This first appeared in the University of Sussex student newspaper The Badger, under a pseudonym. I wrote it back in early March, but most of the points still apply! :-)
With the Opening ceremony for the London 2012 games now only a mere 15 months away, the time is coming for everyone to decide what tickets to apply for. With thirty three sports to choose from, spread out over seventeen days and across venues up and down the country, the choice is overwhelming. However, with this guide, I’m going to try and lend a little helping hand. First off, I’ll run through the ins and outs of tickets, and then I’ll run through some of my recommendations for sports you might not otherwise choose…
In terms of tickets, there are a couple of factors on your side. First off, you’ve got time to plan; ticket applications open on March 15th (via http://www.tickets.london2012.com), and close on April 26th, and there will be no bias towards those applying early; giving you well over a month to decide what you want to see. The tickets are distributed in a ballot, so you can’t be assured of seeing exactly what you want to see, but there are no limits to the amount you can apply for, you will be expected to pay for them though if they’re allocated to you, so don’t over-stretch yourself! In terms of pricing, it obviously varies depending on the session you’re watching; a front-row seat for the men’s 100m is going to cost a fair whack more than the first session of the boxing! But tickets range from £20 upwards, and you don’t want to rule out the early sessions as having no less drama; you’ll be able to catch many of the star names for much cheaper than if you attended the evening sessions, and whatever happens you’ll be guaranteed to see some top class sport. So, with these factors strongly on our side, here are some of my suggestions for sports and sessions to keep an eye-out for; the events that might just have flown under your radar…
If you’re looking for fast-paced, frenetic, heart-in-your-mouth type sport, look no further than Badminton and Table-Tennis. I’m sure at some point you’ve played these games casually, but witnessed live and at the highest level they are very different prospects than those you’d find in your back garden. Badminton is regarded as the world’s fastest ball sport (that a shuttlecock is not really a ball is a moot point!), the record for the speed of a shuttlecock is 206mph, faster than Eurostar. But because the shuttle slows down so much in the air, all the power that goes into striking it creates a contradiction in terms; you will see both power and delicacy of touch, as each player tries to manoeuvre their opponent around the court. The pace at which it is played would strike fear into the hearts of casual players! In much the same way, Table-Tennis is a very different prospect to the game you know; until you have witnessed a Chinese-Swedish doubles match, with the Chinese 10 metres back behind the table (I’m not making that up) and the Swedish hammering the ball back at them faster than the eye can see, you have not experienced table tennis at its finest. I urge you to go along to either of these events, almost all the sessions barring the medal matches have seats for £20, and every point will justify the meagre investment!
I have two other recommendations for sports which you may miss, gymnastics and diving. These two sports are similar and different, different in that one takes place in a pool and jumping backwards off a 10m board, while the other takes place in what is effectively a giant school hall; and the same in that they are both about the pursuit of beauty and physical perfection. Watching Daniel Keatings perform on the Pommel Horse is similar to watching Tom Daley execute a back two-and-a-half somersault with a two-and-a-half twist; both are striving for physical perfection, using muscles and athleticism which we can only imagine, and using all of these skills to (hopefully) become Olympic champions. These kinds of sport are different to the others; they are about beauty. In many of the other sports at the Olympics the goal is to defeat the other competitors through any which way; here the only way to win is through being better than perfect, through being purely aesthetically better than your opponents, and this provides a very different kind of drama to gymnastics and diving. Not one of cut-throat, never-say-die attitude. But overwhelming tension where one mistake will ruin an athlete’s career, and one routine can fulfil the athlete’s quest for perfection. I urge you to see this remarkable spectacle for yourself.
I’ve only scratched the surface of the sport which will be on display at the XXX Olympiad. I haven’t covered the sheer power and ferocity of cycling, the iron will and abs of steel needed for canoeing and kayaking, the physical strength and the willingness to give every last fibre of your being in rowing, or the many varied sports of Athletics, where you will see a cross-section of great athlete’s ranging for Usain Bolt in the 100m to Jess Ennis in the Heptathlon. This is Britain’s first Olympics since 1948, it may well be the only one in our lifetime. Even for those of you who don’t enjoy sport, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness sporting brilliance in our own backyard, don’t let that chance slip through your fingers.
