Sophie Williams Blog

Olympic Ambition - Beijing

Last summer, I was chosen to be part of the British Olympic Ambition 2012 programme, which meant a trip out to the Olympic Games in Beijing as well as a visit to the Team GB holding camp in Macau.

After a long flight from Heathrow, we finally landed in Hong Kong where we got a transfer to Macau. It was already quite late so we just got our accreditation which let us in to the Team GB area of the resort.

The next day was fairly hectic. In the morning we went to a talk held for us about the holding camp, the Games and acclimatization. For the rest of the day, we visited the training venues and were lucky enough to see the routine by the British Synchronised Swimmers - it was so good. Although the visit to Macau was brief, it was really great to see all the training facilities - you could see all the effort that the BOA had put in to make sure that the Team GB athletes were fully prepared for the Games.

And then it was on to Beijing. From the moment we arrived at the airport you could see evidence of the Olympics absolutely everywhere - from the big posters to giant mascots walking around. From the airport we went straight to the Olympic village where we got temporary passes to look around and eat in the food hall, which had every kind of food you could imagine in it. We also got to see the accommodation.

The next day we went to watch the Men’s Sabre. It was fantastic to be there to watch our British Fencer compete, although he was so unlucky not to go through to the next round. We stayed and watched until the quarter-finals, then we went to the Team GB lodge, located just outside the Olympic Park. Here the athletes and their families, friends and training partners could gather and sit and watch the live BBC feed of the Olympics and get something to eat. In the evening, we went to watch the final of the Men’s Sabre. When Zhong from China won, the atmosphere in the stadium was absolutely incredible.

After one more day in Beijing we flew home. The whole experience was extremely motivating and inspirational. Now I can focus on London 2012.