13th August 2008

Hi

I had a great flight over the Macau, I caught a movie called 21 and also slept a lot of the way and with perfect timing woke up just as we were landing in Hong Kong.

We ended up being trapped in Hong Kong because of a typhoon, at first I thought "disaster" but it actually worked out quite well. We were put up in a hotel and I got a great night’s sleep, I think it helped with my jet lag in some ways as it broke the travel up and I headed to the holding camp in Macau feeling fresh.

Pooling around

The holding camp in Macau was great, although we played the weather game every day not knowing if we would get time outside. I had one of my best ever training sessions there and also focused a lot of my time on weights and running.

In my spare time around the camp I like to chat to people rather than play computer games or listen to my Ipod. There was a bit of friendly rivalry around the pool table in the hotel, the "big dogs" of team GB being Tom (Lancashire), (Tom) Parsons, Andrew Steel, (Martyn) Rooney, Greg Rutherford and Craig (Pickering). I had too many victories to remember who and when but I do remember an epic loss to Christian Malcolm, it sticks in my mind because he got really lucky, he’s normally rubbish!

I’ve only got good things to say about my time at the camp, the hotel and food were amazing. The BOA had things set up really well and everything went smoothly.

Next step…

I came over the Beijing a day ago and was pleasantly surprised with the weather. Not too muggy or smoggy, it was a relatively clear day.

The athlete’s village is amazing. I’m staying in a flat made up of 3 rooms, mine’s massive with an ensuite which is lucky as they aren’t standard for everyone.

I’m sharing with Daniel Awde, which is cool because I don’t know him very well. Rooming with someone new is a great opportunity to get to know guys on the team who you haven’t competed with before. Also in my flat are Pickering, Scott, Parsons and Rutherford.

The team GB spirit is really good here as it was in Macau. There’s a real buzz around the camp and obviously everyone is in high spirits.

I’m getting more and more excited, I’m glad to be at the next step of my Olympic journey by being in Beijing and am just focusing on the start of the athletics now. I have finished most of my training sessions now and am taking it easy as I’m pretty much ready for competition.

Hope you’re enjoying the rest of the sporting action,

Speak soon,

Steve