London 2012 12/08/12

Everything good has to come to an end and today was the end. The London 2012 Olympics was hours away from doing it's curtain call to the world. I spent most the day at work but as soon as I got home I unpacked my bags I took to London and sat down with a deserved glass of scotch ready to watch the closing ceremony.

James was still in London chasing down stories around the Olympic Park while I sat with the rest of the world and watched the greatest show on earth come to an end for another 4 years.

It wasn't until towards the end of the closing ceremony when the British flag entered the stadium that it began to hit me what I had accomplished. “God Save The Queen” bellowed out around the Olympic Park and the realisation I was apart of what the world was seeing was incredible. Slim chance that the Olympics will be held in London again in my lifetime so the fact I made the most of it being on home soil will definitely stay with me for life.

The people I met and the sights I've seen wouldn’t of happened if I didn't believe I was a good enough journalist to cover the Olympics. I could go as far as saying this experience could be a the game changer in my career. After University I'm taking just under two years out to travel 6 continents so I'm trying to get as much experience as possible to show on my CV now. Just from the last 17 days I'm able to add these to that list:

• Spoke live on air to over a million people in the USA
• Taken part in a feature film being aired on ESPN as well as a documentary and behind the scenes film
• Interviewed fans, security and volunteers around the Olympic Park
• Visited the Team GB House
• Personally met and interviewed Team GB athletes
• Got several stories published for different outlets
• Met and spoke personally to Jason Whitlock
• Got contact details of Team GB athletes to follow their careers as Olympians

I've learnt a lot about myself and the ability to conduct myself as a professional journalist. I think the biggest thing I've learnt from this experience is although you have the down days where nothing goes your way and the good days where you do something amazing it's all part of the day job as a journalist.

Although this is my last blog post I will continue to get coverage for the London 2012 Paralympic Games and chase up athletes to interview in the coming weeks. Future stories on the Olympics which are published in different media will be posted. Thanks for reading my blog and being apart of my journey though the London 2012 Olympic Games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxhiyLGK03A&feature=player_embedded#!



My BSU T-shirt!