Isles of Wonder- we were a part of it! (including video)
Opening Ceremony of the 30th Olympic Games
Incroyable. Unbelievable. Unglaublich. What a weekend. On Friday, 27th July 2012 the 30th Olympic Games were opened in London. 62000 people at the stadium and more than one billion in front of their televisions at home watched the opening ceremony created by the famous stage director Danny Boyle. Anna, our teammate Thomas Dold and I have been there, we clapped, we were amazed, we sang, took photos and welcomed loudly the athletes, who marched in. Athletes from 204 nations, leaded by the standard bearer like Natascha Keller for Germany or sprint superstar Usain Bolt for Jamaica. Up to Wednesday we did not even dream of being in London.
When we had been on our way home from a good training session in Frankfort on Wednesday morning, Anna had had a message on her mailbox from Miss Scheinhardt, the sports marketing manager of our supplier adidas. Adidas would like to invite us to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in two days, hotel up to Sunday inclusively; we had to decide during the next two hours if we were interested in the London adventure. Being live at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games? Damn sure. And so the following weekend was planned quickly and the flights were booked.
The opening ceremony was breath-taking. It surprised, captivated, electrified and touched for nearly five hours. A cocktail of emotions. One of the most impressive moments was when Haile Gebrselassie and other sports heroes carried the Olympic flag into the stadium. Haile Gebrselassie, the man who dreamed of an Olympic marathon medal after his gold medals at the 5000m and 10000m races at former games. But the competition in Ethiopia was too big, so he was not nominated by the association. But now he was allowed to carry the Olympic flag and Muhammed Ali, one of the greatest sportsmen ever, was driven in to take also part at this ceremony. And then: the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron. A big firework lighted up the sky of London and Sir Paul Mc Cartney played the final chord. The final chord that does not symbolizes the end of something but the beginning of the 30th Modern Olympic Games. And we have been there.
The next day we visited the Adidas hospitality center near the Olympic stadium. In a smoothed atmosphere you could watch international successful designer who were creating presents for any adidas olympic champions and from the roof terrace you could take a look at the Athletes Village. We spent the evening at the „Deutsche Haus“ and so we could already visit the place where the prospective Olympic medal winners will be celebrated appropriately.
Anna missed the qualification for the Olympic marathon for fourteen seconds. Nevertheless Anna and I could already sniff Olympic air as spectators in London thanks to adidas. Filled up with many impressions, a lot of motivation and an amazing weekend in mind we will watch the Olympic competitions during the next two weeks on TV and cross our fingers for the athletes. At the reception of our hotel we met a concierge from Rio, we made a date for 2016 because then the Olympic Games will take place in Rio. Now we have already been at the Olympic Games as spectators, the next time we want to be a part of it, as athletes competing for Germany.
Video opening ceremony
Video adidas World and "Deutsches Haus"