Match point

August 13th 2012

After the excitement of meeting David Beckham on Wednesday it was a quick turnaround ready for the men’s bronze and gold medal matches on Thursday.

The bronze medal match between the Latvian and Dutch teams was a tense three setter and the Latvians -most definitely the underdogs - eventually clinched a well earned victory. First through the mixed zone were the Dutch team, who were absolutely crushed by their defeat. They are both due to retire, and their pain in exiting successful careers with this loss on their scorecard was palpable. It was a sobering moment and even the more experienced journalists ran dry with questions in the face of such obvious disappointment.

We had to quickly recover and switch our attention to the victors, and as we waited for the Latvians to move through the zone I scanned the medal table on my phone and realised that this was their first medal at London 2012.  This gave me a great opportunity for a good opening question that in this stage of the competition I wasn’t expecting to be able to ask: “How does it feel to win the first medal of the Games for your country?”. Bronze, was clearly a huge deal for the Latvian players, and also for Latvia as a nation, as I learned half way through my interview with Janis Smedins when his coach reached over me and thrust a phone into his hand saying “it’s the Latvian President for you”. A brilliant moment that highlighted the differing journeys of the nations represented at the games.

After a quick turnaround on the Latvian’s quotes I was back into the stands for the final showdown between Brazil and Germany. It was a corker of a match, with dramatic twists and turns throughout, countless set points saved and a controversial final point that meant that the Germans had to pause slightly before celebrating their eventual victory. This time the stands were exploding with life, with German and Brazilian flags aplenty and enough noise to keep Cameron awake just over the wall in Downing Street. Heading down into the mixed zone, I interviewed Brazilian’s gentle giant Alison Cerutti, and then one of my favourite players of all, Athens gold medallist and beach volleyball veteran Emanuel Rego. The pens were a feeding frenzy of sharp elbows, shouting and shoving, but when Emanuel began to speak you could hear a pin drop across the mixed zone. The man has humility, gravitas and shows all the credentials of a great team player. It was a great honour to shake his hand, congratulate him on his silver medal and hear his hopes for Rio 2016.

I then interviewed the German gold medallists Jonas Reckermann and Julius Brink, who had played a great competition and were characteristically low key about their victory. And then, as those last players exited the mixed zone and the journalists thinned out, I faced the fact that my Olympic volunteering journey had come to an end. I filed my quotes and then headed back to the court, hoping to get one last look at the stadium before I caught the last tube home. There was not a security guard in sight, so I walked out onto the sand with two other Games Makers and posed for silly photos – diving for a ball, sitting in the players booth and lying in front of the London 2012 sign. With the stands empty and the pack-down operation already in progress around me, it seemed difficult to believe that this amazing venue - the site of sporting triumphs and disappointment, singing, dancing and music would be a patch of dust in a matter of days.

It has been a truly amazing experience to be part of the action, and I am proof of the fact that if you put your name in the hat and volunteer your time, then great things can happen to you. It was a challenge learning the ropes and working with a new team under pressure, it was tricky to hold down the day job around all my shifts but it was pure joy to be a part of London 2012. To sit in the stands and hear the energy and enthusiasm of the fans; to try on a journalist’s hat for a fortnight; to have an opportunity to show the world what’s great about the city I have been proud to call home for 15 years; to meet the players and ponder their inspirational journeys through personal sacrifice, injuries, crushing defeat and triumph.

I, like many Londoners, am very sad today that it’s all over. But this sadness is just a product of the amazing high we’ve all been on for the last few weeks. The Games have totally exceeded my expectations, and the athletes have given me so much inspiration to try harder, think positive and be gracious both in victory and in defeat.

I wouldn’t have missed it for anything, and any time I walk across horse guards in the future I’ll hear the echoes of the cheesy music, the thundering cheers of the fans and remember how London 2012  inspired me, inspired the nation and wowed the world.

I'm a natural!

Over and out London 2012