Taylor wanted to do some photography and I knew the Men's 50km walk was taking place around the Palace and thought it would be great to watch another event and get more stories from fans.
Before we set off Jordan gave me some PR experience by showing me how he had controlled the flow of work the BSU team were producing for several different outlets. It was really interesting to see and he showed me how to use social network sites such as Twitter to publicise work. I found the PR guidance he gave me really enjoyable and will try and get some PR experience with the University when I go back in September.
I asked James if he wanted to come along and eventually myself, Jordan, Taylor and James got a taxi to Buckingham Palace. When we got their we found it was going to be fairly hard to move freely as there were fans everywhere trying to get a glimpse of the trail the Olympians would walk through. Taylor took pictures of fans while me and James got interviews with them. We met a large group of Chinese fans who were singing and waving a massive Chinese flag around near the front of the crowd who we got speaking to and managed to get a story from. It was crazy to see so many people creating an amazing atmosphere for one of the less popular events in the Olympics.
After watching the athletes pass we left the Palace and got a call from Katelynn who told us we had been invited for a meal at Westfield Mall in the evening. We then decided to take the scenic route through London rather than the underground so hired bikes. We spent the next few hours cycling along the Thames looking for anything interesting to get stories from.
Soon after returning the bikes in Waterloo we put the notebooks and cameras away and made our way to Stratford for the meal. Upon arriving at the Brazilian restaurant we were met by Ryan Sparrow (BSU leader of Olympics project) who showed us to our table. This wasn't a normal meal however as it was all being paid for by Jason Whitlock a FOX Sports writer who's a alumni of BSU.
I must admit I didn't know much about Jason but when Katelynn and Jordan explained to me who he was and what he does I knew he was a big deal. All the BSU team plus me and James wined and dined while Jason told us about his successful career under Foxsports.com, Kansas City Star, AOL Sports, ESPN and radio stations WHB and KCSP. It was amazing listening to him emphasise the route to becoming a successful journalist and we all managed to talk to him personally about our journalism aspirations. Wanting to be a sport journalist I enjoyed getting the chance to meet Jason and hear his story as well as being able to tell him where I want to be in 5 years time! I have his contact information to keep in touch over social network sites and hopefully will be able meet up and get work experience when I visit the States next year. It's worth a shot!
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| FOX Sports Jason Whitlock in centre! |
After the meal we watched Mo Farah win gold in the men's 5000 metres. Our table was in front of a massive screen with a projector showing the event. There was no sound but we were only a stone throw away from the Olympic Park so the roar of the fans filling the stadium echoed through the restaurant. This was helped by hundreds of fans outside the Park who were standing at the window staring inside at the screen. It was crazy.
I had to get the last train back to Worcester as I had work early the next morning. Before I left I thanked everyone in the BSU team for everything I've achieved in the last two weeks. After saying thanks I gave a personal thanks to Katelynn who had managed to get us into the Team GB house. I thanked Ryan Sparrow for sorting out accommodation for us and Chris Taylor who allowed me to go live on air in the US and be apart of the Olympics Sports film. It was sad to leave the team but their all close friends who I will no doubt stay in contact with and most of them have already offered me a place to stay when I pass through Indiana next year!
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