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Made In Wales Ian Cook's Olympic Adventures - part 2 of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

by Ian Cook Published 01/10/2012

So I got to make some new contacts and when I'm off on travels around the globe covering these events, having other photographers who you already know makes it so much easier.

Most athletes reported on the wall of sound that greeted their introduction and that this sound was further amplified as they came down the finishing stretches. Just how loud did it feel?

Whatever arena or stadium I was in, regardless of size and crowd, whenever a British name would be announced the roof would just be raised; it was so loud in some venues that I actually used ear plugs. The atmosphere around the venues was really good, people in high spirits walking around wearing the colours of their nations.

What was your favourite moment, photographic or non-photographic?

This is a tough one to try to pin down! Of course, the Welsh contingent doing well, for example - getting to see and photograph Geraint Thomas win his gold and then Jade Jones. The velodrome will always be the place I remember the most, it was electrifying in there. Getting nice shots of Usain Bolt winning in the 100m and 200m, Bradley Wiggins winning the time trial , Michael Phelps, the USA Dream Team (basketball), Andy Murray winning the first ever tennis gold for Britain, the equestrian men's team taking gold.

It was a lot to take in and to be honest I am only just starting to think about it as a good experience - at the time I was so focused on getting the job done I didn't think about it.

Describe a typical working day. What time did you get up, when did

you get time to eat and sleep?

A typical day would start by getting up between 6:00am and 6:30am, a quick shower and off to catch the bus to Stratford train station, I then had to catch a smaller DLR (Docklands Light Railway) for one stop to Stratford International. This journey would normally take 1½ hours - could be more depending on traffic. Airport-style security greeted me, where I had to put all loose belongings (wallet, photography vest, ID badge, money, phone, etc) into a tray, as well as my gear and this would go through an X-ray machine. I would then have to walk through a metal detector and collect my belongings at the other end. If I had deodorant or bottled water/soft drink then that would be taken and binned. After that it was just a case of jumping on a shuttle bus to the MPC (Main Press Centre). Once at the MPC I would either get on the Olympic Park internal bus network or make my way across to the shuttle buses that would take you to venues such as ExCeL (weightlifting, table tennis, Taekwondo, boxing, etc) or North Greenwich arena, Wimbledon, etc.

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