As we officially move into Autumn I’m finding myself looking back over the summer.  The summer of the home Olympics and Paralympics.  The summer when visitors came from all over the world to visit us and were all greeted with a warm welcome and left with great memories.  The summer when Britain did itself proud.

I’ve got to admit that a few years ago when London won the bid for the Olympic games I had my doubts.  Running an Olympics is a complex, expensive affair and mistakes occur.  There were a number of stories of previous Olympic venues turning into ghost towns and previous Olympics not being economically viable and placing countries deeper into debt.  London 2012 also has it’s fair share of issues including initially spiralling budgets, security mishaps and ticketing issues.

However as the games approached I found myself getting more and more excited about the prospect of the Olympics coming to my home town and perhaps the only opportunity in my lifetime for me to see a number of the worlds greatest sportsman in the worlds largest sporting competition compete on my doorstep.

My daughter, wife and I were lucky enough to attend a number of events both on and off the Olympic park and the atmosphere was incredible at every venue we attended.  Together we discovered new sports, visited incredibly heroes and cheered on our Olympic heroes.  However the highlight for me were the positivity and commitment of the games makers.

When Charlotte and I visited the Olympic park for the first time (to see the Handball, a sport I hadn’t heard of a couple of months ago but is now a firm favourite) we had a long walk back to the station and decided to walk to West Ham station as opposed to Stratford to avoid being caught in the queues.  All along the route (which was quite a trek for a tired eight year old) the games makers were signing songs, making us laugh and encouraging us along all the way.

The Paralympics were also a particular highlight especially seeing Ellie Simmons swim, getting the opportunity to meet Zoe Newson and being in the Olympic stadium to see Aled Davies pick up the Discuss Gold.

But now it’s all over…..and I for one are going to miss the drama of the games!  But to everyone involved who made it so fabulous for us personally and for everyone who attended an event or watched it on TV…..Thank you!