Digital Stats

Crossing the line between the Olympics and my day job here, but there are some really interesting facts and figures about how people used the internet and social media during the Olympics.

London 2012.com olympic games digital round up 13 august 2012 from Alex Balfour

Getting ready for the Paralympics

Inspiring stuff. Well worth a couple of minutes of your time to watch this.

The Evolution of Man: 100m times from 1896 to 2012

Technically this should be titled 'the evolution of very fast men', as it's about the progression of timings for the men's 100m from 1896 to last week. It makes for fascinating viewing, if you have 2 1/2 minutes to spare.

Day 5: B-ball

Today I was up early to cycle to the Olympic Park. It's a lot quieter early in the morning, but I still found myself grinning like a loon about the simple fact they I was on the Olympic Park yet again (prediction: this will continue!). It's also nice to be played into "work" by the band of the Royal Marines.

As this was my first morning shift, I should tell you that the Copper Box, newly-christened the 'Box That Rocks' (not by me, I assume by one of the fiendishly over-enthusiastic TV presenter/comperes) is as lively first thing as at any other time of day.

After my shift it was over to Park Live to watch the gymnastics (GB men doing unfeasibly well for the first time in very many years). And Team GB have been winning again!

My evening's entertainment was provided by a ticket to the basketball, but first the obligatory Olympic rings shot on the way into the Basketball Arena for two women's games.

Into the Basketball Arena for the first game, a thriller which ended Croatia 70 - Czech Republic 89.

In between games, the "WTF" dancers were on, breakdancing through skipping ropes. I blame the Americans.... ;-)

Game 2 was my chance to see the women's 'Dream Team', where USA beat Turkey 89 - 58.

The Basketball Arena looks really good lit up at night too, even from the inside.

Fifteen hours on the Olympic Park. Nice! And I'm back at 07.30 to do it all over again.

The Walthamstow Knitted Olympics

Walthamstow (aka. Awesomestow) has some very artful people. One lady has expended a huge amount of time, effort and creativity knitting the Olympics for her front garden. This is one of the coolest and sweetest things I have ever seen. Enjoy...

The whole front garden is full of knitted Olympic wonderment, and the attention to detail is really quite something. Whoever you are, thank you.

The whole front garden

Knitted Olympic Rings on the window, and a Team GBR athlete on the top step of the podium at the back!

Phillips Idowu

Cathy Freeman

Beach Volleyball ladies (steady on, boys!)

Swimming Pool (note headless USA swimmer and someone seemingly floating in the Dead Sea to the right!)

The Jamaican Three-Legged-Race team ambling past a smiling bucket

The British torch relay pair, seemingly holding
each other up on the way home from the pub!

...and finally...
they even knitted a ginger kid!!

New trackies incoming

I'm off to pick up my uniform in a minute.

Most entertainingly, I found this on t'internet a couple of days ago:

Thanks to The Londonist for the image steal... I'm going to look gorgeous X

Gold Challenge Day

So I couldn't get a place for the 10k yesterday (having run it twice in the past), but I did get a ticket for today's Gold Challenge charity races, allowing me my first entry to the Olympic Park AND the Olympic Stadium. Apart from watching the Oxfam mascot, Archie the Goat, running it was more of a photo opportunity for me...

The Olympic Stadium, taken from under the curve of the Aquatic Centre roof overhang.

The Olympic Stadium from another new angle

Facing north-west with the Olympic Stadium at my back, showing the hospitality suites (L) and a little of the Copper Box Handball Arena (middle)

A close-up of the outside of the Olympic Stadium

The ArcelorMittal Orbit

Looking over one of the many bridges towards the Aquatic Centre, with Westfield Shopping Centre in the background (back left).

And finally... I got inside the Stadium itself!

Trying not to get sunburnt

I know I keep posting pictures of the Velodrome, but it really is a lovely structure

The Ruckholt Road Bridge, linking the Olympic Park to the Northern Spectator Transport Mall

The VIPs are already starting to be looked after, with the VIP canal shuttle boats already liveried up!

The Olympic Tower (aka the ArcelorMittal Orbit) taking shape. You can now see the stainless steel of the staircase winding around the tower.

Also the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre (already bearing store logos) in the background.

From this angle you can see the Water Polo arena to the left of the tower, and the curve of the Aquatic Centre roof to the right of the tower

Slightly baffling instructions for how to use an arch on the Greenway!

...and a cyclist achieving his goal.

Behind the Container Cafe on the Greenway, local schoolchildren are planting flowers and vegetables.

One year to go

LOCOG and the media were, clearly, always going to mark this milestone. Some things have been good, some not so good. The latter includes Will Self on Newsnight who was (rightly, in my mind) critical of the huge expenditure, and heavily challenging those in charge about the true legacy of the Games (my jury is well and truly out on that one: it's needed, but will it happen?).

But, as a sports nut, I get hooked in by the magic of the Olympic Games every time. I know it'll have its hooks in me (and deeply) whilst it's going on, and I really hope I'm selected to work as a volunteer at the Games.

The stadium lit up as London grew light this morning got me all excited:

Image taken from London2012.com

Marathon day

Work on the Media Centre is progressing well

Parts of the River Lea towpath are being intermittently closed as they rebuild it. Currently the section from the London Overground bridge down to Old Ford Lock is impassible.

The Aquatic Centre is now fully boxed in around the seating areas, and the ArcelorMittal Orbit Olympic tower (the red steel structure in front of it) is starting to grow.

From slightly closer in it's clearly still the Aquatic Centre, but it is a shame that lovely saddle-span roof has been largely obscured from view.

The Olympic Stadium from the 'ViewTube' Container Cafe on the Greenway.

And because it's sort of Olympics linked, and it's marathon day, some photos of the brave marathon runners out on the London Marathon course in this heat.

Taken aaround the 21 mile mark at Limehouse DLR

The (distant) aerial view

A very amateurish shot, through dirty aeroplane windows, but it's the closest descent into Heathrow I've been on in a while so I thought I'd take the opportunity for some snaps.

From the North-East...

...and the North-West.

Yeah, sorry it's a bit blurry, but that's a combination of distance and dirty BA aeroplane windows...

One soggy day in November

The Velodrome cladding is in place...

...and the same for the Handball Arena, which is now the Copper Box.

Some pretty wintry leaves to the west of the Stadium.

A very soggy Olympic Village, facing west from Leyton Road.

A sunny summer day...and the tower design emerges

No apologies for yet another Velodrome shot, as it really is a lovely building (looks like some much-needed clean-ups of the River Lea in progress, too).

I need to get myself booked onto one of these bus tours to see the building work from closer quarters.

It looks like they've finally settled on a design for the tower, as the Planning Permission notices are up around the perimeter of the site.

A map of how it's all going to look (from the ViewTube on the Greenway)

Today I was on foot and public transport, for once, so a slightly further back view of the stadium (from the westbound Central Line from Stratford to Liverpool Street).