Alison Shaw (nee Philip – 1 North, 1984) writes: Three years before the Olympics was due to start the application process began and it took ages. Little did I know that the effort would be so worthwhile. About a year after filling in my application I was called for an interview for press relations and operations. It was a grey and drizzly day and I dragged myself to Excel from Suffolk wondering whether I really wanted to spend two weeks volunteering for no pay. As soon as I stepped through the door I was hooked! I was herded into my interview and six months later was told I would be in the Press Operations Room for the hockey. The January before the Olympics I made my way across a snowy terrain to Wembley to find 20,000 volunteers all waiting. Spectacular! Seb Coe arrived. “You get it!” he shouted. We did. The following July I found myself crossing the Olympic Park dressed in my Gamesmaker uniform to the Riverbank Arena. The park was incredible – and empty. Except for press and athletes, the latter training and running all over the park. The first few days the teams were playing training matches. It was great to see them all and GB girls were looking good at that stage. The Aussie men looked the strongest. Partly because they had no sleeves on their tops, were taller and more muscly than the other teams, and were incredibly fit (in the sporting sense of course).
Then the press started arriving from all over the world. It was great fun looking at the press photos, chatting to hockey journalists and listening to the commentators. I learnt that although the Ozzies were the fittest they were readily flustered and strong tactics could win easily. Watching the teams play so closely over the intense couple of weeks I realised that they played very differently with different tactics and approaches. I was impressed with the crowd and the big screens and the massive enthusiasm.
Watching matches from the press tribunes listening to the commentators was great. I saw Seb Coe, Kate Middleton and David Beckham. I wore the Dutch captain’s silver medal and got a great photo of my work-mate wearing the German captain’s gold medal. I went to media conferences, the press tribunes, researched information for the journalists and made many friends. I was in the Olympic Park before it opened and after it closed. I went to the press village, the main stadium and of course the hockey a lot. The girls’ bronze medal match, in which Great Britain beat New Zealand, was the most exciting.
I was fortunate enough to be a Gamesmaker at the hockey at the best Olympics ever. At the men’s gold medal match a group of us was filmed holding a banner saying “See you in Rio”. Guess that is where I am headed! Best get an itsy witsy teeny weeny polka dot bikini then…