Monday, August 13, 2012

London 2012



They started off big and ended up even bigger! The London games opening and closing ceremony showed the world what Great Britain is all about, by showing – almost in a time-line fashion - many cultural references. It’s incredible how much influence GB had in our everyday life and even thought it felt like it was made by British for British, it was still amazing to watch.

Obviously what happened “in-between” did justice to the epic efforts of the host city. The athletes performances were outstanding as we saw many world-records getting beaten, personal bests as well…All this happening in great – and care free – surroundings. Transports were better than ever, safety was no issue and people just seemed to be in a very uplifting mood.

So now what? How will life unfold after the London games?

Things won’t seem so exciting… I can tell you that! But life moves on and we just need to make sure to take full advantage of the many commodities the games have brought the city of London. Now, the only thing we can do is enjoy the Paralympics and wait for the beginning of other sporting seasons to try and fill in the void space left by the greatest sporting show on Earth!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Cheers! Would love to get your take on the Olympic experience. It seems to be unlike any other major sporting event in the world, with so much going on over such a short period of time. Which sports are best watched live? Which sports are better seen on the television? What were your favorite moments (that didn't include Phelps or Bolt)? What was the general mood in London? Love the blog, keep writing. Abr, Lopo.

Duarte Mendonça said...

Hey mate,

Sensed a bit of sarcasm on your coment haha but here it goes:

Can’t really get into a lot of detail on that one since I’ve only saw a couple of events. It is my understanding that regardless of the event itself and whoever was performing; the atmosphere was always amazing. You could easily feel a great and special amount of energy every time a GB athlete would step in. I’ve been to a couple of sporting events – big ones at that – and I’ve never heard so much noise and never felt so much support. It makes me wonder what kind of emotional power England would gain if they had people behind them like they were with Team GB. Just amazing really!
Keeping on the support that Team GB had, that basically says it all about the general mood in London. Everyone was quite optimistic and happy, and even with certain athletes underperformed; they would still recognize their efforts and remain with great joy.

I was able to witness Men’s volleyball which was great. Not only the game itself, but the chance to check out the venue and have my first taste of Olympics… was something to remember. But the highlight came the Friday before the closing ceremony. Watched 3 or 4 finals… 1 World-record and a packed Olympic stadium. All of which will remain as some of the best memories of my life. Being aware the Olympics is such an event, one that I never dreamt I would have any kind of access – even after I joined CNN – I can only be thankful for the opportunity that came my way. You know I love football and having had the privilege of watching a Champions League final at Wembley, I can easily say this Olympic experience easily surpassed the Barcelona x Manchester United game.

Regarding favourite events and moments (that didn’t include Bolt and Phelps) I would have to say:

- The marathons. Mo Farah was incredible

- Basketball, this one for obvious reasons

- Rowing – First South African team to win gold. Sizwe the first South African black to win gold as well… and how odd was it that it would be in a boat? Not a usual sight. Great achievement for the history of his country and Olympics as well.

Best one’s to watch on TV are probably diving and gymnastics. Not only is it beautiful to watch, but there you really get a sense of how difficult it is

By the way, big surprise for me was the Men’s football. I was sure Brazil was coming out with the Gold, but sloppy mistakes dictate their loss against Mexico.

And how poor was Portugal’s performance?? We have one more medal in our entire history than Michael Phelps. That pretty much sums it up…

Thanks for reading and leaving a post. Hope to see you soon.

Unknown said...

No sarcasm whatsoever, seriously. I was genuinely curious because I've read/heard that some events which might sound like fun to watch live (Water Polo or long jump) are actually crap when seen from 100 meters away in a stadium because you can't see enough detail to understand what's actually happening. Conversely, I've heard/read great things about live handball, live volleyball, diving, gymnastics, etc. Just wanted your take (which I got).

I think Mexico surprised everyone with that Gold. No one saw that coming, especially if you take a look at the team Brazil showed up with... can't be too far from the one they play the 2014 World Cup with.

As for Portugal... yeah... one to forget. At least Marco Fortes got out of bed this time.

Grande abraço!