It’s The Great British Crowd:
While the awful shots of empty seats at some of the most popular venues are being spread around a bemused public (wasn’t everything massively oversubscribed a year ago?), John Inverdale has been boasting down everyone’s tele tubes about the attendance at the Olympic rowing.
(Eton) Dorney Lake has been packed to the rafters every single day of the competition so far. No embarrassing gaps here. And a full crowd seems to be capable of some full on noise. The 30,000 spectators can be heard from the start line, 2000m away, every time a GB crew appear on the big screen.
I was looking forward to experiencing it for myself, and this morning I got completely absorbed by it. Rowing is a peculiar spectator sport as no person, however much you pay, can see the whole race. Everyone is stuck with about 500m of peripheral vision. So as a race comes down the course, a mexican wave of noise moves down the banks with it - except no one stops shouting once it passes. The building of 30,000 combined cheers is something to be a part of.
And that seems to sum up a part of my Olympics experience so far. The Olympic Road Cycling saw hundreds of thousands of people come out and cheer every single athlete. Rebecca Adlington was moved to tears by the noise in the Aquatics Centre. The Great British Public are showing themselves off as extremely passionate about sport, and incredibly passionate about their country. Awesome!
