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Published: August 9th 2017
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Selfie in the standsOur time in London has been so busy I have hardly had time to stop and think, let alone write this blog. So today I am attempting to sum up what has happened over the past four days or so. Firstly the Championships. These have been action packed with several highlights every night. The crowds here are amazing with sold out sessions even in the mornings. They are knowledgeable as well and great supporters of the British athletes. The presentation has been excellent too. Hero the hedgehog arrives at the start of the night and "warms up" the crowd with his keep fit routine and the beginning of every final is literally heralded by a fanfare of trumpets coming from a group of soldiers. The last two nights it has been the Scots Guards in their bearskin hats.. Saturday night was all about the men's 100 metres. It was so disappointing for everyone, except the Americans, that Usain Bolt was beaten by Justin Gatlin. Someone who has been suspended twice for drug use is not popular or respected here and there was a lot of booing over the result. However, he did leave the arena quickly and allowed Bolt to have
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View from our seats his farewell. The booing was more subdued when the medals were presented and the crowd respected the protocols.
In the men's long jump, Fabrice La Pierre made it to the final but did not jump his best coming in last in the field. On Sunday we missed the morning session and watched the marathon on TV. Jessica Trengove from Adelaide was fantastic, running with the main bunch for most of the race and then finishing 9th. The best performance in a World Championship for an Australian female marathoner. The men's Shot Putt was another highlight with Tom Walsh from New Zealand taking out the gold medal. All of the Oceania team was delighted. Last night the men's Pole Vault was a fantastic competition with the top three or four having a passing duel. It was won by Sam Hendricks from the USA with Lisker from Poland, second and Lavillenie from France third. Kurtis Marschall from Adelaide ,at only 20, vaulted 5-65 for 7th, a great effort. It has been hard to watch two field events and keep up with the track all at once, but it certainly has been entertaining. As well, each night has seen us catch up
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Bolt at the start of the 100 metres with different people from all over the world and enjoy the hospitality on offer. Last night Fletcher finally met up with John Velzian from Kenya at the track. He had been looking for us for a few days but did not have the right accreditation to get into the VIP area. We have also chatted to Peter and Penny Deane who are seated just below our viewing area.
During the day we have also been busy. On Monday we met up with John and Liz Mitton, another couple we had spent time with on the Astor. They live in London and caught the tube to our hotel. It was great to see them again. We walked across the footbridge and went to the Tea Merchant for a lovely lunch with much conversation and good red wine. At 2 pm we bade them farewell and then went to a reception held by the delegation from Doha, the venue for the next Championships in 2019. This was held on the 35th floor of a building in Fenchurch Street, opposite Fenchurch St Station. This venue is called Skygarden and is spread over two floors containing a rainforest inside and magnificent views over
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Bolt after the race London. It was a dry show as it was hosted by Qatar, but the fruit juices were refreshing and the food kept coming. They also had "cultural" experiences, including Henna hand painting, calligraphy of Arabic lettering and falcons perched on their roosts. Out on the balcony, we could see for miles and it was very impressive overall. On Tuesday morning we caught the train into Holborn and strolled down to Covent Garden. We browsed through the market there and I bought myself a belt. There was a string quartet busking which was excellent and we stopped for a coffee. We then walked through the theatre district to Leicester Square, Coventry Street and Picadilly. (Monopoly tour of London). We then got the tube back to Holborn and met up with Debbie Strange and Peter Thompson at Spaghetti House in Sicilian street. Here we had a great lunch with the wine and conversation flowing. The food was delicious with the crab panciotti in a prawn and tomato sauce, which Fletcher, Debbie and myself had, excellent. We spent a lovely few hours, with great company, even though we see each other infrequently, good friends always click straight away, so catching up is enjoyable
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Medal presentation for the 100m for all of us.
The next few days will be just as hectic but I hope to update this later in the week. It has been very enjoyable and exciting, especially at the track and there are still five nights to go!
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