It's a Brum 'ting!
The 2022 Commonwealth Games took place in Birmingham from Thursday 28th July – Monday 8th August. They were initially created to promote friendship, unity, and support between the Commonwealth countries. The CWG were the first to have an equal number of medal ceremonies for both men and women, and even held more events for women than men this year. The events for 2022 all took place over eleven days, including the events for able and disabled athletes. Competitors represent their countries, but these can be more regional. For example; at the Olympics athletes represent Great Britain, but at the Commonwealth Games they represent England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Guernsey and Jersey. This gives an opportunity for those who may otherwise miss out representing team GB a chance to compete at a major event under the banner of their own country.
On 1st May 2022 I ventured into Birmingham to take part in the Great Birmingham Run. The half marathon route had some interesting elements to it, but I didn’t exactly leave raving about how great the city seemed (like I’d done after completing the Great Bristol Run in 2021). My perception of the city was further marred when I received a fine for having driven in the city’s low emissions zone without realising (which did seem a little ironic given how most of the city centre’s roads were closed for the run).
Eventually the city faded from my mind, until an official mail hit our inboxes at work: “Canon are the official imaging sponsor for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022”. In all honesty, I don’t really know what that means – presumably the company gives the Game’s organisers a lot of money and then the Canon logo can be plastered all over anything officially branded for the Games. It’s nothing new for Canon – the company had previously sponsored the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the Rugby World Cup in recent years. However, having recently moved into a new office building, Canon were quick to highlight its sponsorship with branding.
It steadily got me excited about the Games. Through various events I’d marshalled or run at, I’d seen some of the athletes in the flesh and I had a genuine interest in the variety of sports being undertaken throughout the competition. Whilst some of the events were taking place elsewhere around the UK, Birmingham was the host city… and not a painfully far distance away from where I live. I don’t know if it was the fact that it had been a decade since the London 2012 Olympics, but this CWG felt like it was going to be special. With all of that in mind, I decided I was going to buy tickets and be a spectator at some events.
Initially, I was looking to purchase tickets to eight separate events across numerous sporting disciplines. The logistics of getting to the locations, ensuring I could get time off work and, most importantly, ticket prices soon quashed my plans. Eventually I settled on what I was sure would be a memorable morning of athletics. I bought a ticket for myself and was excited to be going. During the month of June, Canon held an internal competition to highlight its involvement with the Games: ‘Travel the Commonwealth’. The goal was simple – all employees were asked to track any exercise they complete during the month and record the distance in an official tracker to see if we could cover the distance from Birmingham to Auckland (we ended up smashing the target considerably). Given my involvement in a running group on the park where the office is located, I was asked if I’d lead a couple of lunchtime runs each week for any employees wishing to give running a go as part of the campaign. I really enjoyed being a part of the initiative, and I got to meet some new employees.
A couple of weeks later Canon had an official building opening ceremony, with employees celebrating an afternoon of fun and free food. Then we were treated to a special guest arrival – Perry the bull (the official mascot of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022). It’s amazing how many grown, professional adults still want their photo taken with a mascot, and I was no exception to the rule. It just made me even more excited to be a small part of the festivities. A few days later it was announced that, as a sponsor, Canon had been given a number of tickets to various events at the CWG and any employees who were interested could enter a ballot for them. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I entered… and I was one of the lucky people selected. I was given two tickets to the athletics, but thankfully not for the same session I’d already bought a ticket for. I’d be going to the Games twice and couldn’t be happier.
The day of the opening ceremony finally arrived and from that moment a majority of my spare time was spent watching all of the sports on TV, until it was my turn to get involved…
Tuesday 2nd August 2022
I was up at 4am ready for my two-hour drive to Birmingham. I made use of the Park&Ride from Bescot Stadium, which was really easy and well organised (and more importantly meant I was driving nowhere near the low emissions zone!). The bus dropped us off right outside Alexander Stadium, which hadn’t seen any Commonwealth action since the opening ceremony the previous Thursday evening. I was in the queue shortly before the stadium officially opened at 8am and then we spectators were all ushered through security. As I was by myself, had no children or bags with me (everything I needed easily fitted in my pockets) I was straight through without any hassle. A friendly volunteer scanned my entry ticket and I found a pristine and completely deserted (except for the police and stewards) stadium ahead of me.
I grabbed myself a drink and ventured through the main grandstand to have a look at the track. A volunteer steward came over and we had a lovely chat for a short while before I made my way to my block. I’d purchased a cheaper seat (not the cheapest, but certainly not a VIP) and I have to say that my seat was actually pretty good. I was sitting just around the first bend of the track, which I would quickly learn was a great position to be in. Still really early, I found myself chatting to another volunteer steward for a while. He recommended I make the climb to the very top of the grandstand whilst the place was still quiet. There were 40 rows of seats to climb, three steps to a row, but his recommendation wasn’t wrong. The view of the stadium was incredible.
The schedule for the morning session:
Half an hour before the events kicked off, the hosts got the crowd fired up and we watched as Perry the bull was hoisted into the air and danced about as he flew around the stadium. Then the first of the athletes came out onto track: Men’s group A and B Long Jump Qualifiers. They completed their warmups and then lined up to be introduced. Every athlete gets introduced, regardless of what they’re competing in. Obviously, anyone representing any of the home nations got the loudest cheers and applause. As soon as their introductions were complete, they got underway and the crowd’s attention was directed to the start of the 100m track where the female heptahletes were lined up and introduced. There were quite a few from the home nations, but a deafening cheer erupted when Katarina Johnson-Thompson was announced. One of the biggest names to be competing at the CWG this year. They got on their marks and the stadium fell silent. This was something I’d not realised, but does make perfect sense. Whenever any of the track runs is about to begin, all other events are paused temporarily and the crowd quietens down considerably – this happened throughout the day. The reason: the athletes need to be able to hear the gun clearly. Sensors on the starting blocks register any false starts and, if an athlete triggers this, they are immediately disqualified. Unfortunately, this happened a few times throughout the day. The gun sounded, an eruption of noise and no sooner had I started cheering they were across the finish line. Again, a common re-occurrence throughout the day was just how incredible the athletes are. I’ve seen some amazing fast runners through the various running events I’ve taken part in or marshal at, but the professionals are on a whole other level. They gracefully blitzed around the track with ease. The hurdles were packed away instantly by an amazing orchestration of stewards (the real MVPs of the CWG, beyond contestation). The female parathletes were then announced for their 100m run and, again, it seemed to be over with before we knew it.
As the first of eight groups of men came out on track for the 100m qualifiers, the crowd were introduced to the group A and group B female shot put contenders, whilst another group of male athletes were lead around the track to the discus area. The chorography was outstanding. The friendly marshal I’d spoken too when I’d first gotten to my seat had told me about just how much training all of the event crew went through, and it showed. Every movement was being executed with military precision. The officials, stewards and athletes all marching in single file following designated routes, so not as to interfere with anything else going on. It also meant that every athlete had their own moment being on parade to and from the arena they were competing in, giving the crowd wherever they were sitting a chance to show their appreciation. It was clear that a lot of careful thought and many hours of intricate planning had gone into delivering these Games.
The Shot Put and Discus qualifying got underway, with the occasional pauses in action for each of the 100m starts. Then the female heptathletes reappeared. They started warming up for the high jump. This was happening right in front of me, so took much of my attention. I was fascinated to see how they prepared. It wasn’t just a case of doing some stretches – they were each carefully marking out their run ups to the bar, placing pieces of tape on the ground. In-between the 100m runs, the ladies were coming over to the stands beneath where I was sitting, as their families and coaches were all located there. Eventually they started jumping, engaging the crowd to clap for them when they needed support. It sort of made us feel involved, that we were playing a part in the victories and really feeling the emotional pain when things didn’t go to plan for the competitors, regardless of nation. We may have been cheering more loudly for the home nations, but it doesn’t mean we weren’t cheering loudly for every athlete. One of the heptahletes, Edna Boafob representing Papa New Guinea, started jumping at a much lower height than the other athletes (they get to decide at what height they want to start jumping). The final height she achieved was below the lowest height the next athlete came in at. However, Edna had the support of the entire crowd behind her on every jump. We were experiencing everything right alongside her and, when she’d made her final jump, she came over to the crowd and applauded us. Many athletes did the same, but this one felt a little more special. She was quite young and I think this may have been her first major competition. She’d finished last in that event, but that by no means meant she wasn’t any good. After all, she was one of eight women competing in the heptathlon at the CWG out of hundreds, if not thousands, of athletes across the Commonwealth. Just to be competing meant that she was already in the top eight best heptathletes. That was a thought that stuck in my head whilst watching every event. Everyone competing was the top of their field, fighting it out to see who could perform slightly better on the night to take home a medal.
This really hit home for me when the women’s 800m event took place. 100m runs are almost ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ fast, but it’s the longer runs where I could start putting the athletes' pace into context. As an amateur, I know what paces I can run at and what speeds result in what times over certain distances. Most runners can – it’s just how our brains become wired when we run. So when the commentators announced the pace the runners were blazing around the track at, it really was mind boggling! Even more so that the runners looked comfortable and recovered really quickly after they finished. Of course they would – they train relentlessly to be the top of their game. Nonetheless, it was still so impressive and inspirational to know I was witnessing the greatest of the greats when they were within fractions of a second of setting new world records consistently.
The commentators really impressed me too. Again, showing the amount of thought that goes into planning the Games, every time an event started the commentators would explain how it works. It’s not just assumed that the spectators automatically understand everything about a specific sport. They were explaining why a red flag may be shown and the athlete’s attempt disqualified, what the officials were doing, how scoring systems worked, even what the significance of the wind direction and strength meant for the likes of the long jump (did you know that the windspeed has to be within a set margin for a jump to be eligible for a world record? If it’s outside of the designated speeds then it can’t be claimed as a WR regardless of how far the jump is).
All good things must come to an end and, sadly, the final women’s 100m run finished as the last discus was thrown. It was time to leave, but what an experience it had been. I was buzzing as I left the stadium. The early start and long journey had absolutely been worth it, and I was excited to be returning a couple of days later for what I was sure would be an even more spectacular session.
领英推荐
Thursday 4th August 2022
The Wednesday evening athletics session was spectacular, and I’d only watched part of it on TV. Now I was going to an evening session with, what appeared to be, pretty decent tickets. I left work at lunchtime and headed back to Brummieland, stopping along the way for some food. The park and ride was a little busier this time, but I was still straight into park and then on a bus minutes later. I strolled through the security check without any issues, bought myself a drink and then was waiting for my colleague to arrive (I’d given her the extra ticket I’d won). She arrived about ten minutes after me and we went exploring the stadium a bit. After a short time, we decided to go check out our seats. “Pretty decent” was a drastic understatement. Our seats were in the main grandstand and appeared to be in a corporate hospitality area, located next to all of the commentators and TV crews, overlooking the finish line and with a great view of the podium.
Events got underway with a medal ceremony (the first I’d seen in real life). It was great applauding the winners as they were awarded their medals and then standing for the national anthems. Then there was another one, and another… and another… and another… it got to the point where we were constantly clapping and standing for anthems for almost half an hour. Action finally got underway at 7pm:
The women’s F42-44/61/64 discus was interesting to watch, seeing the athletes coming out into the stadium – one was on crutches. My initial thought was about how she’d even be able to throw the discus. As the old saying goes; never judge a book by its cover. I knew she wouldn’t be competing in the final if she wasn’t a pro and… wow!
She threw that discus an insane distance and the crowd went wild as the four huge screens in either corner of the stadium lit up with the word’s ‘WORLD RECORD’. She’d seemingly effortlessly smashed the previous WR for her category. Everyone was in awe until her world record was broken just a few minutes later when she took her second throw and it went even further!
No surprises then that she was being handed the gold medal later in the evening. The men’s decathlon high jump had been ticking along whilst the discus records were being broken, so our gaze was switching between the two ends of the field. Eventually the bar started falling and the competitors were being whittled down. The English contender finally bowed out and we found ourselves cheering on the Australian hopeful, as the bar started getting well over the two meter mark. We couldn’t fathom how he was clearing the bar with each jump, but eventually he met his match (not far off his PB). The high jump was drawn to a close with thunderous applause form the audience.
The women’s 400m hurdles was another one of those over-before-you-know-it events. The ladies seemingly glided over the hurdles with ease. A few hurdles got clipped, some went down, but the runners powered through to the finish. In the background, on the far side of the stadium, the men’s long jump final had been steadily taking place. It came down to a nail-biting finale and the athletes were clearly giving it everything they could.
Eventually the gold, silver and bronze were sorted out and all three men were clearly delighted, especially the bronze medalist from India. I lost count of the amount of victory laps of the stadium he did, draped in his nation’s flag. It was really amazing to see just how happy he was and, lets face it, if I were in his position I’d milk the moment for all that I could too.
The men’s T11/12 100m final was another intriguing one to watch. There were four lanes (although five runners) with athletes all having some form of visual impairment. The fifth runner guiding a blind athlete. The men looked built to run, but had to stay in their lanes (they were allowed to straddle two lanes each) but when you’re visually impaired, that must be tough. The gun went and lightning fast the men were at the other end of the 100m track. Their podium session felt an emotional one.
The women’s T53/54 1500m final also saw the action in the stadium come to a pause as the ladies sped their way around the track in their chairs. It looked grueling. The running track is designed to be grippy for shoes to dig into, but the wheelchair tyres seemed to stick to it. It must have taken real strength to get moving, let alone keep the pace these ladies were. It was a close race, with a deafening noise from the crowd as the athletes came around the final bend. Really inspiration stuff.
The men’s discus throw final got underway and continued on until the end of the night. Much like the long jump, it had initially been something to watch in-between other events, but as it got down to the final throws the athletes were really upping their game and throwing incredible distances. Another showdown loomed until the victors finally emerged. The penultimate track event of the evening saw the men’s decathletes come back out on track for their 400m. Whilst routing for the English guy, my colleague also revealed that she would be cheering on the Aussie high jump champion. I decided to rout for the underdog, so decided to cheer for the athlete from Papa New Guinea. As with all of the running events, no sooner had it started than they’d all crossed the line. Our boys had done well too. The Aussie came in first and the underdog second. We couldn’t have been happier for them.
With the men’s discus still being decided in the background, the track was set up for the final run of the evening – the men’s 110m hurdles. As this was taking place a small group of people sudden appeared in our seating area, which had been largely quiet throughout most of the evening. It was only as they sat down that we suddenly recognised one of them, having only seen her collecting her gold medal for the heptathlon a short time earlier. Katarina Johnson-Thompson had come up to watch the hurdles, as her boyfriend was competing in them. It was surreal sitting within arm’s reach of sporting royalty and was the cherry on top of what had already been a spectacular evening. KJT’s boy brought it home with a bronze medal, and then the discus reached its finale. It had been an incredible evening!
I can’t adequately sum up just how amazing both of my trips to Alexander stadium were. The athletics had only really been a part of what had made it great. The atmosphere, the people and the places all served to make it a truly unforgettable experience. All of the event makers were fantastic and deserve every bit of praise that I hope will continue to go their way. As for Birmingham; the city had opened its doors, its culture and its welcoming arms to the world. It may only be my opinion, but I absolutely feel that the Brummies have done the Commonwealth Games proud, Britain proud and, more importantly, they’d done themselves proud. Nobody does it quite like Birmingham which is probably why, as the locals like to say, it’s a Brum ting!