London 2012: Day Sixteen

Medals so far:

Gold:         29
Silver:       17
Bronze:     19
 
Medals today:

Gold:         1
Silver:       2
Bronze:     0

Place Overall:   3

Gold in Boxing - Men's Super Heavy (+91kg), won by Anthony Joshua.

Silver in Boxing - Men's Welter (69kg), won by Freddie Evans.

Silver in Modern Pentathlon - Women's Modern Pentathlon, won by Samantha Murray.

Today was the end of this Olympics, and the highlight of the day has to have been the massive party at the end. The most hilarious part, for me, was definitely Boris Johnson dancing to the Spice Girls.

Rowen

London 2012: Day Fifteen

Medals so far:

Gold:         28
Silver:       15
Bronze:     19
 
Medals today:

Gold:         3
Silver:       0
Bronze:     2

Place Overall:   3

Gold in Athletics - Men's 5000m, won by Mohamed Farah.

Gold in Boxing (56kg) - Men's Bantam, won by Luke Campbell.

Gold in Canoe Sprint - Men's Kayak Single (K1) 200m, won by Ed McKeever.

Bronze in Canoe Sprint - Men's Kayak Double (K2) 200m, won by Liam Heath and Jon Schofield.

Bronze in Diving - Men's 10m Platform, won by Thomas Daley.

For me today I loved watching the finals for the diving, and I thought the medal placement's were justified. I loved the way that those in the Bronze and Gold medal positions were elated, but the Chinese who'd entered as the World Number One came away annoyed with himself for his Silver medal position.

It was good fun watching the Canoe Sprint's as well, I'm really glad that the Olympics showcases some much more obscure sports, and my only question is why they do this by removing other events? Why not just add to them, people WANT to watch our athletes perform, and in as many events as possible, it's a fact which simply baffles me. Anyway...

Enjoy the Games!

Rowen

London 2012: Day Fourteen

Medals so far:

Gold:         25
Silver:       15
Bronze:     17
 
Medals today:

Gold:         0
Silver:       2
Bronze:     3

Place Overall:   3

Silver in Sailing - Men's 470, won by Stuart Bithell and Luke Patience.

Silver in Sailing - Women's 470, won by Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark.

Bronze in Boxing - Men's Middle (75kg), won by Anthony Ogogo.

Bronze in Taekwondo - Men's -80kg, won by Lutalo Muhammad.

Bronze in Hockey - Women's, won by Elizabeth Storry, Emily Maguire, Laura Unsworth, Crista Cullen, Hannah Macleod, Anne Panter, Helen Richardson, Kate Walsh, Chloe Rogers, Laura Bartlett, Alex Danson, Georgie Twigg, Ashleigh Ball, Sally Walton, Nichola White and Sarah Thomas.

Although we got medals today, I have to say the feat of the day for me is still the USA 400m relay-team qualifying in first place despite one of their runners breaking a leg.

Sorry for the late post.

Enjoy the Games!

Rowen

London 2012: Day Thirteen

Medals so far:

Gold:         25
Silver:       13
Bronze:     14
 
Medals today:

Gold:         3
Silver:       0
Bronze:     1

Place Overall:   3

Gold in Boxing - Women's Fly (51kg), won by Nicola Adams.

Gold in Taekwondo - Women's -57kg, won by Jade Jones.

Gold in Equestrian - Individual Dressage, won by Charlotte Dujardin.

Bronze in Equestrian - Individual Dressage, won by Laura Bechtolsheimer.

The highlight for me today was actually Keri-Ann Payne coming fourth in her 10km marathon swim in the Serpentine, because despite the fact she came fourth she swam incredibly well, and even after that distance she came fourth by only 0.5 seconds. Incredible!

Enjoy the Games!

Rowen

London 2012: Day Twelve

Medals so far:

Gold:         22
Silver:       13
Bronze:     13
 
Medals today:

Gold:         0
Silver:       0
Bronze:     0

Place Overall:   3


Today is the first day since the first day that we havn't come away with any medals :( However our athletes still have done amazingly. 

I have to say that it astounds me how good our athletes and those of other nations are at what they do. And I find it almost unbelievable that we're so far ahead in medal numbers than those behind us whilst being at the same time so far behind those ahead of us. 

Enjoy the games!

Rowen

London 2012: Day Eleven

Medals so far:

Gold:         22
Silver:       13
Bronze:     13
 
Medals today:

Gold:         4
Silver:       2
Bronze:     2

Place Overall:   3

Gold in Cycling - Track - Men's Keirin, won by Chris Hoy.

Gold in Cycling - Track - Women's Omnium, Laura Trott.

Gold in Equestrian - Team Dressage, won by Carl Hester, Laura Bechtol Scheimer and Charlotte Dujardin.

Gold in Triathlon - Men's Triathlon, won by Alistair Brownlee.

Silver in Cycling - Track - Women's Sprint, won by Victoria Pendleton.

Silver in Sailiing - Men's R-X, won by Nick Dempsey.

Bronze in Athletics - Men's Highjump, won by Robert Grabarz.

Bronze in Triathlon - Men's Triathlon, won by Jonathon Brownlee.

The highlights today were that two british brother's came first and third in the Triathlon, with a 15 second time penalty costing the silver, and also that we Came first in the Dressage meaning that Germany havn't won for the first time in a very long time, possibly ever. What a feat!

Enjoy the Games!

Rowen

London 2012: Day Ten

Medals so far:

Gold:         18
Silver:       11
Bronze:     11
 
Medals today:

Gold:         2
Silver:       0
Bronze:     1

Place Overall:   3

Gold in Cycling - Track - Men's Sprint, won by Jason Kenny.

Gold in Equestrian - Team Jumping, won by Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brash and Peter Charles.

Bronze in Gymnastics - Artistic - Women's Uneven Bars, won by Elizabeth Tweddle.

My cousin has been getting oh so excited about the Equestrian side of the Olympics. She's 13 and has recently entered a Horse obsession, but in her words our Team Jumper's were 'incredible!! ♥ ' Gotta love a teenager who's found a new love :)

Enjoy the Games!

Rowen

London 2012: Day Nine

Medals so far:                  

Gold:         16
Silver:       11  
Bronze:     10

Medals today:

Gold:         2
Silver:       4  
Bronze:     2  
 
Place Overall:   3

Gold in Sailing - Men's Finn, won by Ben Ainslie.

Gold in Tennis - Men's Singles, won by Andy Murray.

Silver in Sailing - Men's Star, won by Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson.

Silver in Tennis - Mixed Doubles, won by Andy Murray and Laura Robson.

Silver in Gymnastics - Artistic - Men's Pommel Horse, won by Louis Smith.

Silver in Athletics - Women's 400m, won by Christine Ohuruogu.

Bronze in Gymnastics - Artistic - Men's Pommel Horse, won by Max Whitlock.

Bronze in Cycling - Track - Men's Omnium, won by Edward Clancy.

Ben Ainslie winning his Gold and retaining his title was perhaps the British highlight, but then again Murray did win his individual Gold, he must've wished he could have done it at Wimbledon.

Enjoy the Games!

Rowen

London 2012; Day Eight

Medals so far:

Gold:         14
Silver:       7 
Bronze:     8

Medals today:

Gold:         6
Silver:       1
Bronze:     0
 
Place Overall:   3

Gold in Athletics - Men's Long Jump, won by Greg Rutherford.

Gold in Athletics - Men's 10,000m, won by Mohamed Farah.

Gold in Athletics - Women's Heptathlon, won by Jessica Ennis.

Gold in Cycling - Women's Team Pursuiut, won by Dani King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell.

Gold in Rowing - Men's Four, won by Alex Gregory, Pete Reed, Tom James and Andrew Triggs Hodge.

Gold in Rowing - Women's Lightweight Double Skulls, won by Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking.

Silver in Rowing - Men's Lightweight Double Skulls, won by Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter.

The highlight today was on the Athletics field with Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis, both of whom had the hopes and expectations of our nation resting on them, performing brilliantly to take away golds.

Enjoy the Games!

Rowen

London 2012: Day Seven

Medals so far:


Gold:         8
Silver:       6
Bronze:     8


Medals today:


Gold:         3
Silver:       0
Bronze:     4


Place Overall:   4


Gold in Cycling - Track - Men's Team Pursuit, won by Edward Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke and Peter Kennaugh.

Gold in Cycling - Track - Women's Keirin, won by Victoria Pendleton.


Gold in Rowing - Women's Double Skulls, won by Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger.


Bronze in Judo - Women's +78kg, won by Karina Bryant.


Bronze in Swimming, Women's 800m Freestyle, won by Rebecca Adlington.


Bronze in Rowing - Men's Single Sculls, won by Alan Campbell.


Bronze in Rowing - Men's Pair, won by George Nash and William Satch.


The highlight for today was Katherine Grainger winning a gold medal after three consecutive Olympic Silvers, I think anyone would be hard put to say she didn't deserve it.


Rebecca Addlington became the most decorated British Swimmer ever, which was also a somewhat amazing feat in a sport which is separated by hundredths of seconds!


Enjoy the Games!


Rowen

London 2012: Day Six

Medals so far:


Gold:         5
Silver:       6
Bronze:     4


Medals today:


Gold:         3
Silver:       3
Bronze:     0


Place Overall:   5


Gold in Shooting - Men's Double Trap, won by Peter Robert Russell Wilson, interesting fact about this is that he's friends with my bosses son.


Gold in Canoe Slalom - Men's Canoe Double (C2), won by Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott.


Gold in Cycling - Track - Men's Team Sprint, won by Philip Hindes, Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny


Silver in Canoe Slalom - Men's Canoe Double (C2), won by David Florence and Richard Hounslow.

Silver in Judo - Women's -78kg, won by Gemma Gibbons.


Silver in Rowing - Men's Four Lightweight, won by Peter Chambers, Rob Williams, Richard Chambers and Chris Bartley.


The velodrome was the place to be today, with some amazing races. Two teams were penalised for illegal changeovers in the Women's Team Sprint, including Great Britain who would otherwise have been in contention for one of the Top two medals.


Michael Phelps got yet more medals in the pool today, making him the first man to ever defend his Olympic title twice. 


Enjoy the Games!


Rowen

London 2012: Day Five

Medals so far:


Gold:         2
Silver:       3
Bronze:     4


Medals today:


Gold:         2
Silver:       1
Bronze:     2


Place Overall:   11


Gold in Cycling - Road - Men's Time Trial, won by Bradley Wiggins


Gold in Rowing - Women's Pair, won by Heather Stanning and Helen Glover.


Silver in Swimming - Men's 200m Breaststroke, won by Michael Jamieson.


Bronze in Cycling - Road - Men's Time Trial, won by Christopher Froome.


Bronze in Rowing - Men's Eight won by Alex Partridge, James Foad, Tom Ransley, Richard Egington, Mohamed Sbihi, Greg Searle, Matthew Lanridge, Constantine Louloudis and Phelan Hill.


Today we actually listened to the Olympics on the radio at work, with four of us tensely standing round trying to figure out if we'd won the women's pair. We were pleased that the four pairs were disqualified from the badminton tournament for trying to throw matches, I reckon they're regretting that now. The pool was also fairly tense across the board with a whole bunch of very close races!


Enjoy the games!


Rowen

London 2012: Day Four

Medals so far:


Gold:         0
Silver:       2
Bronze:     2


Medals today:


Gold:         0
Silver:       1
Bronze:     0


Place Overall:   21


Silver in Equestrian -Team eventing, won by Mary King, Zara Phillips, William Fox-Pitt, Nicola Wilson and Kristina Cook.


Today a lot was happening in the pool, with Andrew Willis and Michael Jamieson qualifying third and first respectively into the 200m men's breastroke final. Also Michael Phelps won his 19th medal making him the most decorated Olympian ever!


As well as this the GB women's football team beat Brazil 1-0 meaning that they've finished the group stage top of their group as the only team who havn't conceded a goal.


Enjoy the Games!


Rowen

London 2012: Day Three

Medals so far:


Gold:         0
Silver:       1
Bronze:     2


Medals today:


Gold:         0
Silver:       0
Bronze:     1


Place Overall:   20


Bronze in Gymnastics - Artistic, Men's Team, Won by Louis Smith, Sam Oldham, Kristian Thomas, Max Whitlock and Dan Purvis who must have found it frustrating that the Japanese questioned a decision and were given a score which moved them from fourth to second and moving Team GB down a place.


The Gymnastics was my highlight of the day particularly the faultless Vault by Kristian Thomas.


Enjoy the Games!


Rowen

London 2012: Day Two

Medals so far:


Gold:        0
Silver:      1
Bronze:    1


Medals today:


Gold:        0
Silver:      1
Bronze:    1


Place overall:  16


Silver in Cycling - Women's Road Race, 1st British Medal, Won by Elizabeth Armitstead.


Bronze in Swimming - Women's 400m Freestyle, Won by Rebecca Adlington.


The most amazing thing for me today was when Ruta Meilutyte won her Semi for the Women's 100m Breastroke by a full
bodylength. It was some amazing swimming.

Sorry for those of you who aren't interested in the Olympics, 

but this is my place where I'll be keeping track of how my country's doing.

Enjoy the Games!

Rowen

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee

I really love the Google Doodle we've had this weekend!

I might have mentioned it before but I'm definitely a monarchist. I love all things Royal, and I'm really glad that we have a Royal Family. So I have to say I've really enjoyed the Jubilee celebrations this past weekend, despite being ill!


I watched the River Pageant and the parade on Tuesday, but I missed Monday's concert.


The Queen is looking great for her age isn't she? I'd love to reach 86 and still be half as active as she is. I think she's and amazing woman, an inspiration.


Hope you had a good long weekend!


Rowen

Money Matters

While I was growing up the economy was pretty much stable. Nothing bad ever seemed to happen to it, my parents both had stable jobs, with my dad in the same one he'd had since he'd joined the workforce age 18.

When I was 14 the first recession in approximately 17 years struck. Apart from the week or so following the Twin Towers disaster the economy had seen very few tremors of a serious nature in a very long time.

I guess human nature crept in and people started to gamble. They thought they were safe and the recession hit. In the past four years I have seen the world I grew up in, which was a safe and stable environment where it was fairly likely you'd be able to get a job, transformed into a crumbling wreck. Part of this is simply the veil of childhood being lifted from my eyes. I can see clearly what was there all along, but that certainly didn't lead to the fairly solid town centre I knew turning into streets of boarded up windows and crummy seasonal stores which seem to be the only things which survive, perhaps due to the fact that they emerge already with a limited duration.

When the recession first hit people said it'll recover quickly it's strong. And then the second recession hit so we're now in a place where no matter what qualifications you've got you'll struggle to find a place as a newcomer in an already developed world. I know this, despite being qualified my boyfriend has been struggling to find permanent work for three years now, relying on a series of temp jobs and hoping to come across something he can keep. In the past year it's looked hopeful he's had a series of longer term temp jobs with smalller breaks in between them.

As of today however the future looks bleaker. It was today announced that the UK economy has once again shrunk. Shrunk at a smaller rate than previously, but none-the-less a negative turn after the apparant growth over the previous quarter. It could be a turning point, with the economy shrinking less it is only to be hoped that soon it will pick up and begin to grow again.

That is all I can hope, because if not, then in three or four years time I'm going to leave university with a degree which may be all but worthless and enter a world of work unable to find a job which is worth the hours of study put in to earn it.

Rowen

We Will Remember Them

Rememberance day is one of the most important days on my calendar and that of many other people I'm sure.

It is a day of reflection and thankfulness, gratefulness even, for everything that the servicemen and women have given for us to be able to live as we do. As I was often told growing up 'it's thanks to them we don't speak German', and although I have nothing particularly against speaking German I am proud of my heritage and the flexibility of the English language. Without it I wouldn't be able to enjoy many of the books I do, and certainly if the second world war had been won by Hitler we'd be much less culturally diverse than we are today.

It makes me angry to hear of demonstrations such as the one last year where people burnt our poppies on one of our most important days as a nation. I don't object to people living in this country who weren't born here, I'm not against them seeking protection. But I have to say that I do agree with the sentiment of 'If you can't show some respect to the people who made the safety and security of this country possible then maybe you shouldn't be here'.

We Will Remember Them!

Rowen

The Royal Wedding of William and Kate

               Like many people I love weddings. My cousin got married last October and it was a day that I thoroughly enjoyed; I saw my family, My cousin was happy, there were embarassing speeches and lovely food. The only thing I didn't like about the day was that I had to spend some of the morning finishing an essay.

             Today, for me, was very similar. I Loved it. I got to see beautiful dresses, crowds of people of whom many are from my national community and the Bride and Groom looked radiantly happy. I was in my element, as I have to say I'm probably a bit of a Royalist. I spent my morning camped out in the living room watching the BBC coverage up until the appearance of the Royal couple on the Balcony at Buckingham Palace.

             However there was once again an element of the day which spoiled it for me, just a little. Which is that my dad is the polar opposite to me and a Republican. Therefore he was making irritating background noise which made it difficult to hear a lot of what was happening. Despite that I have to say I've Loved it and would be glad to hear from anyone who is in the same boat as me; enjoying such occasions despite friends and relatives who do not?

Rowen