9th August 2012
Last night’s shift was a biggy. Women’s bronze and gold medal matches. When I arrived at Horse Guards the landscape had changed yet again. The media centre was bursting at the seams, and when I headed up into the tribunes, every single seat was full and I had to walk up 6 or 7 rows before I found a seat with a partially obstructed view to settle down in. Every screen was on, and legions of Brazilians and Chinese correspondents were sitting with their headphones and microphones on broadcasting straight from the stands.
Last night’s shift was a biggy. Women’s bronze and gold medal matches. When I arrived at Horse Guards the landscape had changed yet again. The media centre was bursting at the seams, and when I headed up into the tribunes, every single seat was full and I had to walk up 6 or 7 rows before I found a seat with a partially obstructed view to settle down in. Every screen was on, and legions of Brazilians and Chinese correspondents were sitting with their headphones and microphones on broadcasting straight from the stands.
Whilst the atmosphere in the tribunes was electric, the atmosphere in the stadium was strangely flat. In the stand opposite me I could see a sea of blue and white shirt sleeves – a very obvious sign that in the latter stages of the tournament the balance of regular punters to corporate guests had been tipped. Gone were the endless Mexican waves, chanting, beer swilling, dancing and flag waving; to be replaced by polite clapping and cheering.
That didn’t seem to bother the players and it was a gripping bronze medal match between Brazil and China, watched by Prince Harry who had been hotly anticipated at the beach volleyball from the very first day. Near the end of the second set it seemed so certain that China were going to clinch their second consecutive bronze medal that I headed down to the mixed zone to grab a spot in my pen. But in the time it took me to walk down the stairs, the balance of the match tipped and the Brazilian team fought tooth and nail to clinch a victory in the third set. I interviewed Brazil’s Larissa Franca who was absolutely ecstatic to win bronze. She said “It is not gold, but to us it is gold.” It was truly fantastic to finally interview a medal winner!
With a short break to file our quotes we headed back up to the stands for the USA v USA head to head match. If I’d thought the tribunes were busy before, then I was wrong. There so many journalists packed in that I had to share a seat with a cardboard box and if I looked behind me there was a wall of photographers in matching beige gillets against the backdrop of the Olympic flags, training their telescopic lenses onto the players. It was a great match but it was clear from the start that Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh were going to let nothing get in their way of clinching their third consecutive gold medal and it was all over in just two sets.
But the excitement was not over. At the end of the match, I headed to the front of the tribunes to watch the medal ceremony and saw a wall of people snapping away on their phones. But they weren’t aiming their cameras at the athletes, they were directing them to the row of people just in front of me. I spotted Laura Trott and Jason Kenny smooching in the stands and assumed they were drawing the crowds, but then as the crowds parted slightly I spied an even more extraordinary sight – a rather familiar tattooed arm and neck. David Beckham!
A few moments later I was swept up in one of those lucky moments that I’ll never forget. As David left the stands with his three sons, his bodyguard guided him towards me and said “a photo with the volunteers David?” and he reached up and shook my hand and posed for a photo with me and a crowd of Gamesmakers (attached). I would love to say I played it cool and acted like he was just any other human being. But that is not the case. I leaned over the railings screaming “Daaaavid” and made a total idiot of myself. Thankfully he seemed to have the same effect on everyone around me so I blended in with the other wobbly-kneed female Gamesmakers. It was a very cool moment that took me only moments to share with the world on facebook.
After the excitement of Beckhamania, I headed straight to a press conference with the two American teams. Kerri Walsh was extremely emotional about the fact that this was Misty’s last ever competitive match and silver medallists Jen Kessy and April Ross were gracious in defeat, so we gathered some fantastic quotes.
It was a very late night by the time I filed my report, but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. I’m now off to tie a plastic bag around my right hand because obviously I am never going to wash it ever again. Then I’ve got to regroup and calm down ready for tonight’s showdown between Brazil and Germany.
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