I have been in Nanjing for 4 days now and we have done our intensive training. Time to get out in the field. The 35 Young Reporters are extraordinary, so talented. I look forward to seeing what they can produce. Follow their output here.
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Olympic Games
This week, I was in Paris for a meeting convened by the International Olympic Committee's Head of Media Operations Anthony Edgar and outgoing IOC Press Commission Chair Kevin Gosper. It took place at AFP Paris and focused on the future of sports and news reporting. As a private meeting, it aims to set out key priorities for the IOC to consider around the future needs of the press at the Olympics. Debates were open and the climate of the meeting aimed to promote sharing among what otherwise might be seen as competing organizations. It's a really unique meeting and it was a privilege to speak there for the second time running.
Piece first published in Inside the Games
The Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympics may go down in history as having been one of the most ambitious and accomplished of all time. The complexity and sophistication puts it on a par with the Lillehammer 1994 Games, which is widely regarded to have been a Winter opening without rival.
But there was one problem that became the focus of attention after the ceremony finished. You might not have noticed it if you were watching on television, as the delay from live to broadcast meant that a rapid replacement of prior footage could wallpaper over what really happened.
In the segment when the Olympic Rings were being spectacularly visualised from gigantic snowflakes, one of them failed to expand and achieve its circular form.
So what? You may say. In the press conference that followed, it was apparent that this was a source of frustration for the organisers, who implored reporters to focus on their achievements instead of this tiny failure. The artistic director even said that this was one of the simplest technical moments in the Ceremony.
However, there is good reason why reporters will focus on it, as the presentation of the Olympic Rings is the second most important symbolic moment in the Ceremony, after the lighting of the Cauldron.
It wasn't always like this. In years gone by, the Rings would have just been erected within the stadium from the start of the show. However, in recent years, this segment has become a moment where the hair will stand up on the back of your neck and that moment was lost, at least for those who were in the stadium, which included Vladimir Putin, who was sitting next to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and not far from UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon.
So, the significance of this moment is easy to understand. After all, as much as the Games are about the athletes, they are also significantly about those Rings. The entire economic foundation of the movement relies on their sale to the highest bidder. The success of the Games rises and falls on the basis of who has the right to use the Rings.
Thus, the rings have come to symbolise more than just the Olympic values and so their failure to be properly visualised during the Opening Ceremony is to compromise the integrity of that powerful symbol. It is equivalent to the Olympic Cauldron failing to ignite. This need not mean embarrassment but it does mean that an important moment was lost for Sochi.
It would be unfair for the world to judge the artistic merit of the Ceremony on the basis of this one technical fault. Art may deserve a bit more flexibility in terms of how we evaluate success, compared to sport, where only perfection matters.
However, what took place also means that we cannot award the organisers a perfect 10 for their delivery, even if it was the best Opening Ceremony of all time. But at least that means that the next host city has something to strive for how, beyond Sochi 2014.
Besides, the beauty of television means that it won't be difficult for the Olympic organisers to easily dodge international commentary on what happened. For the majority of viewers - and for the record - it never happened.
![The Olympics: The Basics [Russian edition]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/563face7e4b06c325c739ba9/1447019579986-DITAF1GDLXI9VYX6A6V1/image-asset.jpeg)
Last week, my book 'The Olympics' was published in Russian by the Russian International Olympic University, the educational arm of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games organizing committee. This is a great achievement, especially as the previous book translated by RIOU was Pierre de Coubertin's writings.
Talk for the IOC Future of News and Sport Reporting meeting, London 2012 de-brief, at USA Today, New York City, April 2013.
I'm delighted to be giving a keynote at this @BritishLibrary event on 5th Nov. It's especially nice to focus on Rio 2016, just after the London 2012 Games, and to speak to a broad brief , rather than just one topic. Social change is certainly one thing any host city can take for granted in their hosting process. The challenge is to ensure positive social change happens and this is a much disputed outcome of the Olympics, no matter how many medals a home team wins.
In the mean time, here's the programme:
From London to Rio: Social Change and the Sporting Mega-event
9-9.30
Registration/Coffee
9.30-9.45
Welcome and Introduction to the Conference Jude England, The British Library
9.45-10.15
Keynote Lecture Prof. Kenneth Maxwell, Harvard University
10.15-11.15
Panel: Politics and Security Are the games a means to implement government policies? Will the events become focal points for international and local political conflicts? Do the events serve as a catalyst for developments in cyber security and surveillance?
Speakers:
Dr. Timothy Power, Oxford University
Dr. Jeff Garmany, King’s College London
Gabriel Silvestre, University College London
Chair: TBD
11.15-11.30
Coffee Break
11.30-12.30
Panel: Economic Impact What impact do these events have on economic development and growth? What is the impact of these events on employment and labour unions? What is the impact of these events on small business and the informal market? How is the housing stock and housing market effected by such events?
Speakers:
Prof. Jane Wills, Queen Mary, University of London Dr. Mike Raco, University College London Prof. Tom Cannon, University of Liverpool
Chair: TBD
12.30-13.15 Lunch Break
13.15-14.00
Mid-day key note lecture: Prof. Andy Miah, University of the West of Scotland
14.00-15.00
Panel: Sustainability: Social and Environmental Will the games improve most people’s quality of life? What kind of long term infrastructure developments will happen? How will renewable energies and design be incorporated into these events? Speakers: Dr. Stephen Essex, Plymouth University
Dr. Russell Seymour, Sustainability Manager for Marylebone Cricket Club
Chair: Dr. Alvaro Comin, King’s College London
15.00-15.15
Coffee Break
15.15-16.15
Race, Media and Identity What kind of racial imagery and ideology do the games reproduce/challenge? Are their different impacts of the games along racial and gender lines? What kind of coverage does the media produce about the games and why?
Speakers: Prof. João Costa Vargas, University of Texas, Austin
Prof. Renato Emerson dos Santos, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro Prof. John Horne, University of Central Lancashire
Chair: Dr. Elizabeth Cooper, The British Library
16.15-17.15
Education Will the games contribute to public health agendas? Do they further the cause of sports education/participation? Speakers: Paul Docherty, Director UK 2012, British Council
Prof. Steve Cummins, Queen Mary, University of London Luke Downdey and Marigold Ride, Fight for Peace/Luta Pela Paz
Chair: Dr. Madeleine Hatfield, Royal Geographical Society (with IGB)
17.15
Closing Remarks Jude England, The British Library
17.30
Reception
During the London 2012 Olympic Games, I was working with an arts based digital project called Emoto, which was an artist-led data visualization of the Games using Twitter. The project was developed by Future Everything using Lexalytics. Here is a video of the final sculpture of the tweets, which brought an additional creative layer to the content.
The last night of sport at the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games coincided with the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms on 8th September and it was a night full of Olympic tributes. The programme included work by Josef Suk, which won a musical prize at the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games, back when there were also contests for artists, as well as athletes. His ‘Towards a New Life’ is now considered a classic Olympic fanfare and a fitting prelude to John Williams’ ‘Olympic Fanfare and Theme’, which took place in Part two of the evening
The popular Williams composition is an iconic Olympic musical score and was even greeted in the Royal Albert Hall with a solitary Olympic flag, which stood amidst a uniquely international collection of other flags in what is one of the most popular British nights of the year, watched all over the UK.
It was also a night for festival. In this unique year for the BBC Proms, now in its 118th season, it was made part of the London 2012 Festival, the primary Cultural Olympiad brand during Games time, running throughout the Proms season.
It was also apt then that Antonin Dvork’s Carnival was played in this important year, as it was first played at the original Proms in 1895. Dvorak – whose birthday in 1841 also fell on the 8th September – composed the piece imagining a ‘lonely, contemplative wanderer reaching at twilight a city where a festival is in full swing’. Played at twilight in London on the penultimate night of the London 2012 Games and within the London 2012 Festival programme, one could not imagine a greater festival in any fuller swing!
Whether by design or by chance, this Paralympic Games time finale was a wonderful climax to the London 2012 Games’ cultural programme, which could only be followed by a closing ceremony, which takes place on Sunday the 9th September at 730pm.
The evening concluded by bringing the Olympic programme full circle, with a rendition of Jerusalem, which also featured in the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. There was also a surprise appearance of Team GB gold medalists, who accompanied the audience in a rendition of “Rule Britannia’, a Last Night of the Proms classic, and a special mention to London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad by Jiri Belohlavek, outgoing Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra – the evening’s star of the show.
After last night's surprise result with Alan Fonteles Oliveira beating Oscar Pistorius in the 200m final, I've been asked by a few journalists for a comment. Here's what I've got to say on the matter:
FINAL UPDATE: "The deeper issue underpinning this debate is what counts as a legitimate human within either Olympic and Paralympic sport. This is why the fall of Oscar Pistorius is more important than the fall of any other athlete before him, even Lance Armstrong. This is because Pistorius symbolizes the rise of the cyborg and the demise of the natural human. If his loss yesterday was fair, two conclusions are possible. Either, there are more like him coming and this will spark a tidal wave of change within Olympic and Paralympic sport, but, more broadly, in how society perceives ability. If his loss was unfair, then we may ask whether it is ok to transcend the normal human body and change people in a way that bears no resemblance to species typical norms. Either way, the debacle is a step forward for a transhuman view of sport, the only sure winner of which is technology. Just in case this is unclear, I think this is good for sport, as it exposes what has been there under the surface for some time. In fact, as the technology progresses to the nanoscale, our reinforcements - our prosthetics - will become imperceptible to the naked eye."
UPDATE: "Many people have asked why Pistorius didn't change his prosthetic blades as well, but any alteration would have prevented him from competing in the Olympic Games too, since the clause of his inclusion was very narrow defined. It seems daft to me that the IAAF and the IPC have a different definition of what is the appropriate length of a prosthetic device for a person to use. Of course, they don't. It's just that the IAAF don't have a definition at all, since they would prefer Pistorius not to enter the Olympic Games. However, Pistorius has suffered from wanting to remain eligible for each Games. It is a terrible world where a person with a disability must compromise their status within a disability community to be eligible for participation in a non-impaired world. Pistorius raised the concern about the length of the new prosthetic devices some weeks ago. This is not sour grapes, it is a person who has a legitimate concern who feels it is not being heard. What's more, he is not alone in having raised this. I found his post-race interview quite uncalculated and measured. Not a tantrum at all"
"It would be a mistake to say that Oscar has been beaten at his own game, but critics have drawn parallels to his concern about Alan Fonteles Oliveira with arguments against Oscar's participation within the Olympic Games."
"The IPC have said that Oliveira's legs are within the rules, but here we have another debate about what the rules should be in the first place. Oscar's concern indicates that these athletes have changed their legs recently in such a way as to betray the rules, but only an inquiry will change this decision now. It sounds to me that there ought to be one, since it is highly unusual that an athlete should gain such great speed in the final stretch and that they could so dramatically change their running times from one Games to the next"
"It's hard to understand how a Paralympian could adjust their prosthetics in such a way as to dramatically alter their height, but the concern seems to be that the Paralympic rules are not tight enough."
"If the rules are all agreed, then last night was a great night for Paralympic sport. It needs more people who can compete with Oscar Pistorius to really bring about a change in the argument over whether there should be just one Games. With more athletes reaching the same level of Pistorius, I think we are closer to that point"
"This situation may be a reason to force Paralympians to use the same kind of technology, of course, adjusting to their individual body types."
"The big question emerging from the race last night is whether the Paralympic rules within the T43 200m race need to be tighter. It's normal that a past winner should face young challengers and that they should eventually dethrone the champion. However, this looks like an unusual win and the concerns have been raised by other Paralympians about athletes adjusting their blade dimensions."
"If Oliveira's prosthetic legs are bigger and better and legal, then Pistorius really ought to get some. If his body height precludes this and the only reason why Alan Fonteles Oliveira has longer blades is that he is taller, then Pistorius has been beaten by a more biologically privileged athlete. However, there might be an argument to divide athletes by height as well as disability - and this is something I've argued should be applied not just to Paralympic sport, but also the Olympics. In the same way that we separate athletes in weight divisions, height also has a huge impact on likely achievements"
"On a more subjective level, I've watched the race countless times now and it looked to me like Oliveira was much more reliant on momentum than Pistorius"
Professor Andy Miah is Director of the Creative Futures Institute at the University of the West of Scotland and is author of 'The Olympics' (2012).
Here's my 'holding slide' for the Games time period. Available for interview Contact: +44 (0) 757 898 4147 / @andymiah / email@andymiah.net Interview topics: doping, Olympic politics, London atmosphere, local issues, social media, Oscar Pistorius, sport technology, ethics, gene doping, cultural olympiad, London 2012 Festival, Olympic politics
Qualifications: primary research at 6 Olympic Games (Winter and Summer), Prof at International Olympic Academy, interviews live+recorded for major programmes (BBC Newsnight, CBC The Hour), writing for Washington Post, Guardian, Independent, Times). Dates: I will be in London 21-22 July, then 26 July - 13 August, then 1-10 September.
Games Time Interviews to date. Some of these are derived from the same source eg. a Reuters piece in English picked up by Bolivia, but I figure, if someone has bothered to translate it, then it counts.
- Worldwide - Associated Press x3, BBC World Service x3 (with David Eades; with Gareth Mitchell) , Reuters, Reuters, University World News,
- Australia - ABC Radio, Canberra Times,
- Bolivia - Los Tiempos
- Brazil - TV Globo, Meio y Mensagem,
- Canada - CBC The Current, CTV, Globe & Mail, Vancouver Sun
- China - Tech Web,
- France - AFP
- India - The Economic Times, The Indian Express,
- Indonesia - The Jakarta Post,
- Italy - La Stampa, Linkiesta,
- Ireland - Irish Medical Times,
- Kuwait - Arab Times
- Netherlands - Sportgeschiedenis,
- New Zealand - New Zealand Herald,
- Japan - Japan Today,
- South Korea - TBS eFM's "This Morning"
- Turkey - BBC online
- United Kingdom: BBC News 24, BBC Online, BBC online, Daily Mirror, Huffington Post, BBC2 Newsnight, House Magazine, The Independent, Metro Blogs, Podium for 2012, Wallpaper Magazine (UK), Chris McEnroe Show, Sunday Express, Sunday Express, Wired Magazine (with Ian Steadman)
- United States of America - Boston Globe (USA), Chicago Tribune, ESPN, Fox News, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Wired,
- Vietnam - Talk Vietnam
Articles published during the Olympic month
- Oscar Pistorius loses, now what? (3 Sept, 2012)
- BBC (10 August) London 2012, A Social Media Games to Remember
- Huffington Post (9 Aug) One Day in London During the Olympic Games - A Guide for the Ticketless Olympic Tourist
- Huffington Post (5 Aug) Is This What They Meant by the First Social Media Olympics?
- Huffington Post (1 August) Your Twitter Guide to the London 2012 Olympic Games
- Metro UK (29 July, 2012) The First Social Media Olympic Opening Ceremony
- Huffington Post (14 July, 2012) Why Oscar Pistorius Has Already Made History and Why It's a Good Thing for Everyone
- Metro News (11 July, 2012) Oscar Pistorius makes a ‘One Games’ future more likely
While today’s sentencing of the Pussy Riot trio and the accompanying 100 year law banning Pride marches is devastating for many Russian citizens, it also jeopardises the integrity of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, which will take place in less than two years. It may even be a bigger political issue than the complaints about China's entitlement to host the Games back in 2008 when Beijing staged the Olympics.
This is because there are many more visible activists who have stood on behalf of the Pussy Riot trio and who are visibly vocal in their rejection of the ruling. In comparison, China's capacity to silence dissidents forced the debates about human rights to the margins and obscured it from people's views once the Games began. There were not even any significant statements from athletes about the situation during the sports. While such statements would have compromised an athlete’s position in their Olympic team, history has shown that, when issues matter a lot, then these conditions of participation may be less significant to athletes, who know they are also moral role models for their fans.
What’s different about Sochi 2014 is that the issue of LGBTQ rights is much more alive and in the public domain within Russia than the human rights issue within China. Furthermore, at every Olympic Games, a Pride House is created – alongside the various national houses – and Russia’s domestic law is likely to make this impossible. Furthermore, as a population, the athlete community is much more switched on and emotionally connected to the issues surrounding LGBTQ rights and freedom.
As such, the IOC should expect to see all kinds of protest during the Sochi 2014 Games, unless the Pussy Riot trio are released early. Indeed, Sochi 2014 could give rise to similarly historical statements as were made by USA athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos back in Mexico 1968. It seems inconceivable that none of the many LGBTQ athletes will use their moment in the limelight to highlight an issue that some of their peers and friends within the Russian Olympic team will feel unable to raise. It even brings into question whether the Games should have gone to Russia at all, given the Olympic movements promotion of non-discrimination.
At this moment between the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where there has been much talk about a one Games future, leaders within the Olympic movement should make statements of support for Russian LGBTQ athletes, if only to ensure that the IOC frowns on this kind of regressive decision.
While this undoubtedly will not come, in one year when plans to create a Pride House during the Sochi 2014 Games surface again, this issue will erupt and catch the Olympic movement unawares unless it acts first.
Photo from Miss Barabanov at Sochi 2014 World Pavillion, Vancouver 2010, on Flickr
This view was taken while interviewing for Ben Brown of News 24, which came about after having written this article for the BBC.
There has been a lot of talk about how London 2012 is the first social media Olympics, but did you notice just how much this concept was embedded into the Opening Ceremony?
First of all, behind every audience members’ seat was a personalized ‘pixel’ device, which they were asked to utilize and create ‘user generated content’ in the ceremony itself. Even the official media guide for the Opening Ceremony says there are no spectators; everyone participates.
Also, in the final main section of the Ceremony, a social media love story became the backdrop for the spectacle, where a modern day Charlie Chaplin pursued his girl using mobile phones, text messages, and social media messaging.
The final straw was the presence of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide web, who appeared at the end of this segment, as if he was the architect of the entire modern day society we had just witnessed developing before our eyes.
Evidently, he was even tweeting from his desk during his appearance within the ceremony, including references to the World Wide Web Consortium and the Web Foundation. These two references aligned with the ceremony’s foregrounding of important social concerns, not least of which is free communication.
At the end of the sequence, Berners-Lee’s infamous words ‘This is for everyone’, referring to the World Wide Web, were displayed via the pixels in the crowd.
As a lot of Canadians remind us, Vancouver 2010 was also a social media Olympics and can really claim being the first. However, nobody can contest that London 2012 was the first to make it a social media Opening Ceremony!
This post was first published in Metro
The Olympics are upon us, you’ve charged up your mobile, you’ve wiped down your iPad, you have no data limits. Now, what should you do to make sure you don’t miss out on crucial information as the Games begin?
Here’s a quick guide to some of the key Twitter accounts that are worth following, but don’t forget to use Twitter lists and hashtags as a filter for information. It's not everything, but not a bad start. If there's anything significant I've missed, drop me a line!
The best way to do this is to discover which hashtags are beginning to trend around any particular event. It might be #100m or #archery, but you’ll find the best one by searching among your Twitter peers. Most likely, #London2012 will be far too populated to function effectively, but #London2012Festival might be a good tip for cultural activity.
The Organizers
@London2012 ‘the management’ – LOCOG’s primary account, a bit too much stuff
@SebCoe ‘the boss’ - not many personalized tweets, but the top guy at LOCOG
@IamWenlock ‘the Olympic Mascot’
@IamMandeville ‘the Paralympic mascot’
@AlexBalfour2012 ‘the social media guy’ – LOCOG’s Head of Social Media, if the website goes down, blame Alex.
@London2012Fest – official account of the London 2012 Festival. If you don’t have a ticket for any sport, or even if you can’t get to London for the Games, then this is a good place to start, as you can participate in a range of cultural activities taking place wherever you are over the next 2 months.
@RuthMackenzie – Director of London 2012 Festival and a recent Twitter convert, good content, tweets, and replies.
@paulwoodmansey – PR for London 2012 Festival. If it’s on, Paul is there!
The IOC
@olympics – the main IOC account, not much engagement, but good links to Olympic family people (athletes, etc)
@AlexHuot – the IOC’s Social media Director, plugs into SXSW and other cool camps
The Help
@L2012Spectators - for travel advice, especially for ticket holders
@VisitBritain – in case London gets too much, find out what is happening elsewhere in the UK during the Games
The Culture
Remember that the Olympics are not just about sport, there are 12,000 cultural events happening around the Games period, many of which are free.
@ArtistsLead – Artists taking the lead is a series of major commissions around the UK, try to see them all for a really breath taking experience
@LegacyTrustUK – whether you knew it or not, there has been a lot of Olympic & Paralympic activity in your region funded by Legacy Trust. While their account is not very active, their links will take you to activity taking place in your region.
@thespacearts – perhaps the most innovative project of any Olympic Games ever, a collaboration between the BBC and Arts Council England to revolutionize broadcasting of cultural events
@edfringe – ok, it’s not really London 2012, but there is other art stuff happening during the Games, you know!
The Athletes
@TeamGB – scroll through who they are following to find your Olympic hopeful or hopeless
@ParalympicsGB – the primary account for British Paralympian team.
@TomDaley – not a swimmer, a diver!
@OscarPistorius – ‘the blade runner’ making history by qualifying for the Olympic Paralympic Games
@ChrisHoy – cycling legend
@MatthewCPinsent – rowing veteran
@SkeletonAmy – zooms down hills at the Winter Games
@NickSymmonds – the World’s most social media savvy athlete. Auctioned space on his left shoulder on eBay to fund his career. Winner would have their Twitter handle tattooed there during 2012.
@JDE66 –Jonathan Edwards, triple jump world record holder and overall London 2012 ambassador
Also check out the IOC’s Athlete Hub, which takes you to social media links for athletes: http://hub.olympic.org
The Media
@BBC2012 – the principal account for the London 2012 BBC team
@RogerMosey – Director of the BBC 2012 programme, follow him for a more personal insight into what the beeb are doing
@NBCOlympics – at the Beijing 2008 Games, the NBC Twitter list was the most followed worldwide and NBC partnered with Twitter to create a great guide to the Games for tracking athlete data.
@PearceSport – the BBC’s sport anchor James Pearce, always in the thick of things
@C4Paralympics – for the first time, Channel 4 are broadcasting the Paralympic Games. Check in with this account for their contribution
@InsideTheGames – novel news start up for 2012
The Sponsors
Not all of the sponsors have Twitter profiles, but here are some examples that have generated a lot of activity. You can also visit the Olympic Sponsor pavilions when the Games begin.
@BPLondon2012 – Cultural Olympiad premier partner
@CadburyUK – expect free, Olympic themed chocolate
@CokeZone – Coca Cola has a number of Olympic twitter ids, this is the one for the Torch Relay, for which it is presenting partner. Keep an eye out for their pin trading id, to participate in the unofficial Olympic sport.
The Activists
@GamesMonitor – the Olympic & Paralympic watchdog, keeping tabs on all
@CounterOlympics – planning coordinated action on 28th July in London
@DropDowNow – campaign against Dow’s sponsorship of the Olympic Games
@Moratorium2012 - Stop the Arrests - campaign to stop sex worker arrests in London during Olympics
@NoSochi2014 – connect with the emerging protests around the Sochi 2014 Games
@OccupyOlympics – will there be an Olympic occupation during the Games? If so, this account will let you know.
@OlympicBoycott – the official protestors whose DIY protest t-shirts captured LOCOG’s attention
@OlympicMissiles – protesting the situation of missiles on residents’ homes
@OurOlympics – reclaiming the Games from the corporations
@ReclaimTheBard – the Reclaim Shakespeare Company, campaign against BP involvement in the Cultural Olympiad
@SpaceHiJackers (the people behind the Official Protestor campaign)
In addition to these, here are some accounts that I'm using
@andymiah - my personal account
@media_2012 - for some of the alternative news from the #media2012 network
@CulturalOlympic - for all the cultural news
@emoto - a data visualization of Twitter emotions (I'm a collaborator)
On 21st June, Beatriz, Ethan and I spent a day following the Olympic torch down from Dumfries in Scotland to Bowness-on-Windermere. It began at 745am on a cloudy, grey morning and that turned out to be the best weather of the day!
I was accredited by LOCOG to be with the team and spent a reasonable proportion of the day around the delivery team, talking to torch bearers, police officers, and the Torch entourage (sponsors, crew, etc) about their experiences.
One of the most overwhelming take home messages from a range of people I spoke to were complements about the Metropolitan police officers involved. I wasn't expecting to hear this, especially as the presence of security is often seen as a negative aspect of the torch. However, people in the crowd and around the staging of events only had positive things to say about them and my experience reinforced this view.
I spent quite a bit of time talking to officers in detail about their experience. One of the team told me that they are 'all runners' and that, when they are assigned to running for the day - sometimes they are on bicycles - they cover approximately the distance of a marathon.
They work on a 4-week rotation, which meant they recently had a 4 day break and are due another in early July. One officer explained that it was very difficult to be away from the torch for that length of time and there was a real sense of emotional attachment to this assignment.
A police officer shadows the torch bearer from Ambleside, onto the Tern boat
On the boat from Ambleside to Bowness, the team had around 1 hr when they could relax a little and talk more.
The bow of the Tern, as it progresses on Lake Winderemere to Bowness.
At any one time, there are 2 pilot light flames accompanying the lit torches and the lanterns - traditional mining lantern designs - and a further 4 lit pilots on the bus. These lanterns stay with the officers 24 hrs a day. They even sleep with them I was told.
Throughout, it was apparent how the officers were constantly focused on the torch bearer's experience and I was surprised at how personable they were. Some of the photos I took convey this well. I didn't ask if they had received media training, but they were certainly very human in how they related to those people who entered their inner circle and very well versed to speak to media. I was with them at the half-way point in the relay, so I think they probably had answered the same questions 100 times by then.
Even the Olympic sponsors who were with the team confounded my ideas about how they may simply devalue the Olympic symbol. While people on the ground reported how the sponsors may have trivialized the experience at the evening events, on the boat, the sponsor reps spent time talking to the torch bearers, explaining the history of the torch design and seemingly trying to enrich the torch bearer's experience of their brief time with the team.
LloydsTSB sponsor rep speaking to the torch bearer en route to Bowness
At the same time, the VIPs who found themselves around the torch were really not placed centre stage. If anything, they were relegated and given reasonably short shrift in the experience, which was quite heart warming.
The torchbearer arrives to the stage for the cauldron lighting
When starting out on the day, I was not sure how or what I would report, but the story turned out to be the entourage around the torch bearer and the experience within that quite tightly constructed bubble where the performance of the relay is delivered. It is a place of considerable collaboration between the police, LOCOG, and the crew, along with the local teams that must work with them to ensure everything stays on schedule.
I'm sure I would not like to have got in the way of their work - one of the official photographers did bump me out the way at one point when I got in his shot, but that's not unusual - and I'm sure there are some who have felt the wrath of this team - and the wider police work around the torch - at key moments when the torch may have seemed vulnerable. I was also surprised that this turned out to be my story of the day, as stories about the police around the torch historically are more critical than anything.
However, when all goes well, people in the crowd conveyed to me how they felt the police helped to make the experience memorable, in a good way. Nevertheless, I think the torch bearers themselves were the main beneficiaries of their conduct.
Torch bearers from the day line the route for the final runner
The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies is out now with a chapter by Jennifer Jones and I on the Olympic Movement's digital assets, monetization and more.
A couple of weeks ago, the Scotland on Sunday published a 4-page profile piece about my work. It was written by the awesome Anna Burnside, with whom I've been in dialogue about my research for a few years. It's a really lovely article and a real privilege to have given so much space to explain what I do. It's certainly the most in depth and personal examination of my background, motives and interests. Here's the link to the full piece. The portait was taken by an amazing photographer called Ian MacNicol, who turns out to be (we think) the only Scotland based photographer accredited at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Small world!