Recharge the batteries

I blinked and now it is over, what a whirlwind experience Rio2016 has been. Athletes talk about living in the bubble of the Olympic Games, I have realised that it is by no means limited to the elite, I just do not want this bubble to burst. The party atmosphere in Rio upped a number of notches on Saturday night when the Brazilian football team made history with their first ever Olympic Gold in the men’s game. It is hard to believe that a football fanatic country with such pedigree in the sport had yet to win the Olympic title. This coincided with the conclusion of the Modern Pentathlon event and Team GB’s historical hockey victory, it was a night to remember.

The celebrations for Brazil continued as they completed their most successful Games with another gold on the final day in the volleyball. This was incomparable though to the unprecedented medal haul that TeamGB will return home with. It has actually been impossible to keep count on the medal tally during the final week. As the sole Brit in the sports presentation team I had to contain my excitement.

The Modern Pentathlon venue was only a stones throw from the Hockey stadium, so close we could even hear their crowds. Luckily my boss was feeling sympathetic to my patriotism and let me slip out to support our women in their semi final match, the final frustratingly clashed with ours. I did however have the chance to stand and proudly sing along with ‘God Save Our Queen’ as it was belted out across the Deodoro Olympic Park following that historical British victory.

Now it is time to return home, back to reality. There should be just enough time to recharge the batteries before I repack and head back out to Brazil to join another bubble ahead of the Paralympics.

Wildest expectations

Where do I start, these Olympic Games are superseding our wildest expectations as the medals continue to pour in. If you blink it you can easily miss another handful of new British Olympic Champions, that was certainly how it felt on the sensational super Sunday.

I know I am incredibly fortunate to be out in Rio De Janeiro for such a sporting spectacle. This is my forth trip to the iconic Brazilian beach city although completely incomparable to any of my former experiences. I planned ahead and booked my flights a few days earlier than I was due to start work, the difficulty then came in planning my schedule. This is a huge city with Olympic venues spread across all four corners, the logistics of getting to and from events is an endurance challenge in itself.

I realised I had to manage expectations the day I arrived. A journey from the airport followed by a trip to collect my accreditation soon accumulated to five hours spent sitting in a taxi. I quickly revaluated my ambitious plans of watching events back to back, sometimes less is more and being part of the Olympic experience is travelling with fellow fans, speaking with strangers and just generally soaking up this incredible atmosphere.

Ironically I am often having to rely on friends at home to update me with results along with the help of social media when I can find the internet. I would not for one minute swap this experience although I will say I miss our BBC coverage and the opportunity to sit in one place and watch TeamGB excel themselves on this world stage.

It is now time for me to up my game as I proudly step into my Rio 2016 uniform. After long days of rehearsals I am ready to welcome the crowd to the Modern Pentathlon event in my debut role as Olympic English ground announcer.