Let the Games begin! Thinking of all of the athletes

Can you believe that the countdown is almost over? It seems like we have been building up to this moment for so long. Finally, the Olympics have come to town and the eyes of the world are upon us.

I am certain that London will put on a great show. We are ready to show everyone what we are made of and this is an exciting period to live through. I wonder what spine-tingling, historic moments will come out of these Olympic games? All of the sports adverts and sporting documentaries that have been televised in the build up to the Games have been fantastic. They have managed to capture the real essence of what it’s like to be an elite level athlete at the top of their game. We’ve seen the relentlessness of training and competition, the raw passion, and the sheer grit and determination required to qualify for an Olympic Games. The expression blood, sweat and tears is no joke. Athletes have to be strong in every sense of the word.

The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of any athlete’s career and while the members of Team GB will be focused on performing to their best and reaching the podium, I hope that they will take a moment to savour the occasion. It is a once in a lifetime achievement and competing in front of a home crowd will be very special.

I have been thinking quite a lot recently too about the ‘other’ athletes who did not make the team for whatever reason. There must be hundreds of British athletes who, like me, were on the tip of qualification and missed out on the honour of going to a home Olympic Games.

Many people have asked me if I am excited about the Olympics and if I will be watching the fencing. The answer is yes, but I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t been tough. Fencing and qualifying for the Olympic Games has literally been the centre of my existence since leaving university four years ago. The intensive training, travelling and competing had taken over my life, almost to the exclusion of everything else, which most people would consider to be a normal part of life. So the thought of watching the Games without being involved in them, is hard. There’s no doubt about that.

I have had some time now to reflect on missing out on the Team and what has kept me going is the knowledge that this experience has toughened me and ultimately, has made me a stronger person. I stood for something I believed in and pushed my body and mind to the limit in order to achieve my goal.

Sometimes you have to accept defeat, but it is how you react to that and move on from that which defines you as a person. Disappointment can allow you to reassess your priorities and your goals. It strengthens your character.

So while I’ll be cheering on our Great Britain Olympic team this summer, I’ll also be sparing a thought for all those ‘other’ athletes who nearly made it. Let’s enjoy it. We deserve it.

I am proud to be the official Fencing expert for the Guardian over the Olympic Games. Watch out for my fencing and Olympic related tweets on @CBennettGBR. I’ll also be commentating on Eurosport this Sunday 29th July.

End of the road, London 2012

You may have heard the news today of the selection of the British Olympic fencing team. Unfortunately I have to confirm that I have not been selected to represent Team GB at the London Olympic Games.

The hardest part of all is telling your friends, family and support team that you have not made it.

I have had such great support from so many of you in this four-year Olympic cycle, and I wish I could give you better news.

Despite this huge disappointment, I have enjoyed the journey, and all of the hard work and sacrifice has been worth it. I have learnt so much about myself, and what it takes to be the best at elite level.

I have dreamt of going to the Olympics ever since I was a little girl but I have felt some peace in the knowledge that at all times I gave it 100%. I tried my absolute hardest, and there can be no regrets.

I am writing this blog really, as a big thank-you to my sponsors and support team, who have been so supportive and encouraging to me over the last few years. You know who you are. I will write to you all personally as soon as I can.

I always felt very lucky to have had such a great team of people around me, my family and friends included, and there is no way I could have even got this far without your backing. So thank-you, so much. 

I wish my teammates and all of the British fencers selected for the Olympic Games much luck this summer. We have trained and worked so hard for this and I genuinely hope that we get the results we deserve.

Olympic Test Event - Fencing

Yesterday, I went to the ExCel Centre for the very first time to support our GB Men’s foilists compete in our Olympic Test Event at the Olympic Fencing venue. Not only did it allow for the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to test crucial aspects of it’s operations in preparation for next year’s Games but it also allowed the boys to get a feel of the venue and what it might be like to compete in front of a home crowd come August 2012.

The boys certainly stepped up to the plate with Team A winning Gold and Team B finishing 4th after an impressive day of fencing. Both British teams were clearly up for it, and fencing with guts, determination and every bit of passion that you’d expect to see at an Olympic Test Event. I felt so proud of them because I know how hard they have been training – we all have – and it’s about time they got the result they deserved. It’s a confidence boost and shows how strong we can really be. No question, fencing in front of a home crowd will spur and push our British Team to greater heights. As Richard Kruse said upon winning gold yesterday, crowd support will give us the ‘psychological edge.’ The boys know that they can do it now. They have felt what it could be like at the actual Games and now they can believe it. What a great dress-rehearsal for them.

Women’s Foil were also given a chance to visualise what it could be like in London 2012 with a backstage tour of the ExCel Fencing venue. It was nice to see Sir Clive Woodward around the venue too, the overall Performance Director for Team GB. It was interesting to hear about the logistics of the running of the fencing at the Olympic Games. We were shown where weapon check would take place, where the warm-up halls would be, we were led into the call room and then finally out into the main arena and onto the piste. While the Test Event offered just 500 spectator seats, at the Games 8,000 spectators will be watching each session.

I was chatting to our new Strength and Conditioning Coach, Rhys Ingram, about this last week and he said that there would be two crucial, land-mark events where the realisation of a home Olympic Games would really hit us. One being the Olympic Test Event and the other being NYE when 2011 turns into 2012 and we start writing 2012 in every date and finally get to speak about the Olympic Games in the present tense. He was absolutely right.

I can only speak for myself, but walking out from the call room and into the fencing hall made everything feel so real. I started imagining the crowds, the excitement, the competition and the honour of representing your country. This is what all these years of hard-work and dedication is all about.

I find it very difficult to describe the emotions that were flying around yesterday afternoon. It was an important event for all of our Olympic hopefuls and it made me feel very lucky that I am in a position to try to qualify for the Olympic Games in London. I want to make the most of the opportunity and make sure that nothing gets left in the tank.

These little reminders and reality-checks is what I believe, gives Team GB, the upper-hand in the lead up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.