and I would gladly like to experience it again. Rio '16?