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| All images courtesy of London 2012 |
We all knew this day was coming. The dreaded Monday back to reality after the fabulous Olympic fortnight. Over the last few weeks we have been treated to some of the best sporting action imaginable as the Olympics has taken over not just London but the entire United Kingdom. Great Britain has enjoyed immense success both in and outside of the sporting arena. Our athletes have delivered in almost every sport, whilst our enthusiastic support and incredible volunteers have become the envy the world over.
At Raise2Give we have been looking back over the games and picked some of our top inspirational moments that should hopefully ward off the Olympic blues, at least until the Paralympics begins in a fortnights time!
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Nobody was sure what to expect from Danny Boyle's imagination to open the games. There was a lot of cynicism about costs and trepidation in following the celebrated and climactic scenes from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. What we got was a night so uniquely British that it couldn't help but win you over. Britain was able to revel in celebrating its culture with our typically individual sense of humour. Nods towards the industrial revolution, literature, technology and our influence upon popular music reminded us how much our island has contributed to the world. James Bond and the Queen skydiving into the ceremony surely had to be the highlight of the evening.
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Issaka 'the Otter'
Hamado Djibo Issaka embodies everything about the Olympics that is often forgotten behind the medals and world records: the sheer desire to enjoy taking part. The 35 year old, who had previously worked as a gardener and pool cleaner in land-locked Niger, received a wild card entry to take part in the men's single sculls rowing. He only took up the sport three months before the Olympics, was his countries sole competitor and had to travel to Tunisia to train. He finished dead last in the event by quite some distance but his journey and desire to participate deserve as much credit as any medal won.
Hamado Djibo Issaka embodies everything about the Olympics that is often forgotten behind the medals and world records: the sheer desire to enjoy taking part. The 35 year old, who had previously worked as a gardener and pool cleaner in land-locked Niger, received a wild card entry to take part in the men's single sculls rowing. He only took up the sport three months before the Olympics, was his countries sole competitor and had to travel to Tunisia to train. He finished dead last in the event by quite some distance but his journey and desire to participate deserve as much credit as any medal won.
Gemma Gibbons and Kayla Harrison
Undoubtedly, one of the defining images from London will be Britain's Gemma Gibbons mouthing, 'I love you mum' to the sky after securing at least a silver medal in Judo. Gibbons had unfortunately lost her mum, Jeanette, to Leukemia when she was 17. Her 8 year journey to Olympic silver from then was a great example of triumph in the face of adversity. Her opponent in the final and eventual gold medalist, Kayla Harrison, showed great courage herself in recovering from psychological damage caused by sexual abuse from her former coach to reach the pinnacle of her sport.
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Tom's Story
It is hard to believe that Tom Daley is still only 18, such is the stretch of the time he has spent in the public eye. Seen as a great medal hope from long before 2012, the diver has had to cope with this pressure whilst at the same time having to deal with growing up and leading a normal life. In 2011 Daley's father, a huge influence in his life, passed away after a long battle with a brain tumor. This would be hard enough for any young person to deal with, but added to the expectation of a nation the pressure must have been huge. The poster boy of the games delivered though: A bronze medal and straight A's at A level to boot are credit to a truly inspirational young athlete and person.
It is hard to believe that Tom Daley is still only 18, such is the stretch of the time he has spent in the public eye. Seen as a great medal hope from long before 2012, the diver has had to cope with this pressure whilst at the same time having to deal with growing up and leading a normal life. In 2011 Daley's father, a huge influence in his life, passed away after a long battle with a brain tumor. This would be hard enough for any young person to deal with, but added to the expectation of a nation the pressure must have been huge. The poster boy of the games delivered though: A bronze medal and straight A's at A level to boot are credit to a truly inspirational young athlete and person.
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The Olympic motto is always inspired by those athletes who push the very levels of their sport to astounding heights in success as world records tumble and international fame rises up around them. Take Usain Bolt, who blew away all sprinting competition in Beijing and Michael Phelps, who won a record 8 gold medals in those same games. Both came to London with doubts over form and fitness yet ultimately prevailed. Bolt retained all of his Olympic titles whilst Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time. With so many incredible performances produced it is hard to choose a single moment, however David Rudisha's breathtaking display in winning the 800 metres title in world record time will live long in the memory.
Katherine Grainger could be forgiven for thinking that her time would never come. Six times a world rowing champion, she'd fallen just short of achieving Olympic success at three successive games. In Beijing, her narrow defeat into silver medal position was agonising, having led with her crew for the majority of the race. For most, experiencing this pain would be enough to dampen their spirits but Grainger showed dedication and perseverance to push her body through the necessary training to reach the very top of of her sport and this time at last found golden success with partner Anna Watkins.
In track and now road cycling, it would be hard to argue that Britain is not the strongest nation in the world. With Bradley Wiggins having already won the Tour de France, the first Brit to do so in the competition's 99 year history, before adding Olympic gold in the road time trial, the track cyclists had a tough act to follow. But as seems to be the way with British cycling, targets are there to be broken. Great Britain dominated the velodrome, Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton competed for the final time at the games, winning 3 golds between them. Rising stars such as Jason Kenny and Laura Trott also shone, showing that far be it from the end of an era of domination, Britain's cycling prowess may long continue. Such was the extent of Britain's success, other nations started calling foul. However British cycling chief Dave Brailsford, mastermind of British cycling success, jokingly quipped that it was down to the British team possessing 'rounder wheels'.
Im Dong-Hyun would struggle to make out the words in a book in front of him. The South Korean Olympian suffers from 20/200 vision in his left eye and 20/100 vision in his right eye, meaning that he has to be approximately 10 times closer to an object than someone with perfect sight. Legally registered as blind, this would be a significant hindrance in most Olympic events especially as his chosen event is archery. And is he there simply to make up the numbers? Certainly not. Having set a new world record in the 72 arrow men's individual event to take gold, Dong-Hyun also moved on to scoop gold in the team event as well. Just another example of how London 2012 marked a significant breakthrough for differently-abled athletes.
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Ultimately, London 2012 was going to be judged to a great extent by the success of Team GB. 65 medals, including 29 gold, more than exceeded expectations. Whether it was athletes who had long been a part of the Olympic games, for example sailing's Ben Ainslie who had won a silver medal at the Atlanta games of 1996 and then a gold at each games since, or Anthony Joshua, whose gold medal at Super Heavyweight boxing signaled the very start of his sporting career, each athlete had an incredible story in their journey towards success. Perhaps the greatest night of the games for British athletes was 'Super Saturday', when Jess Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah all won gold inside the iconic Olympic stadium within the space of an hour. That night, as well as Britain's success across the entire games, will endure long in the memory.
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Very simply, 'games makers' were the glue that held the Olympics together. They were present at every single event at every venue and assisted to a huge extent with the millions of visitors who came to view all of the sport. A huge proportion of those who volunteered were from the United Kingdom and had taken time away from work and study to help make the games the incredible spectacle that it became. Raise2Give were fortunate enough to travel to some of the events throughout the Olympics and were taken back by the cheerfulness and good will exhibited by games makers. In light of all of the amazing athletic feats and achievement, it was very telling that the biggest cheer at the closing ceremony came for the people who had given their time up for free in order to make the Olympic games the spectacle that it was. Every volunteer was a reminder of the good will that still remains in all of us.
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