Andy Barrow: Everyone's Invited!

GB's Andy Barrow looks back on the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and looks ahead to London 2012.

The following entry is a slight departure from my normal blog but I think it’s something really worth hearing.

As I was eating my breakfast on Monday morning I was taking the opportunity to catch the highlights of the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics. I’ve been tuning in everyday to keep an eye on the results and see how the GB athletes are doing. I also happen to have a few friends in Canada, some of which live in Vancouver. While checking a popular social networking site that shall remain nameless I came across this status update from one such friend…

The proudest day to be Canadian is today......Most Olympic medals ever won for the nation; Most Olympic gold for ANY nation; Gold medal hockey game, and partying it up on Robson Street.....what an intense day! ~ Never thought I could feel so many emotions within 30 second intervals.....this city knows how to celebrate!!! I will miss the Olympics....2010 was AMAZING!!!

…The words above sum up the way so many Canadians are feeling right now and this wouldn’t be the first time the Olympics has galvanised an entire nation in such a way. Ask any Australian or Chinese person how they felt after the Sydney or Beijing Games or anyone who’s ever competed what the Olympics or Paralympics means to them and you’ll hear the same.

In just two-and-a-half years time everyone in the UK will have a chance to feel just like the person above did when they wrote this. I know what it feels like to be so emotionally invested in something as big as the Games. I’ve been to two Paralympics and I’m hoping to make London my third. I also know how the British public can come together and embrace a sporting event. I remember when we hosted the European Football Championships in 1996, when England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 and the Ashes in 2005 and I was lucky enough to be a part of the Heroes Parade after Beijing.

The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London will eclipse all of these events and everyone reading this now will have a chance to be involved. As Vancouver proved, the Olympics are for the “people” and it will be the “people” that make the Games a truly magical experience.

My message to you is “come along, everyone’s invited!”