4 September 2008

Hi,

I’ve made it to Beijing now, we arrived in Macau on 25 August on the first team flight, then I transferred on 31 August to the Village for classification before the Games start.

The Olympics seems a while ago now, but I was quite excited about watching it as much as I could. The best bit was the Men’s 100m and 200m. I watched some taekwondo too, as I’m part of team Visa and I’ve met Aaron Cook a few times. I was paired up with him through the Visa programme. Aaron came fourth in Beijing, he was an apprentice with Visa, so he wasn’t really expected to make Beijing, as he is only 17.

Before I left home, I moved out of my flat where I was living temporarily in Edinburgh. It was mad living there during the Edinburgh festival, with so many people around!

I had a gathering in my local pub in Newcastleton, the night before I left for Macau. My friends and family came to see me off, I had packed everything by then so it was good to see everyone.

I was really excited to get out here, but it didn’t really hit me until I got on the plane at Heathrow. It was a bit cramped, so I only got a few hours sleep. I came to the Westin resort in Macau last year in August, so it was good to come back. The food was even better and there was more space for everyone in the restaurant.

I’ve got used to the temperature and humidity out here. I trained almost every day, before transferring to Beijing. A group of eight of us are scheduled for classification in Beijing. I have to do an eye test for distance vision, peripheral vision and central vision. They basically have a good nosy in your eye. My classification is T12 (the range of classification for visually impaired athletes is T11, T12 and T13, with T denoting track athletes).

The result of the classification will then hopefully confirm my eligibility to compete in T12 at the Games.

I can’t wait to see the Bird’s Nest stadium at night, when it lights up. The village is pretty cool, but I’m looking forward to all the rest of the team arriving. I compete on the first day, Monday 8 September. I’ve got some family and friends coming out on 6 September, then it’s my Mum’s birthday on 7 September, so I hope we can catch up.

I’ll be in touch again soon,

Libby

p.s this just in – had my classification confirmed as T12, so ready to roll!