Adam Ioannou pictured above with Cypriot Tennis star Marcos Baghdatis
Week 1 – 16th – 22nd July 2012
On Monday 16th July, I arrived at the Olympic Village in Stratford to start my first shift as a volunteer for the London Olympic Games. This was the final step of a programme that had begun nearly two years earlier, when the Organising Committee of the London Games had first advertised for applicants for the volunteer or ‘Games Maker’ scheme.
I had been assigned to the NOC Services team of Games Makers. This department is the team that directly looks after each and every national team competing in the Olympics, providing clerical, language and driving support for the teams. Excitingly, this was to be a role based in the Athletes Village itself, reporting to the head of the delegation, or ‘Chef de Mission’ as they are known. I had been allocated to be an NOC Assistant for the Cyprus team, and this was a huge honour, and a role I was really looking forward to tackling.
So on 16th July, I arrived at the Athletes Village to meet the other three NOC Assistants for Cyprus – Michael Pieri, Harry Salatas, and Nicoleta Tofaridou (Photo Below). I had been approached by the producer of a programme called ‘Destination London’ which broadcasts internationally to millions of viewers on the BBC World News channel, to see if he could film us entering the Village for the first time as a team of Assistants, and to interview us for that week’s episode of the programme. We were interviewed by the presenter Paddy O’Connell, and asked about what we were expecting as Volunteers, and what we were most looking forward to. It was a very exciting experience to be interviewed for a TV programme, and when we saw the broadcast that weekend, it was a fantastic feeling to see ourselves on TV.
Upon entering the Village that day, we spent some time familiarising ourselves with the layout, and the location of some of the key buildings, as we knew that we would have a number of tasks to perform that would require a good knowledge of the geography of the Village. The time then came to welcome the Chef de Mission of the Cyprus team – Olga Piperidou, and her deputy – George Terezopoulos.
For the rest of week 1, the other three Cyprus Assistants and I spent much of our time helping Olga and George settle into their assigned residents and office spaces. There were a number of small issues to resolve, items to chase, and teething problems to tackle, much as there are when anyone moves into a new home, as this will be for the Cyprus officials and athletes for the next few weeks. We also helped to show Olga and George around the village so they could quickly become comfortable with their new environment. We also spent time in week 1 driving to some of the locations for the events in which Cyprus has athletes participating, to get a feel of the travelling time between different venues. Unfortunately, the ‘Games Lanes’ on London’s roads had not yet opened, and a lot of time was spent stuck in traffic!
Week 2 – Monday 23rd July
I was very excited today, as the first of the athletes for the Cyprus team were due to arrive along with their coaches and additional officials of the team. Whilst the athletes and their trainers who arrived were taken by official coaches to the Olympic Village, Michael and I met some of the accredited journalists for the Cyprus Olympic Committee and drove them to their hotels.
From a personal perspective, my excitement grew as the day progressed as I had been given a ticket in a ballot of ‘Games Makers’ to attend the first full dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony in the Olympic Stadium. On arriving at the impressive new stadium, I was blown away by the magnificent set that had been built for the show directed by Danny Boyle. I loved the show that was performed, and know it will be difficult to keep the performance a secret until the world would get to see it for themselves.
Tuesday 24th July
After the excitement of the previous day, today was a little more mundane, as I busied myself with a few tasks within the Village. Despite the concerns in the media, the security to get into the Village is extremely thorough, and I’m getting to know some of the soldiers at the checkpoints very well!
In the afternoon, I was very fortunate as Olga had arranged for my parents and sister to have guest passes to the Village, which is a privilege very few ‘outsiders’ have. So I walked around, giving them the guided tour, and we were lucky enough to see a number of famous faces who had gathered for the Team GB welcome ceremony. Each of the 204 competing teams have a welcome ceremony within the Village grounds, in which a theatrical show is laid on by the National Youth Theatre, and there are renditions of the Olympic anthem, and the anthems of the nations at that particular welcome ceremony. The Mayor of the Olympic Village gives an address, and there some ceremonial duties performed. It was really nice to see this ceremony for the British team, and I was really happy that my role had allowed me to get my family into the Village to experience some of the Olympic atmosphere.
Wednesday 25th July
The atmosphere is the Village is really heating up now, as most of the athletes have arrived. The day began with us attending the Team Welcome Ceremony for the Cyprus team. The four Cyprus NOC Assistants had the privilege of walking with the team to this ceremony, and standing alongside them as the event happened. It was a very proud feeling to be there with the team as the Cyprus flag was raised and national anthem played. We shared our particular Team Welcome Ceremony with the teams from Spain, Israel, Senegal and Switzerland.
After the ceremony, and some photos we took of the team underneath a giant set of Olympic rings, I drove the President of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, Ouranios Ioannides, and his wife to St James’ Palace where they were invited to a reception for all the presidents of the participating Olympic committees.
Upon returning to Stratford, I immediately got into position for something I could have only ever dreamt that I would experience. All the NOC Assistants had been asked to rehearse the parade of athletes that would take place towards the end of Friday’s Opening Ceremony. We gathered at a designated meeting point, and with military timing, had to walk as though we were the athletes of the team all the way to the stadium. As we marched, with the Cuban team directly in front, and the Czech Republic behind through the Athletes Village and onwards to the stadium, I could barely hide my excitement. It was the most incredible feeling as we stepped into the stadium and began to parade around the track. Although there was no crowd to watch us, all the dancers, drummers and other performers were rehearsing their parts as we paraded, and the stadium was lit up exactly as planned for the Opening Ceremony itself. I can’t describe what an amazing experience it was to parade around and then stand in the centre of the field taking in the view all around the magnificent stadium.
Thursday 26th July
After the excitement of the day before, I took a well-deserved day off from volunteering duties and prepared for what was coming next…
Friday 27th July
The big day! London 2012 is due to kick off, and all NOC Assistants will be involved in guiding and escorting their team of athletes and officials from the Village to the stadium. Many athletes who have chosen not to stay in the Village have arrived today just to attend the ceremony, so there are literally famous faces on every corner, including our own flag bearer Marcos Baghdatis, who kindly posed for photos with a number of people as we prepared to leave for the Athletes parade.
Retracing the route we had rehearsed on Wednesday, the other three assistants and I led the Cyprus team from the residence in the Village. It was fantastic to see all the other teams in their uniforms marching in the same way, with all the teams converging outside the Village, where we were guided into our alphabetical marching order, with the Greece team having their customary honour of leading the procession. As we inched closer and closer to the stadium, thousands of school children lined the route, cheering wildly for each team as it walked past. It was fantastic to be there first hand to see the joy and excitement on all the children’s faces as the teams marched past, and in turn, it was wonderful to see the enthusiasm and wonder on the athletes faces as they breathed in the atmosphere. It was a truly wonderful experience to be a part of, even though we had to leave the team as they entered the stadium, as we are not permitted to march with them.
I remained to watch the Cyprus team enter the stadium on a massive screen outside, and then rushed home in time to see the beautiful lighting of the Olympic Flame in the stadium. The Games are now officially open!
Saturday 28th July
After driving Marcos Baghdatis back to Wimbledon so he could resume his practice ahead of his first round match, I returned to the Village for some basic tasks. With none of the Cypriot athletes participating on the first full day of the Games, there was a sense of excitement as everyone on the team looking forward to the first action the next day, and hopeful that Cyprus could win its first ever Olympic medal.
In the evening, Harry, Nicoleta and I were in attendance as a number of the Cyprus delegation attended a reception at the Hellenic Centre, where there was a speech by the President of the Olympic Committee, Mr Ioannides, and then our special guest, President Dimitris Christofias, who expressed his warmest wishes on behalf of Cyprus to all the athletes and officials assisting them. I got to shake hands with President Christofias and say a few words to him, and that was hugely exciting, and I was very proud to have met him.
Sunday 29th July
The first members of the Cypriot team were in competition today. Panayioda Andreou competed in shooting, and Marcos Baghdatis began his men’s singles tennis competition. A number of the Cyprus delegation travelled to Wimbledon to cheer on Marcos, where I rendezvoused with them after taking the wife of the General Secretary of the Cyprus Olympic Committee to Heathrow. The wet weather brought a premature end to play, and we returned back the Village in Stratford a little earlier than expected.
