Blog 33
What a month for sport! We have obviously just been blessed with the the best medal haul of any Olympics that I know of, surpassing even London, but on top of that we surpassed the medal haul of my favourite event, the Paralympics.
The month started for me with Sport, sport and more sports medicine. Chronologically it started on the Tuesday where, Keith our illustrious and now head physio of Bristol Rovers, Sarah our Sports therapist and I went on the team bus to work at the mighty Chelsea vs Rovers game.
Stamford Bridge was out of this world. It felt surreal to be walking through the tunnel onto a perfect pitch with the team. I have worked at all of the Rugby Premier league grounds, Twickenham and the Millenium stadium before with Bath rugby but there is such a different feel to a Premier League football ground. Because of the vast difference in league position of the teams, the atmosphere was quite unexpectedly welcoming and friendly. The dressing room was large and well furnished as you would expect but truly it was the Rovers fans during the game that made it for me. They were so loud throughout the match, the players always comment on the positive effect the supporters can have on the team when they are in their normal good voice.
In contrast it is clear that in the stadium most of the home fans were tourists so didn\’t know the songs and didn\’t join in leaving the Rovers fans to dominate the atmosphere. The pressure and the skill level from Chelsea was nothing short of awesome (I remember looking at the clock feeling like most of the first half had gone but it was only 8 minutes) but the boys kept them out for a never ending 29 minutes with some epic defending. It was only a matter of time though and we conceded two quick goals. It looked like it was going to be a lot more but after a little bit of possession Linsey put in a perfect cross for Hartley to score from a wonderful header. The half finished 3-1. In the second half it was clear that Chelsea were shaken by a second goal from Ellis Harrsion making it 3-2 and we watched from the dug out as they put on most of their big names including Hazzard and John Terry creating a team that was full of stars. I\’m scared to even guess what that team was worth. We lost the game 3-2 but we did well and could leave the match with dignity. It was another example of another crazy time with the team over the last few years but I can honestly say that despite the result it was one of my favourite professional moments of my career to date.
Friday brought the last time I would treat our, soon to be, Paralympic champions down at the track in Bath before they left for Rio. I started to volunteer down with the GB Paralympian sprinters the year before working at the London Olympics and a couple of years later Iain, our chiropractor joined me, easing the burden of working every Friday evening to the satisfaction of my growing family. Eventually Paul Blake came home with a Gold and a silver medal and Sophie Kamlish broke the world record in her heat but could only finish fourth in the final. These things happen in athletics but, as I told her, she can only be described as the best in the world despite the medal position.
An old friend, Kadeena Cox, that I helped at the World Cerebal Palsy games last year also did amazingly well, bagging 2 gold both world records), 1 silver and 1 bronze Medals. She was rewarded by being made flag bearer for the closing ceremony. I love the Paralympics more than the Olympics because every athlete has such a story of different challenges, how they overcame them and, from what I have seen a beautiful spirit that all athletes should admire and aspire to.
Lastly we finished the week on Sunday working at YOSC athletic track with our amazing, branded, huge pop up gazebo helping all of the athletes at the track with a winning combination of Chiropractic, Physiotherapy and Sports Therapy.
Like I said, what a month…what a week. It\’s times like these that I realise that I have the best job in the world.
