So my first foray into the Olympic world and really my first experience of any kind of sporting event.
This was women’s volleyball, played at Earl’s Court. Two games were in this slot – Japan vs Italy, and UK vs Algeria.
The Japan vs Italy game was very good, with a lot of action, and it made complete sense to someone who doesn’t know the rules. Both teams had a sizeable presence in the audience, and it created a great atmosphere.
The UK vs Algeria game was a little flat, I thought. It seemed like half the points (for both teams) were scored through faults and obscure rules that made no sense. The UK (not surprisingly) had a huge presence in the audience, where as Algeria had little, and it felt somewhat one-sided. The UK went on to win the game.
To put this in context, this from the BBC:
Victory for Great Britain over an Algeria side ranked 53 places above them in the world. Superb. What a result that is for British volleyball, they have had no funding for two years and no international experience for three
A leaving note for anyone who may be going here in the future. Transport to the event was good, and security was very hassle-free – you go through an airport-style security scanner, and that’s it. There were no issues with taking a DSLR and zoom lens. Food is limited to snacks, so eat outside at Earl’s Court – there are plenty of restaurants.
A Life In London 
Wow, I’m amazed you could bring a DSLR in there, and look at all those empty seats too!
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The official site says you can take ‘non-professional’ camera equipment up to 30cm in length, which seems a pretty professional size to me!
The game hadn’t started in the bottom photo, and people were still entering – that was my only wide-angle photo before switching over to the zoom.
By the time everything had settled down it was a full house, with the only empty seats being in a special official looking area, and some weird cubist booths (for reporters, maybe?).
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Fantastic. I hope you enjoyed it. I went to the swimming on Tuesday. It was awesome! I need to write my blog about it, but I’m still exhausted!
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I did, and it was tiring also – finished sometime in the very early morning. I’ve decided at the next Olympics in London I’ll get an earlier event!
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