The Final 24 Hours

Wednesday 17th July 2013

We have only just won a gold medal and we made sure we celebrated in style. What a night spent with the girls, I loved it. And wow didn’t we feel the lack of sleep this morning. After only a few hours’ sleep, the 10am alarm resounded and up we got all set to go and support the Rugby 7s guys and girls in their bronze medal matches against Canada and South Africa. It was time to cheer on some more Team GB athletes to victory, another medals was in arms reach.

With the teamies at the Rugby 7s

What a beautiful day it was as well, the sun was out shining and it was time to make the most of our last day in Kazan. Unfortunately all of the screaming and shouting from the game last night was showing its effects and it’s fair to say we weren't quite in the fine voice we would have been hoping but we still tried our best to cheer the guys and girls on. First up were the girls facing Canada, with two friends from back home, Mason and Debs featuring I was excited to be there watching. For a number of years now I have always wished I had tried to play rugby or at least taken it up for a summer or something, particularly rugby 7s (I think my body shape is better suited to 7s than 15s), so I loved that we had the chance to go and watch. For the girls it wasn’t their day, and they ended up on the back of a 36-0 defeat; a result I know they will be hugely disappointed with. But for a sport which has made its debut at the Universiade this year they should take credit in finishing 4^th and being part of the inaugural Team GB Rugby 7s squad to attend the Games. 

The Team GB Rugby 7s girls in action

Next up was the boys who faced South Africa and clinched the bronze medal winning 31-14. It was great game and they performed well, overcoming the sweltering heat to get themselves on to that podium. Another medal for Team GB… it was turning out to be a very successful days in the camp. I am now more interested than ever to take up rugby 7s or at least try it. I think I may get together with a few friends and enter a rugby 7s tournament when we are out of season. It would be a great way to stay in shape and I think it would be so much fun.

Ash modelling our Closing Ceremony outfit
Cargo paints, GB flag belt and polo!

Back to the village we went and time to tackle the depressing job of packing. Up until this point I had put off the thought that we were going home as quite frankly I had loved my time in Kazan so much that I kind of didn’t want to go back. Now the reality of going home was evidenced in the process of packing, something I did not want to do, but as we packed we laughed and joked about the good times we had experienced. Words really do fail to articulate how special this experience has been.

The closing ceremony occupied our last night, which was set to be a cracking evening to round off what an unforgettable experience it had been. As we were unable to make the opening ceremony and had heard so many great stories from it we were excited at what tonight had in store for us. Off we went, all of the remaining Team GB athletes, united as one to celebrate what we had all achieved in Kazan. Our flags at the ready we arrived at the Kazan Arena where we congregated with all of the other athletes. As we were there representing the United Kingdom, we had to wait until the end to enter the arena (as it was done in alphabetical order) but I had to say the wait was more than worth it. Based on my experiences in Serbia my hopes weren’t that high but what we were greeted with next literally blew me away and left me speechless. Walking in to the stadium all we could hear was cheers and clapping, little did we know it was for us. 

The face says it all. Blown away!

The noise grew louder and as we stepped foot into the arena the place went wild. It was packed, a total sell out, and there must have been 50,000 people there cheering, clapping and waving at us. The volunteers were in the centre of the stadium floor, high fiving us and taking pictures. I literally did not know what to do but out came the camera as I began to record what was one of the most captivating moments of my life. I had to capture it to show everyone at home the magnitude and effort Kazan had thrown into making the closing ceremony what it was. As we completed our lap the faces of the girls and other athletes summarised our feelings, we were literally speechless, and all of these people had come out to see us.

To say I was overcome with awe at this moment would be an understatement; I was in utter shock as I walked around waving to thousands of people cheering me on. People I didn’t know, people I would probably never meet, but people who had been inspired by the spirit of the Universiade and wanted to thank us and celebrate with us, the athletes, for playing our part.

Check out my video I made of us walking into the Opening Ceremony. You will be blown away: http://youtu.be/PAk98FPxTUc

The ceremony was incredible and Kazan put on quite a performance. Music, dance, acting, video montages – it was crazily good. The traditionally hand over of the flag took place where it was passed to Gwanju, South Korea who would be hosting the next games in 2015. Speeches were made which reflected on the Games. “These twelve days represent the triumph of sports, beauty and harmony. These twelve days had changed Kazan forever” were the words spoken by one of the gentleman responsible for the Games. It is fair to say not only had they changed Kazan forever, they had impacted upon and changed every athlete, coach, member of staff and volunteer who attended the Games.

What a way to finish the Games, I couldn’t have wished for a better way to top off what has been an unforgettable and inspiring weeks. Our time in Kazan was drawing to a close. We all went back to the village and off to the food hall, despite it being 1am we all indulged in as much food as possible, boy wouldn’t we miss this part of Kazan. A little bit of kit swapping took place but come 3:30am, myself and George, one of the football boys, were still haggling away trying to get our hands on specific bits of kit we had set our eyes on.

It was nearing 4am and bed time was calling. A 5am alarm awaited us and as much as I debated with the idea of not sleeping at all, my body gave in. Our last full day in Kazan was nearly over…