London Diary: Nostalgia grows as Games end

For 17 days the Olympics thrilled and frustrated, enchanted and exasperated.

AUGUST 13, 2012 02:18

Closing ceremony of the London Olympics 370 (photo credit: Reuters) — Closing ceremony of the London Olympics 370

(photo credit: Reuters)

And thus it is all over. With a fancy funeral (that is what the closing ceremony really is after all) the Olympic flame was extinguished and the London Games were brought to a close.

For 17 days the Olympics thrilled and frustrated, enchanted and exasperated, but perhaps most of all provided a delightful distraction from every day life.

There are those who claim that the Olympics, or sports in general for that matter, are completely meaningless.

However, what they fail to understand is that the meaninglessness of it all is the reason it means so much to so many people.

For two-and-a-half weeks, the mortgage seemed slightly less pressing, the annoying boss at work was not as upsetting and even the Iranian threat didn’t seem all that threatening.

It was escapism at its best.

A chance to forget, even if only for a short while, about the toils and tensions of daily life.

With action going on almost 15 hours a day, seven days a week, the Olympics can be exhausting to follow, not to mention to cover.

Steven Spielberg was once asked what advice he would give a young aspiring director.

He recommended he wear comfortable shoes.

I’d suggest the same for reporting on the Olympics.

With so much to cover, and much of the traveling having to be done by foot, being a journalist at the Olympics is a test of endurance as much as anything else.

Not that I’m complaining.

It has been a true privilege to report on London 2012.

The hosts put on a remarkable Games, better than any one could have expected.

The end may be inevitable, but what a joy the last 17 days have been.

In whatever way you experienced the Games, they have surely left you with memories to last a lifetime. Rio 2016 couldn’t come soon enough.