Gloriana

I have lived for the seventeen days of Olympic glory every over year for my entire life. I enjoy watching sports, but I’m not a fanatic. And I definitely prefer them live to actually watching them on TV. But then there are the Olympics. And if my nose could be pressed to the screen and I could still see, that’s where I would be for seventeen days — no matter how terrible the NBC coverage might be, it’s still better than the last time CBS covered them in ‘98. 

I have no doubt that the 1988 Games were on in my presence, but it’s not until I watched Kristi Yamaguchi win gold at the Albertville Olympics do I officially remember the Olympics. I puked my food poisoned guts up to the tune of my black and white television’s broadcast of the Barcelona Games while at summer camp. I mastered recording on a VCR during the Lillehammer Games. I was glued to the arm chair in my grandparent’s basement, refusing to move for a second of the Atlanta Games as they were in MY COUNTRY. I fell in absolute love with woman’s hockey during its debut at the Nagano Games. I teared up as Cathy Freeman won the 400m in Sydney and hyperventilated after lights out in the dorm watching Alexei Yagudin win gold in Salt Lake. I was in shock and awe as Paul Hamm fell on vault and came back to win the all-around, and I yelled at Ian Thorpe to drown during a relay in Athens. My stress levels increased any time Apolo Anton Ohno stepped on the ice in Torino. I made a friend record the opening Beijing ceremony so I could continue consuming lamb at Arab fest and watched the games in awe as Michael Phelps became untouchable. I watched all of the Vancouver Olympics in Chinese — it doesn’t matter what language they’re in, they are amazing and there was no chance that I wasn’t going to be getting my butt up to London for these games. 

Olympic Stop Numero Ono: Catching the Torch on it’s way up the Thames.

Breathe Jenni. Breathe. Your life long dream of going to the Olympics is finally coming true. 

Olympialand

People frequently ask me what sport I would go see at the Olympics — if I could only see one, what would I chose? Ihavenoidea! Don’tmakemechoose!! Ican’tdoit!!! Ihavenoidea!!!! Ohmygoodness!!!!! Toomuchstress!!!!!!

And that’s about the way it went when attempting to get tickets:  Ihavenoidea! Don’tmakemechoose!! Ican’tdoit!!! Ihavenoidea!!!! Ohmygoodness!!!!! Toomuchstress!!!!!! ANYTHING!!!

And so, through the £20 tickets we searched because while I didn’t have a preference for Olympic sport, I did have a price tag attached to it. Which is why I ended up crashing the Olympics. Because free is way better than £20. No matter what, it’s still the OLYMPICS — and the free bike race was AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. I still get a little teary and breathless just thinking about it. 

I also embraced some of the free London 2012 bling that London has bedecked itself with —- for the first time in London I was mildly ok with looking like a dorky tourist — but only because I was a crazed OLYMPICS!!!-obsessed tourist. 

Wenlock? Found. A few times. 

Mandeville? A bit harder to find, but you can’t hide from me!

Who ever would have thought of dropping the rings off Tower Bridge?! LOVE IT! 

Amazing Czech sculpture embracing the Olympics and London? Oh yeah. 

What a successful Olympic crashing. How ever did I drag myself away from the city?! Not only do I adore London, but the OLYMPICS!!! are there! It’s the best of every world!