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Quite wonderful seeing all the nostalgia and memories from 8 years ago at L2012. Admittedly I have all three shows from yesterday stored & ready to watch on-demand! But the Tweets did get me thinking (THREAD)... #London2012
8 years on. & what a success it was. It remains a blueprint of what a Games should look like, how it should work/run. It’s been telling over the years how many folks wanted it to fail, desperate for those ‘graveyard’ scenes to emerge of dilapidated, abandoned venues. #London2012
It was a glorious Summer because it segued BRITISH sporting consciousness. It was football without the ugly bits, rugby without the Clarkson-isms & tennis without the rah-rah stuff. It brought so many together; the devoted & casual - the partisan & indifferent! #London2012
There’s no doubt (led - arguably - by a political class maddened by the unity, global success & positive liberalism) that GB/NI changed irrevocably, for the worse after September 10 2012. The fall from grace has been spectacular, depressing. And at times shameless. #London2012
All of which is to say that L2012 was not perfect - perhaps it was the tipping point for a nation to split and show it’s colours. And a global ‘mega’ event is never perfect; there will always be stakeholders & groups unhappy. #London2012
But to educate oneself on Olympics past, my God - London got a hell of a lot more right, than wrong... #London2012
It was the most beautiful, defining period for me individually. To watch as much sport as I did, to write about it.... To have a national platform at times, and even to be paid for a little bit of it. #London2012
Try as I might have emulated or picked up in the years that followed, I failed. And that’s painful, bittersweet. But ok. #London2012
Because it took a long time to process & get ‘the Games’ out of my system. And what I recognised in the end is that a ‘home’ Olympics just hits different. I wrote as much in 2012 about Rio - for those in Tokyo, Paris and LA... seize the moment! #London2012 https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sri-sritharan/its-the-beginning-of-the-_1_b_1709223.html?ncid=other_homepage_tiwdkz83gze&utm_campaign=mw_entry_recirc
I do sometimes think how different a London Olympics would be, 8 years on. Weirdly, which music acts would be in the Ceremonies now is often high on the list! And for my bigger reveal... #London2012
While I *loved* Heatherwick’s cauldron. I kinda hated the final presentation; I wanted London’s flame/cauldron to be on the roof or visible for all!! I remember being at the Opening Ceremony watching it all unfurl & left feeling cheated (slightly) by what I’d seen. #London2012
But, a small detail - in a sea of happy and glorious memories. I look forward to watching all the shows on catch-up. And I daresay I’ll get something in one or both of my eyes... #London2012
Of course #London2012 wouldn’t be real in large part without the collective might of the #2012Tweeps. Be sure to read the definitive story of *our* story. And salutes - as always - to the pioneers, @volshy, @akersley, @nmdouglas... among many others! https://volshy.wordpress.com/2018/02/02/the-2012-ticket-hunters-whose-help-reduced-athletes-to-tears/
