All for a good cause

08 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Following the success of my previous medical volunteering adventures at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the London World Athletics Championships, I decided to give it another go. I was very fortunate to have been selected as a first responder team leader for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.

My base for the games was Birmingham University campus as spectator medical cover for squash, not my first choice for sport but we also covered the hockey at times and were able to see the England women’s team win gold. But for me that’s not what it’s all about, as usual I worked with an amazing team and made lots of new friends.

What was great this time, being only 2 hours from home I had visits from two best friends. Jane got a ticket for the gymnastics, I met her after my shift and we had a bit of food together and a catch up before she got her train back to Bristol. And after holidaying up in the north, George stopped off at Birmingham with her family to check out Ozzy the bull and all the other festivities. I met up with them before one of my shifts for a wander around and a bit of people watching. It was lovely to see them and share my commonwealth experience with them.

This time I also managed to get tickets to watch the gymnastics on two days, the ladies all around finals and day two of the apparatus finals. I’m a massive fan of gymnastics and this is the first time I’d actually watched it live. The atmosphere was amazing and the gymnasts were fantastic, it was definitely money very well spent.

I can’t recommend this type of volunteering enough. It’s a fabulous way to make friends, experience international sporting events for free and you get to keep all the kit!

Happy and Glorious

29 Aug 2016 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

Like the rest of our great nation, I watched with pride Team GB competing in the Olympics in Rio.

The team exceeded expectations by coming 2nd in the medals table and passing their target of 66 medals. Among the medals there were unexpected successes; bronze for Amy Tinkler in women’s floor and bronze in all round individual men’s competition, gold on pommel and floor for Max Whitlock in our fantastic gymnastic teams. Also gold for our women’s hockey team in a nail biting and exciting game that kept me on the edge of my seat.

team GB medal winners Rio 2016

But what I really loved about the Olympics was seeing the athletes from all the different countries united by a common goal and belief. The games were a platform for forgetting political differences and conflicts if only for 2 weeks.

My favourite picture by far is the selfie taken by gymnasts Lee Eun-ju of South Korea and Hong Un-jong of North Korea.

Surely this photo epitomises the true spirit of the Olympics and hope for peace in the future.

north and south korean selfie

 

Proud to be British

14 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

One of the benefits of having to wait for my CRB to be done was having the time to watch the Olympics. For the last 2 weeks the TV has been on constantly and my blog has been temporarily neglected except for the weekly update of my adventures in fat club land.

It’s impossible for me to name my most favourite moment or even moments from the games. I think it’s all been fabulous; all of Team GB’s medals, the opening and closing ceremonies, the support of the spectators and the feelings of pride and elation that seem to be nationwide.

I have watched a variety of sports, some that I don’t normally have an interest in such as handball and judo. But I was glued to gymnastics, I was so impressed with the success of Great Britain’s teams.

It’s so fantastic to see British gymnasts in medal positions now as it’s only been that way for the last few years. Every Olympics since Munich 1972 I have watched the gymnastics competition and I couldn’t name one British gymnast from those early years through to the new millennium, but I could  rattle of a list of Romanian and Russian gymnasts as they dominated the medal podiums for many years.

Ours teams did us proud, the men’s team got a bronze in the team event, only the second time in a 100 years. In the pommel horse final Louis Smith got the silver and the bronze went to Max Whitlock.

But in my opinion the best of all was Beth Tweddle who is our most successful gymnast to date, she has been world champion 3 times and she added to this by getting the bronze medal in the uneven bars with a breathtaking routine.

This medal was the icing on the cake of Beth’s very successful career, bringing recognition to British gymnastics and catapulting it onto the international stage. She deserves every congratulations she receives.