Team Bath | Ged Roddy’s Blog

Ged Roddy’s Blog

Thursday 4th September 2008

Ged Roddy Over the last two weeks the coaches, athletes and support staff have gradually started returning from Beijing and the STV has begun to gradually fill up with everyone returning with their own olympic stories.

We host our own mini olympics last week in UK school games. What a fantastic event this turned out to be. It was great fun working with the Youth Sports Trust and particularly linking up with one of our old Bathonians in Ali Oliver.

The UK school Games brought together the best under 18s in the country and they all based themselves on the university campus as their very own Olympic village. Having quite simply flown out of one Olympic village into our very own here in Bath I had to pinch myself that I wasn’t back at the games!

Its always dangerous to single out individuals on these occassions because everyone in blue and gold did such a great job to make the games a great success, but outside of Team Bath Kevin McCormack, all the guys in estates and from the VC’s office Ron Humphries all worked miracles to ensure the event reflected positively on Bath as a city and of course as a world class university.

By Tuesday this week, the temporary seating had been dismantled and the various accessories that accompany a major games had been dismantled and packed away.

And just when we might think that the Olympic summer was coming to a close we now have the paralympics to look forward to. You will see elsewhere on the site that Bath has serious interest in the exploits of a number of our athletes but we are also providing coaching staff and other support staff to our British Paralympic mission in Beijing.

The next week will be another action packed and uplifting olympic experience. I have high hopes that our paralympians will emulate the exploits of our Olympians and bring back not only some unique experiences but the golden glow of medals as well!

The cultural Olympiad was launched today and the 2012 flag flew proudly over the Sports Training Village in honour of the occassion. Our University is the only university in the UK to have hosted the IOC when we delivered the European Youth Olympics back in 1995. In 1996 the IOC honoured Bath University and its contribution to the Olympic movement.

The London Olympiad will be a memorable four years for us here in Bath and what a way to launch it supporting the exploits of our paralympians in Beijing on Sunday 17th August 2008.

Sunday 17th September 2008

“Ged, were up to third!” those were the words that greeted me as I stepped off the plane this evening at terminal 5 and for a moment I couldn’t take in the magnitude of this simple little statement.

The last time Britain won this many medals Queen Victoria was still on the throne and the rush for medals in 2008 is far from over yet!

So what on earth happened in the lost 10 hours I spent flying back from Beijing. Well, whatever it was, Team GB has now broken its own performance targets for these games which everyone told me were “stretch targets” This wonderful Olympic team has ripped up the rule book and even now the planners will have to seriously start considering revising the nations ambitions ahead of our games in 2012.

Flight BA 268 to Heathrow sounds innocuous enough, this was my flight out of China but it was not your average international departure from Beijing airport. This was very much a team GB flight. Not all the athletes or the coaches remain in Beijing beyond their competition in the first week of the games and so BA 268 was full of Team GB traffic returning to the UK.

There were large numbers of the GB youth team sharing our flight and I also bumped into Malcolm Arnold, Craig Pickering’s coach on the plane, he too, and Malcolm has seen it all, was still coming to terms with what he had seen at that remarkable 100m final.

Driving back into Bath this evening, it was good to see the cool golden stone of the city and enjoy the peaceful pace at which the city moves, a far cry from the hot, sticky mayhem and madness that is bustling Beijing!

Crashing through the first week of the games with a hectic schedule has been great fun but totally exhausting. The jet lag and the general lack of sleep is finally catching up on me but there are still a number of Team Bath athletes yet to compete in these games and we still have allsorts of staff working out at the venues and in the Olympic village. There is still much for us to focus upon as spectators locally in addition to the great national successes we have seen in week one.

Our Modern Pentathletes will have to show great patience and sit it out throughout this week until the very last day of the games. I hope that they can relax.

We know that our boys and girls have a great chance of success, they have to be encouraged by all this early medal success for team GB and I for one have vivid memories of each of the three medals that our modern pentathletes have won since Sydney 2000 they have an outstanding track record to defend!

Fingers crossed for a golden finale next weekend. I for one will be posting them my good luck wishes to the modern pentathletes this week. If you want to do something similar send your messages to team@bath.ac.uk and we will make sure that the athletes get a copy of every message you send…..its four in the morning in Beijing time for an early night, now where’s my bed!

Saturday 16th August 2008

I was up early this morning; I had been invited to meet up with Doug Ingram who heads up the United States Olympic team. Guy Lavender from London 2012 came along with me and we arrived in the reception of the US training camp just as Michael Phelps leapt off the blocks chasing his historic 7th gold medal in the swimming pool.

Those of you that know swimming will know that that Doug is the former national coach to the US team. He gave me a stroke-by-stroke analysis of the pictures we were watching on the TV as only a world-class coach can!

Picture the bizarre scene, a couple of Brits screaming at the top of our voices in support of the young American who was about to make Olympic history. Phelps was second for every stroke of the race except for the last one, the one that counts, amazing! The room went wild, US team members from allsorts of sports had stopped in their tracks to watch the moment and they were jumping up and down with excitement at the achievement, come to think of it, so were we!

You end up in the strangest of scenarios at an Olympics, here we were jumping up and down screaming support for the US but what happened next was priceless.

The following race was Adlington’s attempt at gold and we agreed to stay and watch the race with Doug before moving the meeting on! Well the race by now is of course well documented. Janet Evans world record was smashed and Britain had its first ever double Olympic gold medallist in the pool. But the US Olympic staff who screamed along with us their support for the young British swimmer in much the same way we had for Phelps summed up what is unique about the sporting nature of the Olympic games.

The US training Camp is a significant logistical exercise, six hundred athletes, over 50 medical and support staff to say nothing of the countless coaches and trainers who are based at the centre. The USOC leave nothing to chance and the session with Doug helped me to understand a little bit more about why the US is the most successful team in Olympic history. We can learn much from their approach.

I stayed with the US team until lunchtime and then headed off to the rowing lake. Caroline Searle who heads up the PR operations at Team Bath is working at the Olympics for British Rowing and thanks to her I was able to get a prime seat to watch the multiple medal successes of our British rowers. What a truly incredible afternoon.

The men’s four were simply relentless in their pursuit of the gold. The tears of joy shed by the Mums and Dads, girlfriends, brothers and sisters and grand parents epitomised the passion and dedication that everyone connected with that supremely successful boat had sacrificed over four years in pursuit of gold.

All really successful teams appear to become as close knit as family and celebrating with the rowers I was left with the clear impression that the bond between the British rowing team and their barmy, eccentric and totally dedicated supporters was as close knit as any family could be. It was an honour to share their moment of ultimate success at the games.

I finished my final day in Beijing by making my way back to the Olympic stadium to watch the 100 metres final. It was an hours drive from the rowing lake but what unfolded in the stadium this evening was incredible and I’m not sure I can find the words right now to express the magnitude of Bolts world record run.

Not just the record but the manner of his victory; seemingly easing up in the last few strides to post a time of 9.69 seconds. The only question left upon the collective minds of the 90,000 spectators who witnessed this in the stadium is how fast can he really go when he puts his foot down for the whole race!

As I sat in the back of the cab back to my hotel the bright lights of downtown Beijing lit up the evening and I was struck by the thought that this city is now truly basking in its Olympic moment and the city will probably never look so well dressed or feel so good about itself. This morning the games produced the greatest swimmer of all time and by 11 o clock this evening it had produced the fastest man on the planet - ever! Was there ever a day at the Olympics like this one?

The people of China are getting the games they dreamed about and they are probably getting the games they deserve, quite wonderful. I came to this city a week ago feeling uncomfortable and sceptical about what might happen next.

At times I have been raging in frustration at some of the bureaucracy and mindless rules they force the inhabitants of this city to live by but for all that I will now be sad to leave this Olympic city tomorrow morning.

These games still have seven days to thrill us and much can still go right or wrong for the host city. Whichever way it turns, I for one cannot wait to see the next instalment. I will be somewhere flying over China when Paula Radcliffe sets out for her Olympic Marathon tomorrow morning, who knows perhaps that is the next twist in this wonderful story?

Friday 15th August 2008

Working at an Olympic Games certainly falls into the marathon rather than the sprint category and with the various business of the day usually starting before 8am and often events not completing before midnight it helps to try and pace yourself a bit!

Ged & Juergen at Olympic Village These are my fifth Olympics and in terms of getting stuff done they have been the most challenging compared to previous games, but as with previous games, just when you think you have no energy left to make a meaningful contribution something comes along to lift your spirits and get you moving again, that’s what happened for me this morning at the swimming pool.

Ged & Mike at Olympic Village Bath as a city was born out of the waters that flow from its spa and its prosperity over the ages has been sustained by those same waters, it’s why the tourists come and it’s why so many of us have chosen to return time and time again to the waters at Bath.

Team Bath was also born of the water. Its swimming team has been in the vanguard of our elite sports from the moment our athletes stepped into the Olympic arena, we have provided swimmers to every GB team since the Barcelona games and the recent positive discussions with UK swimming look set to ensure that elite swimming at Bath has a great future for many years to come.

For me, the epitomy of the Team Bath athlete over the last decade has been personified in Mark Foster. Foster is independent thinking, dynamically gifted and shows bombproof resilience and longevity. These are all characteristics which as Team Bath coaches we love to see in our athletes whatever their sport and Foster has long been the sort of role model that Team Bath coaches have been able to point to when looking for illustrations of what we hope our athletes can become.

Fossie did not get the dream finale to his wonderful career here in the Olympic pool, by crowning it with one more medal. But as I watched on at this mornings swim finals Fossie was all energy in the GB swim team area. One minute cheering on his team mates, the next putting a friendly arm around some of the youngsters who are almost 20 years his junior and experiencing the games for the first time.

Here is a consummate professional seeing out the last moments of his Olympic career as an athlete. He has been an outstanding ambassador for Team Bath over the years and whilst once referred to as the wild child of British swimming, he has earned and won the respect of his peers time and time again.

It will be sad not to see Fossie flowing through the Olympic pool again or indeed the training facilities at Bath, but you know, Mark’s long time adversary Popov was dressed smartly in a suit this morning giving out the medals to the Olympic Champions not trying to win them anymore.

Perhaps next time we see Mark on the Olympic pool deck he too will be presenting rather than receiving. But what a career, a class athlete and a high quality person who has set and delivered the highest standards for over three decades - completely heart warming to see him compete in the environment he was born to exist in and clearly still enjoying every moment of it.

And while I was watching all that going on; I also saw three world records broken in the pool and Phelps picked up his sixth gold of the games. It was amazing sport, and the world’s press will quite rightly be heralding Phelps as the greatest swimmer that has ever lived.

In the relative background and out of the glare of the press, the effervescent Peter Pan of swimming was buzzing around his team mates, enjoying his final few hours as a Beijing Olympian, what a class act right to his finish line.

Thursday 14th August 2008

Rain rain everywhere today and with it some fresh air and a cooling of temperatures. By and large the Chinese headed for cover, but the cooler air and the typically British summer weather afforded me the opportunity to take a stroll across the centre of the city!

Walking through the downtown shopping area was an experience. The welcome from the locals was great and everyone was keen to say hello and pass the time of day - even though my Chinese goes little beyond hello and thanks, I was stopped in my tracks for photo’s and a shake of the hand. The locals are genuinely delighted to be welcoming the world to China.

I was on route to a rendezvous with the Young ambassadors programme. This is a BOA inspired initiative, which brings young gifted athletes out to the games to give them an early experience of the event.

The programme is supported by the Youth Sport Trust and so it was not surprising that when I arrived at the appointed venue I was met by Andy Hibbert, one of our senior teaching fellows at the university who also manages the programme for the BOA and former deputy director of sport at Bath, Ali Oliver who is now a director of the youth sport trust.

It was great to catch up with some old friends 5000 miles from home. It was also great to meet the young athletes who I can only describe as wide-eyed with excitement at what they were experiencing.

Right now there are staff and students from Bath working in allsorts of different capacities across the city of Beijing this week, and of course there are a significant number of them competing for medals.

This evening LOCOG launched the Training Camp Guide for 2012. Seb Coe opened the event, his work rate and energy for 2012 is tireless and his programme here in Beijing appears to be relentless. Given his recent loss I have the greatest admiration for how he is sustaining himself in what can only be described as the largest of all goldfish bowls.

The event itself was a resounding success; it really is beginning to feel that the London Olympics are just around the corner. The interest in Bath from NOC’s all over the world was extraordinary. I was not surprised by how many people knew about the world heritage city but the level of knowledge about our university and particularly our sports programmes was a great surprise, but of course very welcome!

So what about the sport! Well it was difficult to get to see anything today with the various meetings going on! I know, I know; all the worlds’ greatest athletes gathered in one city and I spend the day in meetings!

The Olympic Games is a sprawling event with so many associated gatherings tagged on. With many of the worlds leaders congregating in the city along with every sort of sports business at times the Games is as much a gigantic sports conference as it is an athletic event!

In terms of the sport, I did bump into some of the British camp this evening and I guess it’s fair to say that there is some disappointment that the badminton mixed doubles pair failed to progress and with a number of the boxers who were tipped to medal also failed to progress. I think team GB needs a medal now to keep the early momentum going. Friday looks to have bags of promise on the medal front and I am sure that we are in for a golden Saturday at these games across a number of venues!

Tomorrow the track and field begins and I am looking forward to seeing how our athletes perform. I will certainly be making time to go and support the Bath contingent and I have also made time to ensure that I am poolside to watch Fossie begin his Olympic challenge.

Wednesday 13th August 2008

London House in the middle of bustling Beijing is a small corner of England. The house is providing a business base for GB plc and everyone from government ministers, major British corporations and a smattering of GB athletes are milling around the place, you really get the sense looking around London House that the country is finally waking up to and gearing up for 2012. Its frightening to think that a week from now we enter the London Olympiad, some of our student athletes at Bath who are watching these games on TV will be competing next time around in London!

After spending this morning in a variety of meetings with performance directors of British sports I nipped off to watch some of the boxing bouts, I have always loved the boxing at the Olympics but it was actually pretty tame stuff by Olympic standards.

The Workers Gymnasium is the boxing venue for the games, it is a huge bowl that seats 20,000 and carries fresco’s on the walls of the workers struggle, they are a throw back to another era in Chinese history. This stadium is not the ultra modern Birds Nest or the aquatic centre that quite literally glows in the dark but it is hugely atmospheric in its own particular way

Beijing Spectators For the first couple of bouts it was half empty and then everything turned on its head. In the 48kg category a little Chinese fighter entered the arena, by the time he had stepped into the ring there were close to 15,000 screaming fans lifting the roof off the old gymnasium. I have been to many stadia around the world and witnessed some great sporting moments, but this was special and had the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, the poor South American fighter who was sent in to act as the sacrifice did his best but backed by such emotional support the Chinese boxer simply floated around the ring picking up his points and booking passage into the next round.

Four rounds of one and half minutes of intense excitement and then it was over, the crowd drifted away and the stadium was half empty again save for the die hards and the guys looking down from the fresco’s. Even the belated arrival of the boxing impressario Don King could not lift the mood so I headed back for my afternoon assignments.

Tuesday 12th August 2008

Three months ago when I came out to Beijing the city was clouded in smog and the Olympic venues though completed as structures, the outside pavements and social areas were barren and undeveloped, there were workers crawling all over the city hurrying to prepare the place, but for all there efforts my overriding impression remained one which was by and large grey!

I arrived in Beijing this morning and the city is now wearing its full Olympic colours with pride. The pavements are awash with colourful planting and the Olympic and Chinese flags are everywhere.

The welcome at the airport was extremely warm and the new terminal, the biggest in the world they tell me is everything we have come to expect from Chinese engineering.

Perhaps most heart warming of all is that the smog HAS lifted and though the clouds are still evident and the humidity is something like 90% the air seems fine.

I shared the train from the arrivals area with some athletes from the Dominican Republic and immediately start playing the guessing game, what sport are they in, too short for volleyball, not big enough for football either, certainly a team of some description, turns out they were track and field athletes, ohh well, I will get better at guessing the sizes and shapes of all these athletes as the week goes on.

So here we go with a hectic itinerary for the next few days and I am already hustling to try and ensure I get to see some of the competition, tomorrow morning I am being offered a tour of the sites of Beijing, but we have spoken to an Australian who thinks we might be able to get some tickets to see the swimming, now there’s an idea!

This evening it is to matters of a more formal nature. I am a guest of the British ambassador at London House. The house has been converted into a huge business networking centre for GB plc - it will be fascinating to see what they are doing and also to see what British companies are using Beijing and of course 2012 to expand their businesses.

What We Do