Visits

Having been selected to represent the school as Sports Ambassador I was very pleased and honoured to attend the Sainsbury's UK School Games on Wednesday 9 May, the first main event to be held at the new Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

A group of students chosen from every primary and secondary school in Thanet travelled by coach and when the stadium loomed on the horizon my first thoughts were 'wow! what a wonderful sight'.

From the coach stop we had to walk into the Olympic Park before reaching the stadium. When we finally got close up to the stadium everyone stared in amazement - the new building was truly magnificent! Outside of the stadium there were several activities to do including basketball, and also many food outlets. The atmosphere was brilliant- it was buzzing with adults and young people. A lot of thought had gone into the surrounding area of the stadium and the design of the Olympic Park to make it pleasing on the eye and it was beautifully landscaped.

It was finally time to go in. The stadium was huge and, of course, looked really modern. Our session was from 13:30 to 16:45, so we had 3 hours and 15 minutes to watch some really good competitive and entertaining athletics including various field events. The stadium was around a quarter full but the cheering and applause was still excellent for the number there. There was much enthusiasm for the young athletes taking part and although it rained half way through the session it did not affect the competitiveness of the games. We cheered on the South East team and they seemed to be consistently finishing in the top three with some excellent performances. The stadium will be a fantastic venue for our country to host the Olympic Games which commence later on in the summer and the whole regeneration of the area is perfectly planned. It was also interesting to see how the security was being undertaken which seems to be very carefully thought out and carried through to ensure the safety of competitors and spectators alike.

I feel very privileged to have been given this opportunity by my school to attend the first competitive games at the stadium and to be one of the first people to actually go into the stadium. Particularly as my parents were not successful in getting tickets in the lottery system which many felt was not a fair way to distribute tickets to true supporters to see Olympic events which would be a once in a lifetime experience. Having been to the Olympic Park I hope it will be possible to make another visit to see the marathon. I am fortunate enough that I do have tickets for the Paralympics and will look forward to again go into this superb stadium.