Today I woke up early to catch the train back to Worcester with Kate as I had work in the afternoon. Arriving in Worcester I went straight to work where I read the Worcester News on my break. They had run a story on the Olympics and how Team GB were raking in the gold medals. I thought I could do a spin on the story for the London 2012 Paralympics as Team GB have high hopes which I could send it into them and maybe even BBC Hereford and Worcester if I can get broadcast material from an interview with the athletes I’m chasing up!
After my shift I headed straight back to the train station where I got a train back to Paddington before taking the tube to Wembley Stadium. I was so exhausted but still excited to witness a gold medal match!
While stuck on the tube I sat next to Japanese and American fans who I interviewed about their Olympic experience and what it would mean to see their country win gold.
Finally arriving at Wembley Stadium, I pushed my way through the thousands of fans filling every square inch of pavement towards the ground. Eventually I found Katelynn who was covered in stars and strips! We entered the ground and made our way upstairs before walking out into a 80,000+ crowd roaring as the woman football stars walked onto the pitch. The atmosphere was completely overwhelming. My country wasn't playing but my hairs were definitely standing on end from the patriotism shown by both nations. Japanese and American flags flooded the stadium. The BSU team were sat a tier down from us with hundreds of fellow American fans but unfortunately for me and Katelynn, we were surrounded by Japanese fans screaming Nippon!
The half-time score was 1-0 Team USA so going to get a drink inside the ground was full of cheering Americans. I took this time to interview two American men who had travelled from the State of Washington for the Games and whether they thought taking price and time into consideration was worth it. Needless to say they thought it was worth every penny as they said they were witnessing history. We then watched Usain Bolt win the 100m final on the TV's inside the stadium. Again the atmosphere was unbelievable. Although the Team USA athletes never clinched gold, it was incredible to see the Americans, Japanese and all the other mixed nationalities unite in cheering Usain Bolt's triumph which I think would make a great feature piece.
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| Fans Cheering Goal! |
The “The Star Spangled Banner” ringed through the stadium, as BSU team wept with their hands on their heart I could feel why the Olympics was reborn and has dated back hundreds of years. It really was one of those moments where you have to be apart of it to understand it.
Soon after we were stuck in a river of 80,000 fans trying to make their way to the tube and rail station so I put the time we had waiting to use by interviewing Japanese and American fans. Even a group of English who burst into “God Save The Queen”. After getting their views on the game I could put together a detailed match report for Football Exclusives which I was pleased about as being the Worcester City FC reporter I haven’t had much to write about this summer!
Eventually we got back to Farringdon where our flats are and decided to go out for a few drinks to celebrate the win. Still covered in stars and stripes, the BSU team had British people honking their horn as they drove passed shouting “I love America”. And in the pub British punters were cheering and exchanging friendly banter with them which was great to see but also in my eyes fairly surprising as they were getting a lot of attention. I'll look into this more and see if I can get a feature from it.
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| BSU Team! |
All in all it was a surreal day just like every other. Only 3 days left until the Games end now but I'm aiming to continue getting stuck into the Olympics and all it has to offer.
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