My Olympics in Words and Pictures

I'd been looking forward to the London 2012 Olympic Games for years. I was living in Sydney in 2000 and know how much an Olympic Games can make a city sparkle.

London 2012 did not disappoint. From the utterly brilliant Opening Ceremony to the stunning performance from Team GB, we loved every second of it.

We had tickets for the Beach Volleyball at Horse Guards Parade and Athletics at the Stadium in Stratford. We were lucky enough to see Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in the men's 200m heats.

We shouted ourselves hoarse cheering our Olympians on the television. We cried A LOT. Life was put on hold for 17 special days.

The legacy of London 2012 is to inspire a generation. My children are inspired. They were mesmerised by the diving and the rowing and the dressage, cheering on Team GB, learning about other countries. They now want to try every sport. They roll around the carpet doing 'gymelastics'. Every day they ran and cycled around the garden in their own junior Olympics. We had medal ceremonies. We did the Mobot.

We are looking forward to taking the whole family to the athletics at the Paralympics, being part of something huge, waving our flags. It's not over yet.

My Olympics in Words and Pictures

The P&G Family Home for London 2012

I have an Olympic blog exclusive for you. Last night I attended a rather special housewarming party to launch the P&G Global Family Home at Vinopolis in London. I was the only blogger there, rubbing shoulders with Carol Hoy, Pat Radcliffe, Pauline Pendleton, Pat Payne, Vinnie Ennis and Alison Powell. You may not know them, but you will have heard of their children, Sir Chris Hoy, Paula Radcliffe, Victoria Pendleton, Keri-Anne Payne and Jessica Ennis.

Photo credit

Marc Pritchard, P&G’s Global Brand Building Officer, welcomed the families of 10,000 Olympic athletes from around the world. He said "We asked athletes what we could do to support them here in London and they told us that Moms and families from around the world don’t have a place to really relax and be together at the Games. We have been in the business of serving moms and families for 175 years. So it makes sense for us to celebrate the athletes by serving their moms and families.”

We were shown a series of videos from the Thank You Mum campaign, including one featuring President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge. He said “P&G is making an important and unique contribution to these Olympic Games by creating a warm, welcoming space where the families of some of the world’s greatest athletes can come together. Athletes can be reassured that while at the P&G Family Home their families will be well cared for, thus enabling them to focus on doing their best on the field of play.

As well as the Family Home, where families can gather to watch the Games, take their laundry, play with their children and receive hair and spa treatments, P&G have used a large proportion of their allocation of Games tickets to send all of the families to the Opening Ceremony to watch their children enter the stadium.

“Every mum knows that encouraging your kids to play sports is not just about raising champions,” said Carol Hoy, mother to Team GB’s Sir Chris Hoy. “I was proud of Chris when he was a little boy winning the egg-and-spoon race, and I’m proud of him now as an Olympian. Thanks to P&G, I’ll be there to cheer him on in the Velodrome, and visit him in the P&G Family Home.”

We were treated to a live performance by X-Factor finalist Rebecca Ferguson. My goodness, that girl has a stunning voice.

I got to hang out with the woman behind the tweets, my friend Glenda @thankyoumum

The joyful atmosphere at the party was not only due to the free-flowing champagne, but also because the families could relax ahead of a tense fortnight of sport. The excitement and anticipation was clear.

Pauline Pendleton told me how nervous she was, but also how proud she is of her amazing daughter. She didn't distinguish between Victoria and her other children. I guess that is why I like the Thank You Mum campaign. We may not have Olympians for children, but whatever they end up doing they will always be our babies.

Hats off to P&G for making sure the athletes' families could get to London, stay in London and hang out together at the P&G Family Home.


Disclosure:
Thank you to Becca (H&K) and P&G for the invitation, and for paying for my travel expenses to this awesome event. NB: I rarely use the word awesome, but, hey, IT'S THE OLYMPICS.



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The P&G Family Home for London 2012

P&G Raising Olympians

We haven't got a basketball hoop in our garden, so Presley and Cash have improvised. Here in this tiny moment of play the boys and I went through many emotions; elation and pride when the ball landed in my washing line, jealousy and frustration when it didn't.

Most of all I applauded effort and good sportsmanship. My boys are super-competitive with each other, so it was an achievement for them to take turns and encourage each other. They persevered and kept going and got better and better. I guess it's the same with all sports.

Since I've become a mother, I watch medal ceremonies as a mother. I always think about the athlete's parents and try to imagine how proud they must be. I am always moved to tears. I sometimes wonder whether my children will achieve this level of success. Chances are they will not, Olympians are pretty rare. I want my children to love sport. I'd like them to be good at sport. Above all I want them to be happy.

I love this video from Mrs Hoy, Chris's mum:



There are more of these wonderful videos on P&G's YouTube page.



Here is a sneak peek at the advert P&G will show during the opening ceremony at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Be warned. It made me sob.





Disclosure:
P&G sent me a goody bag, including a Sony Bloggie Touch camera, to introduce the Raising an Olympian campaign. I was under no obligation to blog about the campaign, but this post was inspired by it.

I am also linking up with Britmums and their #PGRaisingOlympians Celebrate Their Success linky to try to win a spa day.

  

P&G Raising Olympians

God Save the Queen

1977 The Queen's Silver Jubilee

There was a party in my village, on the rec. Tables and chairs were laid out in long lines. The tables were covered by flimsy plastic cloths, their red, white and blue edges flapping in the breeze.

We ate sweaty ham sandwiches. The thick grey margarine made my mouth feel funny. I ate jelly from a cardboard bowl. I had to go home to be sick.

There was a fancy dress competition. I went as Noddy. I wore a red top and blue shorts. My mum drew big red spots onto a yellow scarf with a felt tip pen. She made shoes and a hat out of blue and red felt; both had bells on. She drew circles on my cheeks with red lipstick to match the scarf. This was our go-to fancy dress costume for several years in the mid-70's. My mum wore it too. One time my dad dressed up as a woman. He wore a blonde wig. I loved that wig. Another time he dressed up as an Arab. He wore a sheet, a tea-towel, sunglasses and sandals. He carried a fat cigar as a prop.

Robert, who lived next-door-but-one, should have won the fancy dress competition. He dressed up as Dougal from The Magic Roundabout. He crawled along on the grass with a straggly rug on his back. He had a paper-plate mask on his head with Dougal's face on it. Everyone said he looked brilliant.

The judges from the Parish Council came round and gave first prize to a girl dressed as a Victorian. All she did was wear a long skirt, a white blouse and a shawl. Even at the age of seven I rolled my eyes at the injustice. The silly old duffers probably chose her because she reminded them of their childhoods. Everyone said Robert was robbed.


2012 The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

I have my Jubilympics bunting ready to go up. I'm hoping it will survive being up from the end of this week until the end of the Paralympics in September. I have my special edition Marks and Spencer tins, and a sequined union flag tote bag, and a Paralympics scarf from Our Greatest Team Rises and flags for us to wave at the Olympic Games. I'm having to resist the urge to buy a Jubilee tea-set and picnic-ware, although I do have tea-towels and mugs. We don't eat enough of the stuff to justify a jar of Ma'amite, but I bought one anyway.

There's going to be a street party in our village. I am ridiculously excited at the prospect. I'm imagining a good old-fashioned knees-up. I know a lot of parents from the school gate, so there should be some familiar faces there. There will be a bouncy castle, welly wanging and rolling pin hurling (for the ladies), and a drunken tug-of-war.

Bring it on.

God Save the Queen

Our Greatest Team Rises

Look, it's Prince William!

I love blogging sometimes.

PR: Would you like to come to a Team GB gala event celebrating the British Olympic and Paralympic Teams?

Me: Yes.

PR: It's at the Royal Albert Hall...

Me: Yes please.

PR: You can meet Sir Steve Redgrave...

Me: YES PLEASE.

PR: There's entertainment too. It's hosted by Davina McCall and John Bishop and features performances by Gary Barlow, Will Young, Melanie C, Spellbound, Kimberley Walsh, Bear Grylls, The Feeling, The Noisettes, Alfie Boe...

Me: YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU

PR: Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be in attendance...

Me: You had me at 'Team GB', to be honest.

I was invited as a guest of BP, who last week launched their 'Our Greatest Team Legends Collection'. You can collect 12 medallions, each showing a charming image of a great British Olympian or Paralympian, from BP garages. All profits go to the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association. The first medallion in the series is my mate, Steve.

I had the honour of meeting our greatest Olympian, Sir Steve Redgrave. He was super to chat with, although I have to admit to feeling a little star-struck. The guy won five gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games (in case you didn't know).

On our way to the event we bumped into one of the presenters, the twinkly Dermot O'Leary. If I look a little flustered in this photograph it's because he had his arm round me for ages.

The event was teaming with Olympians past and present and, as promised, it was attended by royalty...

 The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge eat their dinner whilst I say repeatedly to my 'date' for the evening, Carol, 'I can't believe we're in the same room as them'.

The amazing Will Young.

*Scream* it's Gary Barlow.

I could treat you to the video I made of Tony Hadley singing 'Gold', but nobody needs to hear Carol, Mrs GoonerJamie and I singing along.


Disclosure: I was given two tickets for the show and the PR bought us a glass of wine in the interval.

Our Greatest Team Rises

Pampers Little Athlete

PR: Would you like to meet Paula Radcliffe?
Me: Yes.

If only all blogger outreach campaigns were as amazing as this.

Pampers have launched some limited edition Team GB Active-Fit nappies ready for the London 2012 Olympic Games. In a way I'm disappointed that my toilet-trained boys won't be wearing these. Look, they've got a union flag on and everything:

Pampers also have a Youtube channel full of cute videos of Paula and her son, Raphael, celebrating the unique play of our children:





Pampers Facebook page has a fab competition running (click on the Little Athletes tab). By sharing your top playtime tips and pictures you could win some fab goodies. Paula will be picking the winners. Good luck!

It was a privilege to chat with Paula about her children, her life, her health and her career. She was open and friendly. If winning the Olympic gold in the women's marathon could be brought about by sheer determination and good wishes then world record holder Paula would have it in the bag. I'll be cheering for her for all I'm worth.

Not only did I meet my sporting hero at a jolly event in London, I was also able to ask Pampers Village Parenting Panel child development expert, Dr Maggie Redshaw, a few questions too. We talked about physical play and of the importance of running around, both structured (football, etc.) and free-range.


Disclosure: huge thanks to P&G, Pampers and Fleishman Hillard for paying my travel expenses into London and for the goodie bags for the boys. We can't wait to hang up our bunting!

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Pampers Little Athlete

Did you get any tickets for the Olympics?

Are you celebrating winning the lottery today? Were you one of the lucky ones granted tickets for the Olympics?

I'm not and I'm gutted.

I've been excited about London 2012 for ages. I applied for tickets in the ballot. I carefully chose the events I wanted to attend and applied for the highest banding I could afford. I also threw my hat in for the big two, then men's 100m final and the opening ceremony. If I'd been successful in every event I applied for, the tickets would have cost £700.

£700 is a lot of money. We haven't got £700 to throw around, but I so desperately wanted to attend the Olympics in London. I dared not apply for any more tickets than this, just in case I won them all.

I wish now I'd applied for more.

This morning I saw the pending transactions on my Visa bill were £400. I started jumping up and down, squealing with excitement. This was it, I'd got one of the big ones. Then I remembered it was 1st June, the day my car insurance is renewed. I actually burst into tears.

I'm desperately disappointed. I know I'm not alone. I, along with anyone else who received no tickets this time, will get first refusal to apply for any unsold tickets later this month, but what is left? Handball? Meh. I want to go to the stadium.

I can understand why a ballot is a fair way to allocate tickets, but I wish LOCOG had been more open regarding the number of tickets on sale at each price banding.

Take the closing ceremony, for example, some tickets were up for sale for £20.12, but how many? I applied for these - after all, you've got to be in it to win it. There may have only been two tickets for sale at this price, but 20,000 for sale at the next banding. This information would have altered my buying strategy.

I'd also like to know why there were only 20,000 tickets available for the men's 100m final. How many seats are there in the stadium? 100,000? Hmm.

Hey ho, there are worse things happening in the world than me not getting any tickets for the Olympics.



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Did you get any tickets for the Olympics?

Are you excited yet?

The London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are fast approaching.

What do you mean you're not excited yet? The Olympic Games are being held in the UK NEXT YEAR. I'm so excited I could burst.

The Cultural Olympiad is on now, but not a lot of people know that, and will culminate in a the largest cultural festival in the world before the Games.

Ticket applications commence on 15th March 2011, but you can register your interest in advance.

The full Olympic Schedule and ticket pricing information has been released. I'm going to have to think carefully about which events to apply for, but at the very least I want to be in the stadium for the althletics - preferably the 100m finals. Can you imagine how exciting it would be to watch Usain Bolt win gold, maybe with a World Record? How about supporting our cyclists or swimmers? What about the highly entertaining Greco-Roman Wrestling?

I can hear you questioning my enthusiasm, after all I'm not exactly sporty. Well, I've always watched the Olympics on television, but you have to go back 11 years to understand why I am particularly excited about the Olympics coming to the UK.

In 2000 I was living and working in Sydney, Australia. 

Gratuitous shot of the view from my office window:

The Olympics were due to start in September that year. Sydneysiders were decidedly cool about the whole thing. It was going to be a massive inconvenience, the city would fill up with bloody tourists and the buses and trains would be packed.

Then the Olympic flame arrived in the city. Pat Rafter and Olivia Newton-John stood at the steps of the Sydney Opera House with the iconic flame, this was the start of the excitement. As I left work that night to walk to Wynyard Station there were a lot of people on George Street. I soon saw why. Dawn Fraser jogged past with the flame on it's way to Olympic Park. The buzz on the streets was electric. 

All of a sudden six televisions were set up on our floor at work, we all worked three day weeks (12 hours a day) so that we could maximise our viewing time. We loved the clean streets and the 24 hour public transport. 

We took advantage of the free concerts in the city. I saw Neil Finn at the Domain and Bob Downe in Martin Place:

There were six large screens set up around the city to watch the action live. I soon learnt the words to Advance Australia Fair as Australia won gold after gold in the swimming.

Best of all I went to the Stadium to watch the athletics. Being a bloody tourist I'd bought my front row seat weeks in advance. My friends in the UK texted me each time they saw me on television. Here I am with my Union Jack and my Aussie flag too:

Here is Colin Jackson warming up for the 110m hurdles. After I took this I shouted Go Colin and he gave me the thumbs up in return:

The atmosphere in the stadium was incredible. We sat in the sunshine and took it all in, in between joining in with the Mexican Waves. I met many people in the two weeks of the Games in Sydney. Everyone was there to have a good time. I hope London 2012 will capture some of that excitement and international friendship.

Come on, are you even a little bit excited?

This is NOT a sponsored post (ha! I wish), I just wanted to share a little of my enthusiasm for the wonderful event that is the Olympic Games.

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Are you excited yet?