Posts tagged "Samantha Ashworth"
You don’t need tickets to watch the Games in good company
With no tickets to an Olympic event or even to the Olympic Park, I assumed that I would just be watching the Games from the comfort of my own flat. Well, you know what they say about those who assume… I was wrong.
Many parks in downtown London are projecting the Olympic events on multiple 20-foot screens, Hyde Park included. They are airing the same BBC channels that I could watch in my flat, but somehow being outside with a crowd full of spirited fans makes watching Olympic television that much better.
On a typical Tuesday afternoon in London, if any day during the Olympic Games could be considered typical, I ventured out in hopes to watch women’s gymnastics in the park. Seeing that I was accompanied by one of BSU at the Game’s videographers, who had brought along a large camera, I began to get nervous that we would not be allowed inside the gates.
We finally had reached the security officer at the bag check. A bottle of water was thrown away, a shopping bag searched, a laptop scanned and then there was the camera. The officer eyed it for a moment, causing Charlotte and I to hold our breath, and then placed it back into her bag, giving us the OK to enter.
After grabbing a cider and finding seats on the mulched lawn amongst the crowd, our hopes to watch women’s gymnastics were gratified. About half an hour had passed when a man walked on the stage with a microphone. Hyde Park has been hosting concerts every night since the Opening Ceremony and will continue until the Closing Ceremony on Aug. 12.
On Tuesday, Rebecca Ferguson, followed by Cover Drive, performed on the main stage. Rebecca, with a sound similar to Adele’s, won the crowd over with her soothing love tunes. Cover Drive sang more upbeat and energetic melodies. Not recognizing either performer, I was hesitant during their first few songs. I quickly learned to “never judge a band by their first song,” as Cover Drive has become one of my favorite groups.
It was the perfect evening under the stars—enjoying live music and watching the Olympic Games. What more could two girls have asked for?
Needless to say, if you need to find Charlotte and me in the early night, chances are we will be having another perfect evening in Hyde Park.
Samantha Ashworth | Public Relations
Behind the Scenes
Life is beautiful
We were set on a mission to find a store full of Team USA gear. After getting sketchy directions to the store by someone that had just gone there and was wearing the apparel, we walked for nearly 30 minutes without a single sighting of the store. We kept on walking, determined to find this [...]
The Olympic flame lit a fire in me, too
I’m not going to sugarcoat it; as I sat on the plane to London two weeks ago, I wanted nothing to do with journalism. I was exhausted, burnt out. I was done. For the past month, I had been wracking my brain trying to figure out what else I could do with my life. Go [...]
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Graphics
What happened yesterday at London 2012
Check back daily for our recap of Team USA happenings, including events competed in, medals won and Americans watching at home. August 11 recap by Stephanie Meredith: August 8 recap by Sarah Ellis: August 7 recap by Stephanie Meredith: August 6 recap by Emily Theis: August 5 recap by Liz Spangler: August 4 recap [...]
Interactive map of Olympic village
By Annie Gonzalez and Liz Spangler | BSU at the Games Click here to explore an interactive map of the London Olympic Village. Annie Gonzalez and Liz Spangler are senior journalism graphics majors at Ball State University. Follow Annie, Liz and the BSU team at @annie_gonz, @elspangler, @bsuatthegames and www.facebook.com/bsuatthegames.
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Photos
Photo of the day: Closing Ceremony in Victoria Park
Thousands gathered for the live screening of the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony Sunday in Victoria Park, London. Fans watched the performance on huge screens, danced to live music and rode the ferris wheel as London 2012 went out with a bang. View our full gallery from the Closing Ceremony celebration here. Photo by Valerie Carnevale.
Photo Gallery: Closing Ceremony
Thousands of people gathered in Victoria Park Sunday night to watch the closing ceremony. The park hosted the largest free viewing of the event. In addition to three large screens to watch the ceremony, there was a ferris wheel, zip lines, dance performances and live musical acts. Read our story from Victoria Park here. Photos [...]
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Multimedia
Memories of London 2012 from world travelers
By Katelynn Thys | BSU at the Games London Travelers share their opinions on what made London a great place to host the Summer Games. Katelynn Thys is a junior telecommunications and journalism major at Ball State University and features reporter for BSU at the Games. Follow Katelynn and the BSU team at @skyismylimit_kt, @bsuatthegames and www.facebook.com/bsuatthegames.
What was your favorite London 2012 moment?
By Charlotte Dunlap | BSU at the Games Olympic fans waiting in line for the live screening of the Closing Ceremony at Victoria Park, London, share their favorite moments from London 2012.
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Sports
- Indianapolis native leads, motivates Team USA to gold medal
By Andrew Mishler | BSU at the Games Even as her teammates partied inside their hotel and popped champagne bottles in celebration, U.S. women’ s soccer midfielder Lauren Cheney went to bed at 4:30 Friday morning a sober gold medalist. “I actually don’t drink,” she said. “So no champagne, but a little bit of dancing. [...]
- Rediscovering his Olympic dream: the Jared Frayer story
By Conor Hockett | BSU at the Games In 2008, Jared Frayer decided to give up the sport of wrestling—his Olympic dream was dead. After he finished serving as a training partner for the US Olympic wrestling team in Beijing, Frayer was heading back home to teach and coach high school wrestling in Florida. Helping [...]
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Features
Many sites, from playhouses to train platforms, inspire pilgrimages in the Olympic host city
This package was compiled by writers from BSU at the Games. Pilgrimage (n): “a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion … as to pay homage.”—Dictionary.com The word pilgrimage often inspires images of religious relics and trips to the Holy Land. However, pilgrimages take many forms. [...]
10 ways to enjoy London after the Games are gone
By Jack Meyer | BSU at the Games Although the 2012 Olympics are coming to an end, tourists undoubtedly will still flock to London in great numbers to see all the city has to offer. For the past few weeks, network televisions streams have been flooded with images of London’s most famous landmarks—Tower Bridge, the [...]
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Olympic News
Closing Ceremony draws excitement, end to the Games in Victoria Park
By Emily Thompson | BSU at the Games It would be unlike London to go out without a bang. Although all of this year’s Olympic athletes had put their skills to the test by Sunday night, Victoria Park tried to recreate the energy of the Opening Ceremony. The park had the largest free screening of [...]
- The unsung hero of women’s soccer
By Tyler Poslosky | BSU at the Games Becky Sauerbrunn, an alternate defender for the U.S. women’s soccer team, was about to enter the most important game of her life. With 10 minutes remaining in the gold medal match between the U.S. and Japan, defender Rachel Buehler went down with an injury. In came Sauerbrunn. [...]
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