Hitting the wall. When running a marathon there is a point most people reach at about one-third to three-quarters of the race where it can literally feel like you’ve smacked straight into a pile of bricks! During my one and only marathon I hit the wall at about mile 18, and it was with […]

  ” The Finishing Line…One Journey Shared by Thousands. A small proportion of Athletes reach the final, but regardless of whether or not they win medals, they all become Olympians. For them, it is participating that counts; to have the honour of representing their country, to march out behind their flag during the Opening Ceremony […]

  When I raced BMX back in the late seventies, it was all about who could jump the “whoops” all in one go. Now the whoops was a combo jump at our little BMX track in South Tweed Heads that consisted of three relatively small, yet quite strategically spaced jumps. Upon first approach one could […]

  Finally we got to see the FOP (field of play) in action! Today when making our regular venue visits in the Deodoro cluster, which is host to; Basketball, Rugby, Modern Pentathlon, Hockey, Equestrian, Shooting, BMX, Mountain Bike and Canoe Slalom, we all had reason to smile! After years of planning, meetings, site visits, a […]

  I would like to dedicate this post to my wife and all the partners and families who support those of us working on this event. For me, without her support there is no way I could do this job as effectively and certainly not enjoy it as much as I do. When I make […]

  “Without technology, the games is just people running around a field!”. Ok, so there may be a little bit more to it, but from whichever functional area or games department you are from, it is easy to have the perception that without “me” there would be no games at all. Although to be honest […]

  Working on the Olympics is very special and I feel very fortunate to have worked on each games since Sydney 2000. Many of my friends and colleagues who have also delivered multiple games, as a rule, share the same level of commitment and passion to deliver the next. However from my experience, the biggest […]

  How fortunate we are to be part of this amazing team of individuals working to prepare the stage for the greatest event on earth.   Quite a bold statement given the scale of events on our little planet, however how can we not be inspired by the athletes of the world doing their best […]

  In 14 days the venues will come to life hours before competition, with each operational team arriving to their posts in preparation for the days historical events.  Every member of this ensemble has an integral role to play, from catering cleaning & waste, transport, event services, technology, hospitality, to the broadcasters, each dependant on […]

  It’s easy to assume when talking with close friends and family that they understand what it is we are talking about when we use some of the codes use in our working day.  Below is a simple set of instrcutions based on a few of the acronymns we work with in my world: “Please […]