London Olympics Travel Chaos Begins
The first wave of athletes are arriving, are first impressions really that important?
The first wave of athletes are arriving, are first impressions really that important? If they are, then it has been a congested, underwhelming entrance to London for some athletes. The weather is of course out of the organisers' control, however, other variables are not. The Olympic Lanes have now been opened. These are designed to allow athletes and sponsors travel around the city much easier. This has not been the case today. American 400m hurdler, Kerron Clement, tweeted his dissatisfaction with the games upon a poorly organised arrival. He first tweeted, Um, so we've been lost on the road for 4hrs. Not a good first impression London. This was followed by, Athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please. This is not impressive, and London Mayor Boris Johnson has responded to these problems by criticising the public. He stated that unless you have been living on Mars that you should have already known about the opening of these lanes. To be fair, this is a mediocrity valid point. There have been signs around London and adverts directing people to getaheadofthegames.com. Nevertheless, in a week where security in the Olympics has been exposed as unprepared, statements such as this will not help the millions of people who are viewing the Olympic games as an unnecessary burden on their personal lives. From having an inside view of the Olympics travel network, I believe (or maybe now believed) the transport and the Olympics as a whole have been thoroughly and meticulously organised and will improve. But as far as first impressions go...