The End

The last few days have been a blur! World records, medals galore, Closing, a Village up all night, remote check-in’s, early morning departures…all on only a few hours of sleep! The London Olympics have officially come to an end and we are in our final stages of helping people get home, packing up our stuff and leaving things the way we found them. This experience has truly been incredible and I am very proud to be an American. Team USA topped the medal count in both overall medals and gold medals and as a person who works in the Sport Performance Division of the USOC, those words are music to our ears……………that my friends is why we get up every day.

Thank you to London, Team USA and the Olympic Movement for making the last few weeks so memorable! And for all of you who have been keeping up with my blog, thank you for your dedication and we’ll have to reconnect again in February 2014 for the Sochi Games!

My last and final shout-out goes to my husband, Justin Miller. He is the only person in this world who could get two shout-outs in the same blog! I can’t wait to see you again!

To close, I leave you with this:

'The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.'

Cheers!

Julie

The Olympic Stadium

Sunset in the Olympic Park

My roommate, Whitney, and I at Track and Field

Our view of the medal ceremony on TV

Our 4x100 athletes celebrating their silver medal

Hmmm...a marching band going through the Village...not every day you see something like that!

Remote Check-In's! Our team alone averages 5 bags per person so the remote check-in's allow delegation members to check-in their bags and get their boarding passes at the Village the day before their departure. They also have a special Games Terminal at the airport just for delegation members!

Yep - I got to go to Closing!!!!

The start of Closing!

The flags being carried in at Closing

Pin ball wizzard!!!

Definitely a highlight! THE SPICE GIRLS!!!!! So cool!!!!! Also the other highlight: the 'Imagine' segment sung by Lenon...they had the phrase 'Imagine Peace' in every language going across the stadium throughout the song. Brilliant!

Get ready for Rio!

The flame being taken apart and about to be extinguished...all good things must come to an end.