London 2012 Olympics: 80,000 excited voices raise the roof at giant Olympic Stadium

Published on 04/08/2012 00:00

A WALL of sound hit the athletes as they stepped out for the first day of competition at London’s Olympic Stadium yesterday.

It was quite simply a full-on, no-holds-barred blast of cheering that came from the crowd at the packed 80,000-capacity venue, which spiked to a higher pitch whenever a British athlete stepped into view.

The spectators were even cheering for Olympians competing in different sports at different venues.

The announcement that British rower Katherine Grainger, competing miles away at Eton Dorney in Windsor, had finally managed to win gold after three successive silver medals, produced one of the loudest and warmest receptions of the morning of the track-and-field programme.

The noise was so loud when heptathlete and Team GB poster girl Jessica Ennis, one of the first Britons to race on the track, appeared that you almost could not hear the announcement of the’ names.

To be fair, it did not take much to trigger the rolling crescendo of applause.

There was applause for all the introductions of the athletes over the loudspeakers as the track-and-field schedule picked its way through its first day and preliminary heats rounds.

It was just that there was definitely a higher volume whenever a Briton appeared on the big screen or began their event.

On just about any other stage 19-year-old Katarina Johnson-Thompson, of Halewood, would have expected to go unnoticed as she stepped out on the track for the start of her debut Olympic heptathlon campaign.

It did not happen.