Press release

London, Great Britain, July 29, 2012 – Team GB debuted on Sunday morning in the men’s volleyball tournament and even though the home heroes could not bring it home, still their fans in the stands got absolutely thrilled as for many this was the first opportunity to see elite volleyball live.

Path and Steven had traveled from Birmingham to London to cheer on Ben Pipes and the other guys mentored by Dutch-born coach Harry Brokking. “I have to admit that we got to see volleyball just by chance as these are the only tickets we finally received after applying for six, seven different events. I did not know much about volleyball and the GB team before this game, but it was absolutely great to follow their Olympic debut”. “I could not imagine that volleyball is that fast, it makes it look superb” she adds. “And even that the players are physically so strong and powerful, I was just watching the Russian guys getting ready for their match against Germany and they look even more impressive than those who were on court for the opening game of the day”.

Netball is her favorite sport but since this is not included in the Olympic program, she lists athletics as the discipline she will be closely following for the next couple of weeks. Steven is sitting right next to her and he also looks impressed. “I love rugby but this sport will be added to the Olympic program only in conjunction with the 2016 Games in Rio. I did not know that volleyball is so great and it was just amazing to be here as our players celebrated their first appearance at the Olympics”.

Path and Steven do only regret that the GB heroes could not finalize their good performance in the third set by seeing it out. “Who knows what could have happened if they had gone to the fourth set?” they keep on asking. “That would have been great”.

They maybe got to know and watch volleyball just by chance but they will be surely keeping an eye on the next matches of Team GB as they finally understand more about what it takes to excel in this sport. And as for the Olympics, they are absolutely proud of what the local organizers have achieved: “It is just amazing here especially if you take into account that it is definitely very, very complicated to stage such a gigantic event in a busy and huge city like London” stresses Path. “However, the Olympics have brought the country together: I guess everyone feels really proud of being British in these days”.


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