David Jordan will take part in the Olympic Torch Relay in Legbourne, Lincolnshire, on June 27.
David Jordan will take part in the Olympic Torch Relay in Legbourne, Lincolnshire, on June 27. Here he looks ahead to playing a small part in what is going to be a spectacular summer on home soil.
WHEN I first found out I was going to get the opportunity to run with the Olympic Torch it was all a bit surreal – now the enormity of what I will be doing has dawned and the excitement is rising.
One of the most iconic sights in sport is the lighting of the Olympic Flame so to have the chance to be part of the Torch’s journey to London 2012 is a great honour.
Since the Flame was reintroduced to the modern Olympics during the 1928 Games there have been so many unforgettable moments.
In my lifetime those that really stand out are Muhammad Ali at Atlanta 1996 and Li Ning ‘flying’ up to the cauldron at the last Olympics in Beijing.
I’m sure there’ll be something equally – if not more – spectacular to open the London Games on July 27th and it will be a special feeling to be able to say I was a part of getting it there.
Exactly one month before the flame is lit at the Olympic Stadium I will be carrying the Torch through Lincolnshire thanks to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity handed to me by Lloyds TSB.
While the excitement is rising my other main emotion is apprehension – I don’t want to appear on News at Ten having tripped up, having landed flat on my face during my 400-yard relay leg.
The Torch looks sufficiently durable to survive a tumble intact, but I doubt the same could be said for my dignity.
My friends and family are now all booked up for the trip so even if I’m trotting out at the crack of dawn I can be certain of a few pairs of eyes watching on and no doubt some rowdy support.
Having worked in Grimsby – which is close to where I will be running – a few years ago it will be great to return to the area and see a few familiar faces and hopefully help the community celebrate a unique occasion.
I’m fortunate enough that I will be in London at the time of the Games and I can only imagine what the atmosphere will be like, but with the Torch expected to pass within ten miles of 90 per cent of the population, hopefully the whole nation will get to sample the feeling of having the Olympics on home soil.
I’ll certainly do my best to show what the Games mean to me on what I am certainly will be a day I remember for the rest of my life.
As the only National Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Lloyds TSB is bringing the excitement of the Games and Olympic Flame closer to you. Find out what we’re doing in your community and who is carrying the Flame at lloydstsb.com/olympictorchrelay
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