Guest blog by Mónika Farkas
So here we came – a Hungarian family and friends – supporting someone special at the XXX. London Summer Olympic Games Modern Pentathlon event.
That morning we hit the road as early as 06.00 as our hotel was around South Croydon and we had to get to Stratford by 7.30 for the first event held in the Olympic Park. Although travelling around London for someone not speaking the language may seem a bit of a challenge, when looking at the colourful underground map this time it was all set up for the spectators. We not only enjoyed the benefit of a free travel card but were also supported by joyful volunteers cheering all along our day, supplementing the numerous signs displayed all over the city to make sure we all find our way.
Due to this sport combining five disciplines, we were lucky to visit the Copper Box for fencing, the Aquatics Centre for the swimming, and Greenwich Park for the riding and combined disciplines. It is one of the most muscular sports, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012.
It felt amazing to be in this part of the city which used to be an inhibited industrial area and which has now become the Olympic Park with amazing architectural buildings all around and hundreds of people floating together with us in happiness.
Our lengthy day finished around half seven when all the 36 athletes ran an honour lap around the horse riding arena to finish the day in front of the cheering crowd. I gained a bunch of unforgettable memories not only because I supported my fiancé – a pentathlonist member of the Hungarian Olympic Team – who competed that day which gave an extra amount of excitement, but also because I showed this GREAT city to my family (most of them had never been in London before). And last but not least as a qualified environmentalist, I was amazed by the amount of effort and the success of the organisers achieved in staging such a sustainable global event.
