It’s now only 493 days to go to what will be one of the most important cultural and sporting events ever to take place in the UK.
Last week I attended a celebratory event sponsored by Lloyds TSB and Deloitte on the day tickets became available for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012 – exactly 500 days before the opening ceremony on Friday 27 July 2012.
It was an honour and a pleasure to meet Steve Backley, former Javelin World Record Holder and Olympic Silver Medallist, and to hear him talk about what it meant to break a world record at the age of 20 and then throw all that promise away as he got caught up in the world of celebrity appearances and was dogged by injuries as he neglected his training.
Steve was heartbreakingly honest and very funny as he shared what it meant to join his heroes at the next Olympic games but not yet to feel part of that elite group and how it felt to believe he had at last won a gold medal in Sydney in 2000 when his throw made a new Olympic Record, only to be put back in second place when his arch rival Jan Zelezny responded with a huge 90m-plus throw.
Success means different things to each of us and Steve asked us all to spare a thought for those who compete and don’t make it to the magic rostrum places – he knows how much it hurts.
Steve will be joining the commentating team in London and I’m looking forward to hearing the insights that can only come from someone who has experienced the highs and lows of competing at the top level, delivered no doubt with his own very special brand of humour.
For onlookers like me, this is an incredible event, especially as a Londoner by birth, and the only chance to attend the Olympic games in my own country in my lifetime, but for those who are preparing to compete it is likely to be a life changing experience. Most of us armchair pundits can only imagine the level of physical, mental and emotional discipline it takes to get there and I for one will be counting down the days with great anticipation.