What’s it like working at the Olympics?
30 days until the Olympics. Whilst the rest of London is busy organising the chaos that will encroach upon our daily lives we ask 2 of our WEXO recruits a few questions on working at the biggest sporting event in the world:
The best thing about working at the Olympic Games:
Being able to say: “I worked at the London 2012 Olympics”.
The athlete you’d most like to meet…
Jessica Ennis (I love her!)
What you would change about the Olympics?
I would bring back Rugby Union and Baseball to the Olympics, two huge world sports I feel should be a part of the event.
Stephen – Deputy Venue Logistics Manager, Lee Valley White Water Centre, Herts
The best thing about working at the Olympic Games:
I think the London Olympics will carry a lot of historic value and I am honoured to be a part of the biggest sporting event on the planet.
The athlete you’d most like to meet…
I would love to meet Usain Bolt because he’s the fastest man in the world and Chris Hoy since he walked away with 3 Gold medals at the last Olympics – a model of a great sportsman.
What you would change about the Olympics?
The Olympic viewing tower. I think it looks like a 6 year old has got hold of some meccano and tried to make a rollercoaster. Oh and the weather, let’s hope it holds out!
Henry – DVLM, Olympic Hotel Centre, Stratford
Some home truths about the Olympics:
* Gandhi once covered the Olympics as a newspaper reporter. The 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. We have no idea why – since it was right in the middle of his campaign for world peace – but he did.
* In 1900, in France, winners got paintings instead of gold medals. Gold, silver and bronze medals weren’t given out until the third modern Olympics, in 1904. The French gave the winners paintings because they believed they were more valuable.
* The first Olympic drug suspension wasn’t until 1968. At the 1968 Mexico City games, Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall, a Swedish pentathlete, was suspended because he tested positive for a banned substance. That substance: Alcohol. He drank several beers before the pentathlon… which was against the rules… so he was suspended.
Facts courtesy of: 11points.com
WEXO and STEP have organised paid internships and training programmes with UPS at the London 2012 Olympics for over 60 graduates.
