London 2012

Alex's Olympic dream

Published 10 July 2012

Alexandra Botting, currently in the third year of the Sport and Leisure Management BA(Hons) degree, was offered a three-month placement in 2011 with LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games). The application process was very rigorous and Alex was ecstatic when she was eventually offered the placement.

She was an intern with the government relations department, attending parliament regularly, coordinating and managing the dignitaries for test events. Every event and sport for the Olympic games is tested at its venue. Basketball was tested last summer and the top teams from around the world took part. It gave the opportunity to test the fields of play, technology, crowd systems and operational systems. Alex also attended the official completion of the mountain bike venue at Hadleigh farm where she managed the filming with the in-house film crew.

During the placement her office was based at Canary Wharf which meant travelling four hours every day.

Alex said: “Being tired for three months was nothing compared with the honour of being involved with the Olympics. At the risk of name-dropping, I met numerous MPs and London Assembly members, including Lord Coe, Sir Keith Mills, Paul Deighton and HRH Princess Anne.

“Being a student on the Sport and Leisure Management course has given me access to great opportunities and having this experience on my CV will certainly stand me in great stead when applying for a job when I graduate.”