We have Taekwondo this afternoon so we have some more time for exploring London. This morning we are off to London to see the changing of the guard. I saw this for the first time 44 years ago at about the same age that my son Sean is now. So I am careful not to tell him too much and just let it all soak in.
The crowd is already fairly huge when we get there. We choose a place as close to the fence as we can get, but there is a family that has three young girls have way up the fence so we definitely have obstructed views. We can see the old guards (the ones whose 24hr shift is almost over) gathering inside the fence:
The red plume on the right side of their bearskin hats identifies the old guard as the Coldstream Guards. All of these are "real" soldiers, most of whom have fought in Iran or Afghanistan and it is a real honor for them to be chosen to guard England's monarch. We hear a band in the distance and another group of guards moves through the gates. This is the group that has been guarding St. James's palace not far from here.
Shortly after this an older women in front of Beth passed out, probably due to the unseasonable heat and lack of water. Fortunately, the crowd was packed in hard enough that she more or less fell into the people behind her. She also fell right next to both an emergency medical technician and Beth so she was in good hands. They put a backpack under her head and let her lay there until she felt better and then got her some water and she was fine.
Then another marching band is heard coming from a different direction. This is the new guard who will begin their 24hr shift after the changeover:
The sets of three buttons and thistle collar badge identify this group as the Scots Guard. They march into the palace grounds for the changeover ceremony that includes the symbolic passing over of the keys to the palace even though it is never locked up. It takes a while for part of the new guards to take their posts at the St. James's palace, so the two bands play a concert while people wait. This must be John Williams day because the first two tunes they play are the theme from Raiders of the Lost Arc followed by the Emperor's March from Star Wars.
We leave before the ceremony is quite over to get something to eat before our event and end up at a Sushi bar in the Borough market down the street from our hotel. The food is excellent and the chef has ensured that all of the fish that is served is from sustainable sources. But it was the chocolate/wasabi sorbet that made the meal for me - crackin good as the British would say.
Underground platforms are slowly becoming good places to trade pins. I make my first team pin trade of the Olympics getting a German team pin for one from Monaco. I follow that up with a trade with a guy from the OBS (Olympic Broadcast Service). This is another indication that pin trading is slowly picking up, but I'm afraid that it will not really get going until we have gone home.
We get off the DLR at ExCel arena and realize that it must be Irish day:
We ask someone what event drew all of these people and they tell us that Katie Taylor is fighting for the gold medal today. It always amazes me how so many people from the right country can end up at the right event. We had to buy our tickets long before Olympic teams were even named. But this may be a benefit of the crackdown on ticket scalping. There are a lot of people offering to trade tickets.
We've got tickets to both men's and women's quarterfinals and semifinals in Taekwondo. This is the first time that we have ever seen this Korean martial art. Fortunately, each venue comes with a videotape that explains the essentials of each sport. Taekwondo translates roughly to "the way of the hand and the foot". This is a sport that has benefited from technology. This is because to score in Taekwondo, it is not sufficient to hit an opponent. The hit must be delivered with an amount of force that increases as the weight class of the competitors increase. Each competitor wears a vest that contains pressure sensors that record the force of the strike. One to four points are awarded for a successful hit with the number of points depending on the degree of difficulty. For example, a simple shot to the chest by fist or foot scores one point while a spinning kick to the head scores four points. Here are some of the pictures of the women's under 57kg and men's under 68kg events:
It is amazing how fast these athletes are and we quite enjoyed most of the event. The crowd was supportive of all of the athletes except those that had the misfortune of fighting someone from Team GB. I can understand the host nation wanting to cheer on their athletes. What I thought was over the top was the public address announcer leading and instigating the cheering. In particular, I thought that this treatment was disrespectful to Chinese Taipei athlete and former world champion Li-Cheng Tseng who lost to Team GB's Jade Jones.
After the event, we head back to the DLR and think that Katie Taylor must have lost because the Irish fans were somewhat subdued. But maybe they were just drained, because when they got on the train and started singing drinking songs with improvised lyrics praising Katie. This turned out to be Ireland's only gold medal of this Olympics and they were making the most of it.
It is already late when we get home so we just grab a quick bite at Pret a Manger and head back to our room to watch Athletics on TV. The best event for the day was the gold medal and world record set by David Rudisha of Kenya in the men's 800m. Often this race is quite tactical and ends up in a sprint finish. Rudisha clearly did not want to have this happen and ran the first 400m in a ridiculous 49.3 seconds. By that point, he was so far ahead that none of the sprinters could catch him.
Next up was Usain Bolt finishing off his double double (back to back gold medals in both 100m and 200m races) that makes him one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time.
It is a sign of the times when you cannot take such great performances at face value. I sincerely hope that both of these young men are clean and delivered these performances only through natural talent, hard work and perseverance.
Steps for the day: 14,000
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