Getting hooked on London 2012 (From The Oxford Times)

Getting hooked on London 2012

10:00am Wednesday 8th August 2012 in Olympics By Niall Strawson

SO Olympic fever is gripping the nation…. As the boy who was always picked last at PE I wasn’t overly excited about the Olympics, but I surprised myself by getting hooked and from the Olympic ceremony onwards, my TV has barely been off.

Like most of you, I read all the news about empty seats and figured that they might include wheelchair tickets, so I set about getting tickets last minute.

After a long wait on the phone I was surprised to be told that they had plenty of wheelchair seats on offer. I managed to get tickets for the women’s 3m diving semi-final and handball. I was in the Olympic park on Super Saturday – and super it was.

The events were amazing, the atmosphere was crazy, with 17,000 other people cheering and the excitement and sense of community left me feeling really warm.

I really wanted to write a positive piece about the Olympics but sadly despite a wonderful easy, accessible time in the park, getting there left me feeling cold.

After a 45 minute phone call to Transport for London, I eventually found out that my journey would take hours switching buses multiple times to avoid the road blocks just to get to the Tube. I was advised to use taxis for the gaps and to get to the few accessible tube stations.

After a £20 quid taxi ride, I was forced out of the taxi at the end of Whitehall (yet another road block) for a push through the crowds to Westminster tube.

Needless to say I was not exactly feeling Olympic joy. I must however praise the volunteers and transport staff who kept on smiling.

Unfortunately my journey home was equally frustrating. Some of the highlights included being told to wait in a stairwell without my companion while waiting for a train, then hearing a steward say ‘hold the doors, we’ve got another ‘one’ to a colleague who was helping another wheelchair user into a lift. Charming eh? As with every story there is a beginning, middle and end. It’s just a shame that the start and end, were riddled with additional costs, ignorant flippant comments and a few hours more on my travel time.

But as my companion said, ‘pity it didn’t feel perfect, but it was, and on reflection I’m glad I experienced the Olympics despite the horrific travel woes.

Go team GB!