London 2012 Olympics: Crowds spur on Team GB

Published on 06/08/2012 02:11

WRAPPING 6,000 seats all the way around what is billed as the world’s fastest cycling track has created a deafening wall of noise to spur Team GB to victory.

Nikki Cashen, who saw the British men’s team pursuit team take home gold and smash world records, said: “The noise in there was amazing. There were all these cheers and then suddenly there was this deep roar and 12 laps of a Mexican wave.”

The 41-year-old from Liverpool added: “It’s absolutely 
fantastic.”

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe also credited the 80,000-strong crowd in the 
Olympic Stadium for spurring Britain’s Greg Rutherford on to victory on the country’s most successful day in modern Olympics history on Saturday.

Rutherford’s gold medal-winning leap “was a product of that wall of noise that greeted him”, Lord Coe said.

“I know he came in there with a world-leading distance this year, but actually I think he would be the first to admit that the crowd was the difference last night.”

Elsewhere too, athletes have been given the reception more typically seen at Premier League football fixtures.