TRYING to compare one Olympic Games to another is a futile exercise, especially when I returned from Sydney with a gold medal and this time I have a plastic stem of wheat from the closing ceremony. It was not a life-changing experience for me in the way that Sydney was, but I still take away some amazing memories and stories.
Sydney raised the bar of expectations so high and with the run-up stuttering for a long time, it looked as if Athens was not going to come close, but, to use athletic parlance, they absolutely nailed it. Every venue I have visited has been of the highest quality and, by the second week, the stadiums were bursting with cheering crowds.
The complaints were minor: the on-site catering was poor and surely a system of ticket returns for sessions involving more than one match could have been introduced for supposedly sold-out events. But the fundamental infrastructure worked brilliantly. To be able to leave a stadium with 80,000 other people and walk straight on to a train is impressive. The Olympic lanes on the roads were successful — even if driving with the Athenians provided some of the biggest adrenalin rushes.
Our coach driver managed to take out a policeman’s parasol and a parked motorbike but avoided the countless cars and mopeds that carved through impossibly small gaps at considerable speed. His evasive manoeuvres were guaranteed to raise a scream from Mary Peters at the front of the bus at least once on every journey. Trying to get to the sailing venue by taxi, the “helpful” driver decided he could get us closer to the gate by pulling over in the fast lane of the motorway and dropping us on the central reservation. Perhaps it was this attitude to regulations that had enabled the Greeks to pull off these Games.
If Athens surpassed all expectations, then Team GB did the same, with a medal haul greater than Sydney, Matt Pinsent achieving his fourth gold medal and Kelly Holmes a fantastic double. Being able to share the experience with the ever-vivacious Mary P has made it even more fulfilling. We have danced in aisles waving our Union Flags from the badminton hall to the boxing. She provided a shoulder for me to blub on as we watched Paula’s marathon come to an end on the big screen at the Panathinaiko Stadium and I hope there weren’t too many cameras when we went wild on both our super Saturdays.
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While working within the BOA has given me a different perspective from that of being a competing athlete, the thrills and disappointments are felt just as keenly, but success is not just about that for the individual; it is vital also for those sports in helping to guarantee continued funding to Beijing and beyond. The London 2012 bid has also moved forward during this fortnight, topping all other bid presentations. Sitting in the stadium while the Greeks roared home Fani Halkia, their 400 metres hurdles champion, gave a tantalising glimpse as to how good a London Games would be.
While the success of the Athens organising committee is undoubted, some of the judging and officiating in individual sports was controversial. For judges in the gymnastics to re-mark a routine purely on the grounds of crowd reaction, as in the case of Alexei Nemov, of Russia, sets an unfortunate precedent, and suggesting it might be in the spirit of fair play for Paul Hamm to hand back the gold medal he won in gymnastics rather than to sort out the mess of their own making was appalling. The American had been an Olympic champion for ten days before being notified that he should return his medal because of a judges’ marking error.
While the subjective nature of judging in some sports makes debate inevitable, when there are hard rules that have been infringed, such as in the eventing, a swifter resolution should be possible. It is a great shame that it is becoming almost as important to take a good team of lawyers to the Games as well as athletes.
Friday’s modern pentathlon competition was the most emotional for me. I was glad to be so busy working with the BBC during the rollercoaster of a day’s competition as it did not allow me to dwell on my own thoughts. I feel desperately for Kate Allenby being denied a medal opportunity but am delighted for Georgie (Georgina Harland) with the way that she came back from such dire beginnings to claim her richly deserved bronze. Although it was very difficult to be watching events unfold, I did not wish I was standing there alongside them. My life has now become fulfilled in many other ways, but no one can ever take away the dream that I lived out.
Perhaps it was not as hard for me as for Sir Steve Redgrave to accept that he had to surrender the title of Olympic champion — one he has held for some 20 years. I’m sure that the moment was softened by the coxless four winning.
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Having enjoyed 16 days of solid sport, I think it is time to enjoy the cultural side of Athens now. I’m off home in a few hours, so which way to the Parthenon?