Games Maker Test event: an SOS, BMX fans

It is now barely three weeks until I walk onto the Olympic Park for my Games Maker test event at the BMX track.

In case you have missed earlier posts, I will be working in the Press Operations team as a Flash Quote Reporter. Having not had the training yet, I have learnt via Google that this will involve interviewing the riders after they compete.

Firstly, a confession: I don’t follow BMX. I am a big cycling fan and follow road and track, but BMX and mountain aren’t really my bag. Perhaps it’s because my 6’+ frame isn’t conducive to having a go myself, which means my interest is low.

In fact, my only experience of BMX is of watching some ‘crazy dudes’ doing tricks on a ramp on some Rob Walker-presented extreme sports programme on Channel 4. I’m being flippant, of course. The racing form of BMX has the potential to do for the summer Games what ski cross did for Vancouver last year. There, it was easily one of the most exciting events.

This is where I need help. Can anyone give me some info on the BMX riders competing? Who’s a darling? Who’s an obnoxious little git that will spur my questions?

Are there things I should ask from previous competitions? Are there any rivalries? And should I ask Shanaze Reade about that incident in Beijing?

Any help gratefully received. If not, I shall revert to ‘What’s the new track like?’, ‘Are you looking forward to London 2012?’ and ‘Aren’t the crowds great?’.

You have been warned.

Games Maker test event update

Well, it is now only a month to the day until my first foray into the world of volunteering at the Olympics.

Yep, on 19-20 August I will be working as a Flash Quote Reporter at the BMX test event on the Olympic Park as part of the Press Operations team. With a month to go I have a few steps to get through before the event itself.

Firstly, on 3 August, I will be off to Earl’s Court to collect my ID pass and uniform. Not sure exactly what the ‘uniform’ consists of. I’m hoping it’s a rather snazzy polo shirt which I will be able to match up with some slacks of my own for the big day.

Let me make this clear: I have bad memories of uniforms. I worked at a large supermarket chain for three years whilst at uni and wore all sorts of ill-fitting nylon trousers of varying lengths (I am 6’ 4”), not to mention many off-white shirts and – during a period where my store had a stab at the of sartorial consistency you would expect at a chain hotel – a very, very tight tank top. All with the supermarket’s logo embroidered just above the left nipple, obviously. It was hell and my chances of catching the eye of the yummy-mummy’s who frequented the aisles on occasion was nil.

So it’s not without worry that I will arrive at Earl’s Court in a few weeks. Seeing as we will get to keep the uniform as a souvenir, I am hoping for something with some fashion ‘legs’ – if not, then that’s another item to my ever-growing car washing wardrobe.

Secondly, I have the event training on 13 August. Now this is exciting. It will take four hours and includes a tour of the venue and role-specific training.

The most interesting aspect is getting to the venue itself. I have been instructed to allow an hour to get from Stratford station to the venue, via a shuttle bus which will pick us up from the Olympic site entrance. What? How big is this place? Still, it will be a good opportunity to see how it’s all coming along and there is an air of exclusivity about it.

Apart from that, that’s all I know. But have no fear, I will be charting my experiences of the above, as well as the event itself, right here so make sure you come back to find out more.

Are the Olympic venues really ready?

It was all going so swimmingly.

Up until now we have had very few negative stories about the construction work leading up to the Games. Bearing in mind the furore over the building of the Millennium Dome and Wembley Stadium, this is a minor miracle.

Even the most evangelical optimist would have to concede that months of media mud-throwing about construction was surely inevitable leading up to the Games. Even more so when you consider the well-noted problems of Athens in 2004 and, more recently, the comically bad process of getting Delhi ready for last year’s Commonwealth Games.

But, no, we have had very little. A real achievement given that the UK won the bid to host the Games just as one of the worst post-war recessions hit.

Instead, negative press has surrounded the ‘legacy’ of the Games, amid reports that the sweeping £308m tax payer-funded media centre will be demolished straight after the Games. Not forgetting the very public handbags over the Olympic Stadium which, for now, is in the hands of Championship side West Ham.

In fact, the only real negative PR story the Games has faced to now has been – wait for it – Olympic tickets. I made a promise not to discuss that subject anymore here so I will move on now.

A real test?

Now a seed has been sown of a new potential problem – the venues might not be up to scratch. This week a test event at Greenwich Park – site of the Equestrian event – was roundly criticised by riders taking part as not up to standard.

Of course, this is what test events are for – to iron out issues. But the main focus of these events is to concentrate on how the events are organised and run in the venues, not to test the finished venues themselves from an athlete standpoint. Should the cyclists bemoan the state of the track come its test event next February, won’t it be too late to rip up all that expensive Siberian pine?

With a whole series in the pipeline over the coming months, the organisers will be rightly nervous. To recap, the further test events this summer are:

Hadleigh Farm Mountain Bike International, 31 July, Hadleigh Farm, Essex
FIVB Beach Volleyball International, 9-14 August, Horse Guards Parade
London International Basketball Invitational, 16-21 August, Basketball Arena
UCI BMX Supercross World Cup 2011 – London, 19-20 August, BMX Track

The next one – at the mountain bike event – has the potential to go the same way. There has already been wide-spread criticism of the course, so what the pros make of it as they pop their Hadleigh Farm cherry will be interesting.

Not forgetting the BMX event in August. Will Shanaze Reade be on the offensive should she ‘do a Beijing’ on the new track? That I will be able to answer for myself as I am working that test event interviewing the athletes after they compete. Watch this space for that one.

The real issue that may come out of this is about preparation. Sure, the venues look impressive – and have been finished on time – but will they pass through the test events? Has deadline-making made way for quality venues for both athletes and fans?

The next few months will provide a lot of answers.

Is the BOA’s lifetime drugs ban fair?

I don’t think the British Olympic Association’s (BOA) lifetime ban on drugs users is fair. There, I said it. Controversial, yes; but let me explain.

Let me make one thing clear from the off: there’s no doubt in my mind that cheating in any sport is deplorable, as you not only cheat rivals and fans, but also yourself.

But the story of David Millar – the Scottish cyclist banned for two years for taking the performance enhancing drug, EPO – has made me realise it’s not always so black and white. At the moment I am reading Millar’s rather splendid biography, Racing Through the Dark.

Millar will not be able to compete for Great Britain at next year’s home Olympics as he is banned for life by the BOA. It is something that Millar clearly finds frustrating and upsetting, as this interview shows.

The easy line to take here is to have no sympathy for him and re-iterate that he bought it on himself. I would normally agree, but having read his book, I have a slightly different take.

Millar was a pro cyclist with a strong anti-drugs stance when he started out back in 1997. In the murky world of professional cycling of that era he was surrounded by dopers and teammates who he knew were enhancing their performance. He held strong and raced clean knowing that he didn’t want to win that way.

But what is detailed in his book is how the pressure and physical demands of being a pro cyclist gradually wore him down. Being a team leader with responsibilities and pressures eventually led him to roll up his sleeve and join the dark side.

Now, I am one for being harsh; for saying ‘you should have held strong, you idiot’. Even more so as the book details how he stopped taking EPO to prove he could win a stage of the Tour de France without the drugs – he did and he won.

But I implore you to read Millar’s pained description of the shame of winning the wrong way. His inner despair whilst standing on the top of the podium having won the World Time Trial Championships is an explicit example of how by taking drugs you cheat yourself.

And there is a beautifully written line which, for me, sums up what it must feel like to take drugs and win. ‘I had realised that the more I doped, the more I hated cycling – and the more it became my job, and not my passion’. Here is a perfect articulation of how the simple joy of winning and competing can get lost amongst the demands of teammates, agents and sponsors.

Which brings me back to my original question. Millar has come back from his ban (with the support of David Brailsford, Team GB’s main man, don’t forget) to take a very strong anti-drugs stance as part of the Garmin-Cervelo cycling team. If his own sport accepts him and he can ride for his country at the Commonwealth Games (as he did – and won – last year) why can’t he compete at the Olympics?

This is murky water, of course. Dwain Chambers is in the same boat as Millar, but Christine Ohuruogu was free to race and claim gold in Beijing in 2008 (and will be again next year), despite being banned for a year for missing three out of competition drugs tests.

Now, you can say that she was never actually found guilty of taking drugs. True. But by skipping the tests there’s no way to know either way. For me, you can’t have one rule for one and one for another.

I fully support the tough stance on drugs – it is the only way to deter athletes from doing it in the first place. But it is also important to acknowledge that people make mistakes for all sorts of reasons.

My solution would be to enforce lifetime bans on those who have cheated in the Olympics themselves, or who are repeat offenders.

The human effect of this on athletes who take a wrong turn is best surmised by Millar in his book. Just a few weeks after being handed his lifetime ban by the BOA, he watches his great friend Stuart O’Grady win gold for Australia at the Athens Games in a bar surrounded by his family and friends.

As Millar writes: ‘I thought I’d be able to keep the lid on everything, but the realisation that I’d never return to the Olympic Games swept over me, and, in front of everybody, I broke down. Until then, I’d never shown any of my sadness to my Biarritz friends. Now I sat in a busy seaside bar on a summer afternoon, my head in my hands, crying like a baby.’

It is a real shame that enforcing lifetime bans denies the likes of Millar a chance of redemption.

Olympic Games Maker test event update

After yet another Olympic tickets debacle, LOGOC continued its rather expertly timed email campaign over the weekend.

Whilst still slightly depressed at the ‘computer says no’ farce of the second round of sales, shortly after lunch on Friday I received an email with more details of my Games Maker test event in August.

They do love their Friday emails do LOCOG.

And so it transpires that I will be taking on the role of a Flash Quote Reporter at the BMX test event on the Olympic Park come August. Having done some collaboration with my old mate Google, this appears to be interviewing athletes after they have competed and uploading the quotes onto a news wire computer system. Nice – just hope I bag that one for the main event.

The only slight downside is the sport – BMX. Now, I am a big cycling fan – I ride both road and MTB bikes and am an avid follower of the Grand Tours (can’t wait for the TdF which starts this week). But of all the cycling disciplines, BMX is the one I know the least about. Perhaps that will be a good thing?

In fact, my only real knowledge of the sport is a rather painful – but inevitable – example of a British odds-on favourite doing what they do best. Yep, Shanaze Reade taking a tumble at the Beijing Games with the gold almost round her neck.

Other things worth noting so far include the fact that there is a ‘shuttle’ bus to take volunteers and spectators to the track. Clearly the Olympic Park is still not quite there yet. And I will also be going to a training day about a week before the event – follow the blog for details of that.

It is all getting very exciting. Stay tuned for updates as the event gets closer.

Olympic tickets – computer says no

Olympic tickets. Two words that can bring the fiercest vitriol from even the most sedate of personalities.

Unless you got lucky, of course. Then they are two words that equal unbridled joy and excitement.

Me? I fall somewhere in the middle. I always thought bagging tickets to the popular events – athletics, cycling, swimming et al – was gonna be tough. Have you ever tried to get tickets in the lottery that is Wimbledon? Or tried to get a place in the London Marathon? I have, and failed on all occasions. Perhaps I have been unlucky, or perhaps I am a realist.

Even so, I always thought I would get to see one session of the popular events. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but every athletics event I’ve ever watched has always had streams of empty seats for the morning sessions. How wrong I was.

Now I’m not about blow a load of hot air about the whole process. Far from it. The mainstream media have done plenty of that already, playing into the hands of LOCOG who must (secretly) be lapping up how we have all been whipped into a frenzy.

I foresaw all this and that was why I applied to be a Games Maker. Not just to get to the Games, but to be a real part of it and actually take something away from the experience that wasn’t a piece of over-priced merchandise.

In fact, I think the ticket process – despite some minor gripes – has been about as good as it could be. To go with a ‘first come, first served’ system from the off would have been a bigger disaster, as popular events would have got snapped up by touts. To do a lottery was fair.

The real issue for me was around the limits people could order. Surely it would have made sense to restrict how many tickets people could order based on popularity and then to one session per application?

LOCOG would have had an idea of the level of interest in each sport as those who had signed up to the tickets website last year had to specify what they were interested in buying. You can’t help but wonder if that data influenced the process chosen, with LOCOG realising there was not much interest outside of the big events.

I am disappointed not to have got anything and feel for people not even registered. My Dad is one. ‘There’s always seats for morning athletics,’ I think was his line to me. He may still be right, with 1m tickets on sale later in the year and the re-sale site.

Ah, the re-sale site – something I was pinning my hopes on. But now we have found out that people will be able to sell unwanted tickets to family and friends, so now I’m not convinced.

I have no axe to grind with the ticket process – it’s the same for everyone at the end of the day. All I know is I want people to stop going on about it now.

There are so many great stories behind the Olympics – like this rather wonderful piece by Dave Hill on the The Guardian website – that aren’t getting much air time or comment. So, please, can we stop talking about tickets now. Pretty please.

Olympic tickets = FAIL

Got to be in it to win it. You snooze you lose. Both mantras dragged me out of my bed at 05:30.

Yes, like up to 1.2m other early risers, I chanced my arm on the second phase of Olympic tickets. I had already decided what I wanted – two athletics tickets and, assuming I wouldn’t get those, two tickets to the prelims of the beach volleyball.

The back-up was a rather pathetic attempt to get my girlfriend along to watch some scantily clad women jumping around Horse Guards Parade – the sell being that it was all I could get. I needn’t have bothered.

I was already logged in come 05:50 and refreshed dead on 06:00. I quickly searched both events and added them to the basket. I entered my payment details and watched the ‘processing payment’ screen whirl around incessantly for three minutes. I have had this before on Ticketmaster so knew that the inevitable ‘time-out’ was coming. It did.

On second attempt I wasn’t allowed to put tickets into the basket at all, getting instead the rather lovely message posted in this blog post.

That was it for me – I was more than happy to give up, mainly because come December I should know the outcome of my Games Maker application and will be in a better position to go after tickets on days I (hopefully) won’t be working. There is also the ‘re-sale’ site, remember?

Even so, it is such a shame that the tickets has been handled so poorly, as this is the first real crisis LOGOC has faced and it is the one thing that sets the tempo for the Games. I am still excited, but I know of many others that aren’t anymore.

A Games for all? It sure doesn’t feel like it right now.