The Paralympics ended up being one of the most memorable experiences of my life, particulary because I rarely attend sporting events, but also because the athletes determination and gratefulness nearly brought me to tears so many times. One Brazilian athlete looked incredibly happy when he recieved his medal; he actually started dancing and then kissing the woman who presented it to him!
When MP Theresa May emerged to present a medal, the stadium erupted with a rhapsody of booing, it was hilarious. The atmosphere was electric, the entire crowd participated in mexican waves, shouted, jumped and even cried together. We bought some sushi from the Japan Centre at Westfields and ate it during the event but there was hot food served just outside the stadium. Oh and beer!
As we were watching the Athetics we got to see many track events, discus and long jump and we even saw GB take a gold in the 1500 metres!
The stadium itself was gigantic and well illuminated, the park was vast and filled with various stalls and food vendors. One of my highlights were the Olympic workers, who ran around shouting inspiring things like "keep smiling" and getting people to hi-five them. A lot of people also commented on my outfit, which I thought was very sweet and the general atmosphere in the park was one of hope and excitement. I also met a lot of funky people along the way:
Overall it was a great experience, seeing so many inspirational people work hard for their country and being in such a gigantic arena. At the end of the day I was very tired though and fell asleep on the train home, but I would gladly do it again.
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