Olympics Day 11: Go faster

It was another long day for me on Tuesday, with a very early start to head to Olympic Park on the high-speed Javelin train from St Pancras. the crowd control was amazingly efficient, and I never felt like I was actually waiting - always moving, right through security and into the park. So I had some time to wander around and look at all the venues there before heading to the velodrome for the morning session. Note that today all of the photos are my own.

And what a session it was. First up were heats in the men's Keirin, which Olympic champion Chris Hoy (in the front of the pack at right) led in fine style, while always acknowledging the support of the hometown crowd. This is one of the things that makes velodrome competition so exhilarating: the cheers circle the venue with the cyclists. And it's a relatively intimate venue as well - only 6,000 seats, so there isn't a bad view in the place. Both photos at right were taken from my seat, which was quite a way up.

Before the Keirin riders returned for their repechages, the women took to the track for the omnium individual pursuit element - the omnium is like the decathlon of cycling, with six events. At the end of this, Britain's rising star Laura Trott (right) got the biggest cheer of course. And it was great fun later in the evening to see both Hoy and Trott win gold medals in these events.

As for the Olympic Park itself, this is a real stunner. I've never been in this part of East London before, and when you're inside the park, it's hard to imagine that this was derelict land seven years ago when London was awarded the Games. (Although you can see it when you walk outside the park!) And there's no comparison with any of the other Olympic Parks I've seen (Sydney, Athens, Beijing and to a lesser extent Atlanta, where the concept of a park was only starting to emerge) - this is a true place of beauty, with attention to detail in the planting of native, wild plants around a river that runs right through the middle of it. There's plenty of space to sit in the grass and watch the Games on gigantic screens.

It'll be fascinating to see what happens here after the Games. Several venues are temporary, with the stadium, velodrome and a much smaller aquatics centre as the main remaining structures. It's possible to spot where roads are planned to run through here, which will make it much more accessible. It's also right next door to Europe's largest shopping mall, so that's rather handy as well. And the surprisingly large Olympic Village will become rather desirable housing after the Games.

Olympics Day 10: Party in the sand

I managed to get tickets a couple of weeks ago to the beach volleyball quarterfinals at Horse Guards Parade, a venue I had been curious about since they announced it a couple of years ago. And over the last week it has emerged as the fan's favourite venue at the London Games. But going in there at 9pm tonight in a light drizzle I wondered if it would be worth it.

Fortunately, the rain stopped before the matches began. My seats were very good, surprisingly (I took these photos with my phone), and the atmosphere in the stadium was electric, as the announcer put on his cheesiest voice and worked everyone into a frenzy of cheering, clapping and stomping. As for the matches, Germany beat Brazil and Netherlands beat Italy.

I'd been to beach volleyball once before, in Athens, and felt it was oddly cheap and tacky as an Olympic event - not because of the sport itself, which is pretty gruelling, but because of the blaring pop music and sexist cheerleaders. London went a long way to making things classier, of course, even including three male cheerleaders in the squad! And the setting was pretty incredible - Horse Guards Parade is a gorgeous building, with the lights of the London Eye peering in over Whitehall and the knowledge that David Cameron isn't going to get any sleep next door on Downing Street.

Today I also attended a press conference featuring Jamie Oliver at the London Media Centre - he was touting his campaign to improve nutrition in schools as usual. And I experienced my first sense of overcrowding on the London Underground as I entered what was like a bloodclot of people in the arteries around Green Park station - pretty intense. And I think it will be worse tomorrow as I head into Olympic Park for the track cycling at about the same time as 80,000 people are heading to athletics.

Olympics Day 9: Lightning strikes

Another very busy day at the London Olympics, with the big event in athletics tonight: the men's 100-meter final seems to be the most-watched 10 seconds of the Games! And of course Usain Bolt defended his title in blistering style. Although this time the competition was pretty fierce, as he was up against the other three fastest men ever in the final.

After the glory in the stadium yesterday, Britain's performance was much more muted today, with several silvers and bronzes. But there was at least one big gold medal, as Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in the men's tennis singles final. The match was played exactly four weeks after the two faced off in the Wimbledon final - on the very same patch of grass. But this time Olympic fever took hold of the crowd, and all the love was for Murray, who won in straight sets. Olympic gold might be the only prize Federer has never won, but he had to settle for silver today.

And so we're halfway through the Games now. This coming week I've got tickets to three events, so I'm really looking forward to getting out there and soaking up the atmosphere. Tomorrow night it's the beach volleyball quarterfinals in Horse Guards Parade. I suppose I should look up who'll be playing, but frankly it doesn't matter.

Olympics Day 8: Super Saturday!

The middle Saturday is always the busiest days at an Olympics, and there were 25 medal events across London. Trying to watch this on TV with the BBC's 25 live channels was a bit of a challenge. Especially since the British competitors refused to stop winning everything from rowing to athletics to cycling in spectacular style. But one of the most impressive moments came early on when South Africa's Oscar Pistorius became the first athlete to compete at both the Olympics and Paralympics.

Winners from every nation are honoured in different ways. In Britain, gold medallists are pictured in their moment of glory on a first class stamp, issued the next day in their home town, where one of the local red postboxes is painted permanently gold. The Royal Mail has been very, very busy these past few days! In athletics alone today, Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah were an inspiration.

By contrast, in the USA, winners are pictured on a box of breakfast cereal, and they have their winning bonuses and even the value of their medal taxed by the government. Meanwhile, Michael Phelps won yet another gold medal in what he says will be his last competitive race ever. What a great way to go out.

Anyway, it was fun to see so much sheer joy today, and we can only hope it continues. I also rode the Tube across London and back this evening for a dinner party, and enjoyed watching the passengers in their colourful outfits, often wrapped in a flag or waving one, everyone in an upbeat mood. I kind of don't want the Olympics to ever end.

Olympics Day 7: The crowd goes wild

There was more gold for Britain today, which has kept the mood incredibly buoyant here in London. And with another sunny, warm day (with a few sudden, short showers, all of which I managed to miss), people are out in the streets en masse. I was out most of the day in the West End, and it was very, very buzzy.

Competition started in athletics today, so cameras are back inside the stadium, giving us an idea of how the cauldron is interacting with the events (see right). I'll be in there next Thursday - can't wait. And on this first day of track and field, Britain even had an athlete to cheer for in Jessica Ennis, who stormed her way through the heptathlon hurdle round so fast that she would have won an gold medal in the individual event at the last Olympics. Add triumphs in rowing and cycling, and Britain was momentarily at No 3 on the medals table (until Korea won another gold later in the evening).

Walking around town, I saw lots of athletes and officials in the streets, tourists snapping silly photos and even the fashion/art event that put hats on several of London's iconic statues all this week. Lord Nelson, atop his column in Trafalgar Square, looks much jauntier with this colourful hat and torch on his head! Apparently it was made by the same hatmaker who made his actual hat in the 17th century.

Tomorrow is the busiest day of the Games, with action in almost every venue. So I plan to lay a bit low. But with the entire city in such a good mood, it's difficult to stay inside. At least I have 25 dedicated BBC Olympic channels so I can watch everything live in high-def!

Olympics Day 6: Golden boy

Today was Britain's most successful day so far, medal-wise, with a series of gold and silver triumphs across the Olympic venues. Chris Hoy won his fifth gold medal as competition kicked off in the velodrome (I can't wait to get in there myself next Tuesday morning!), the kayaking pair Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott delivered gold in an adrenaline charged slalom and Peter Wilson won the double trap shooting event. 

It was pretty nonstop, actually, as the British fans screamed themselves hoarse while the media worked itself into a lather. And rightly so, as by the end of the day Great Britain had moved from 12th on the medals table to fifth place.

One of my favourite news stories broke yesterday and was all over today's papers with photos of London Mayor Boris Johnson dangling over the Victoria Park Olympics Live site, where a zip-line stunt went awry. As he called for help, waving his UK flags, everyone stood and laughed. They also snapped photos which have been doctored all over the internet. You can even buy "dangling Boris" earrings!

My day was pretty busy, as I headed out to our newsroom in Limehouse for a work shift, got involved in a radio programme discussing doping issues and tried to keep track of the results as they poured in. Then I headed into the West End to visit the Global Coaches House, a fascinating venue where coaches past, present and future can gather to escape the Games madness and share their experiences. I'll be out and about tomorrow as well.

Olympics Day 5: Finally golden

It took five days, but British competitors finally claimed gold today in two key events, both in record-breaking style. First, Helen Grover and Heather Stanning won the women's pair rowing, as expected, becoming the first British women to win an Olympic title.

Next up, Bradley Wiggins won the men's individual time trial, carrying on the fine form that saw him win the Tour de France barely 10 days ago. In fact, no one has ever won both the Tour and Olympic gold in the same year. And this gold medal takes his total Olympic medal count to seven, which is more than any other Brit has ever earned. It's no wonder that people in the streets are wearing his trademark red sideburns in tribute. Although he did look ridiculous sitting on that winner's throne at Hampton Court.

The other big event today was the men's individual all-round gymnastics title, which went as expected to Japan's Kohei Uchimura. Less predictable was the scrum of able competitors going for silver and bronze - everyone had at least one key error, which made it a real nailbiter to watch. In the end, Germany's Marcel Nguyen claimed silver and America's Danell Leyva won bronze.

Today felt like a day off for me, as I was able to veg out at home all day and catch up on some film review writing and website updating, watch quite a lot of the competition live, and then work an evening Olympics news shift from home. The weather was nice and warm , with sun shining in the open windows. I hope it stays that way since I'll be out and about all over town tomorrow.