Thank you Michelle for sharing your 2012 journey with us.

How did you feel when it when it s announced that London had been selected to host the 2012 Olympics?

I was really excited! I was working for the City of London Sports Development Team at the time and had been involved with local events to support the bid as host city.

Why did you decide to become a Gamesmaker? Tell us a bit about your journey

I was standing in Trafalgar Square in 2008 after all the Team GB athletes had been past in the bus stop parades, with my colleagues at the City of London. They had just had breakfast at Guildhall with some of the athletes, whilst I had been outside Mansion House helping to coordinate the local schools being interviewed by the press. I vowed that I would do whatever it took to be involved in London 2012, even if meant sweeping up rubbish! Thankfully I got to be a little more involved than that! 😉

As soon as applications opened online, I applied to be involved with the volleyball events and was successful in gaining a role, whilst also expressing an interest in sitting volleyball. I missed some of the initial training for SVB as was travelling in NZ for a year but worked hard to catch up as soon as I was back - I landed on the Monday and was at a match on the Saturday! 

In 2011 I was able to be part of the test events for both the Volleyball and Sitting Volleyball events which were great experiences and helped to prepare for the following year.

What was your role in 2012?

 I was Admin Team Leader for the indoor volley at Earls Court and a Technical Official (scorer) at the Sitting Volleyball.

What was your biggest challenge? What was your biggest achievement?

I think the biggest challenge for me was time. We were short staffed on some occasions so I would do double shifts when allowed, and then on the days in between I would be back in the office doing my day job and teaching gymnastics in the evenings. I even managed to squeeze in my brother’s wedding on finals weekend although I had to forfeit my tickets to the football gold medal match at Wembley! 

My biggest achievement was being part of such a huge team of amazing people that pulled together to create and host this world class event. On a person level, it was probably being scheduled to work both gold medal matches and sharing in the excitement of the culmination of the competition.

Do you have an amusing story that you can share?

I was staying in the Olympic village during the Paralympics and was just settling in for a quiet evening with my room mate, put a bright green face pack on etc when the fire alarm sounded and all of the apartments around us were evacuated by firemen! Someone had managed to melt one of the large bright green beanbags and the smoke had set off the alarms (no names mentioned here of course 😉) thankfully just as we were about to leave the alarms stopped and I was saved the embarrassment of having to stand outside in front of various nations with a green face!

What was your proudest moment during 2012?

Attending the closing ceremony and knowing that I had been involved in one of the best Olympic Events ever held. 

What do you think the biggest legacy for volleyball was following 2012?

Sadly not, funding given that was withdrawn and both the men’s and women’s Team GB volleyball squads ended in 2013. However the current England Teams are going from strength to strength and the development pathway is the best it has ever been. Awareness and popularity of the sport in the UK has definitely increased and it’s now far more common to see people playing in local open spaces, which is a great thing!

Thank you Michelle