It was with great sadness that I watched the Olympics come to a close last night and, in some way, I felt too, great surprise at my great sadness!
I'm not a follower of sport, I know nothing about the ins and outs of athletics, gymnastics, swimming or horse riding and yet over the last two and a bit weeks, I have found myself increasingly sucked in by Olympic fever. Slowly but surely I began to feel my heart beat a little faster at the start of an event,I began rooting for Team GB, I shared the nervous energy of not only the contestants but also of the crowd and, when Jessica Ennis stood on the podium, her medal firmly in hand, I shared her happy tears......I actually cried!
I have never felt so proud to be British as I have this year and, although it might not have been everybodies cup of tea, I think we all have a lot to thank the London 2012 Olympics for.
One must remember that Britain took a massive blow just after we won the bid way back when in 2005, terrorists struck London leaving in their wake a devastating death toll. In true British style we fought back and rebuilt a shattered nation with the grit and determination that we are so famed for, however the knocks kept on coming and it started to become harder to fight back until it reached the point that many of us thought...well.....what is the point?
We plunged into a dark recession, jobs and homes were lost, the war in Afghanistan continued to claim the lives of our troops and yet if Joe Public were to be honest, there's not many of us that truly know what for. Then of course we suffered at the hands of national rioting by our younger generations last year, as businesses that had managed to survive recession were destroyed by thoughtless hooligans.
Britain started to feel like a very depressing place to live.
2012 changed that.
Morale of course, was boosted earlier in the year with the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee- an event which signalled the start of a much needed boost in climate. It was the Olympics though that really gave British pride a kick up the backside.
As the likes of Ennis, Daley and Farah began to sweep up in the medal stakes, they too began to create a new breed of role models that could potentially make Britain great again. Demonstrating sheer determination, guts and integrity, they fought hard to land us third in the world - an impressive feat against giants America and China. They showed our younger generations just what can happen if you focus on that work ethic instead of throwing your life away to crime, drink and drugs and showed the rest of the world that us Brits aren't all lager swigging football louts! Not only that, but they have united us all, young and old, in a way that I can't remember anything else ever doing. The organisation of the event meant that - despite a few minor hiccups - we pulled off our time in the spotlight as the rest of the world looked on and we must also remember that the whole thing itself meant that people who might potentially have been out of work, have managed to survive over the last few years.
I'm under no illusions that there is still a long way to go when it comes to re-building our nation, but this year has definitely marked a start and we cannot deny that we have the Olympics to thank for that. I for one am sad that it has finally drawn to a close, but hope that the message it delivered continues to be remembered for a long time to come.
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