London 2012, Day 12 – London
I’m writing this while riding on a red, double-decker bus at 2:00 in the morning on day 13. Tonight, I covered beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade, easily the most beautiful venue at the London Games and one of the hottest tickets. And not just because fans want the chance to see Misty May and Kerri play together in what will be their final Olympics. (Misty says she is retiring after this year; Kerri says she’ll be around for another four.) Because it’s where the party’s at.
Read my story on the life of that party – the Gibb family – HERE.
Read my story on how Misty May and Kerri regained their mental edge HERE.
Not a bad venue for beach volleyball – Horse Guards Parade.
Seriously, I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a more spirited sporting event, and this one goes on every night. It’s like a Premier League football match meets a beach party meets Blue Man Group. With beer. And singing. And dancers in bikinis.
And the Macarena.
On the 30-minute bus ride from the MPC (the press center at the Olympic Village) to the venue, we passed Buckingham Palace and the Tower Bridge (finally saw the rings!) and Chruchill’s war rooms and I finally feel like I’m in London. I hope I can come back here tomorrow!
This morning, Jackie and I worked out at Virgin Active, an amazing gym/spa at Canary Warf. The rowing machines are set up in front of the window, so when you’re rowing, it feels like you’re rowing down the River Thames. The place was amazing, and they are amazing for letting us use their facilities, and keep our sanity, this week.
Not a bad place to work out – Canary Wharf.
After our workout, I stopped by the MPC to attend the welcome press conference for the BMX team. They arrived in London on Thursday afternoon and start competition on Tuesday. I’ll start covering them once I return from Manchester. We have a young, strong team and those races should make for good TV.
After lunch, I taped a quick interview for World News Tonight or Good Morning America – not sure where or when it’s going to run – on athletes and fitness. Apparently I’ll be doing this a few more times in the next week, and hopefully next time, I’ll be better prepared. TV is stressful. I like asking the questions!
It is now 2:30 and we’re pulling up at the MPC. Almost “home!”