22/07/2012
As more and more teams roll into London, the social media offerings of some athletes give the world a never-seen-before glimpse into the life of an Olympian.
US rower Susan Francia published a Facebook album documenting her first few days at London 2012. The pictures capture the journey and preparations of her women’s eight (and their boat, “Bessy”).
The eight are the defending Olympic champions and pictured after their touch-down on British soil/. Francia laments see didn’t see the 300m wide Olympic rings mown into the grass at Richmond Park. “[O]h well,” she says, disappearing off to accreditation and a spot of shopping.
Back at the official Rowing & Canoe Sprint Village, Francia posts a photo of the US camp, complete with “Road to London” banners, eight exercise bikes set up in a kitchen and a recovery station stocked with food and drink – including the obligatory American delicacy of peanut butter and jelly, of course.
At the Olympic rowing and canoe sprint venue, Eton Dorney, the girls size up the regatta course: “At the starting line there is this GIGANTIC tower,” Francia notes, posting a photo of the mast. Learning that it will be used for television coverage and not for extreme sports, she jokes: “The zip line will only be ridden by a camera. Apparently I am too heavy to ride it.”
Teammate Esther Lofgren was also mesmerised by the mast and wires. She posted a photo and tweeted: “there are the 7-ton camera cables that run the entire 2k course! 4m above the water.”
So what Twitter or Facebook lessons are there to learn from these Olympics? Not falling asleep near a team-mate who’s out there in social media, seems to be one of them - Francia’s specialty is capturing her fellow Olympians asleep, as these less-than-flattering poses show.
Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan agrees, having posted a similar photo of a fellow Olympian earlier in the week. “Never trust your roommate #mouthopen” he tweeted.
To follow these and more Olympic athletes online,
check out the Athletes’ Hub on Olympic.org 