Saturday, 2 August 2014

The fastest man in the world

There have been many balmy evenings at Hampden during the Commonwealth Games but this wasn't one of them! Luckily it was only a ten minute walk for Jamie, Ally, Davie and me from Kings Park Station to the stadium so we didn't get too wet despite the heavy rain and streets that were rapidly turning into rivers. It rained on and off all evening. Our seats at the stadium were excellent, low down near the pitch opposite the main stand, so we were close to the action. As we sat down the song "Why does it always rain on me?" by Travis was played and the crowd all joined in! It was all finals this evening so it was very exciting. Also, there were lots of events going on e.g. javelin, running, pole vaulting and long jump all at the same time which meant that there was plenty to watch. I had thought there would be lots of boring gaps between events and had brought my Kindle to read, but there was no need.
There were lots of medal ceremonies too; each one was heralded by a piper. One of the better known medal presenters (to me anyway, because most were senior sports officials) was expectant father (but already a veteran of a couple of successful paternity suits) Prince Albert of Monaco.
The last event was the one we were all waiting for; the men's 100m relay which had Usain Bolt running for Jamaica. After a rousing rendition of "I will walk 500 miles" the crowd fell silent and the race began. It really was amazing - so fast - and Bolt (and team) came up with the goods and won the Gold.  The Jamaicans came celebrating along past the crowd so we got a good view from our seats; Usain Bolt is very good looking.
So that's what it's like to watch athletics. It was a good evening and of course it was great to see the fastest man in the world running but that's probably enough athletics for me for a while.

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