The O2 Arena will be known as the North Greenwich Arena for the duration of the London 2012 Olympics this summer, and so it was announced as the venue for the ‘London Prepares’ test event last night, Artistic Gymnastics – men’s horizonal bar, parallel bars, and vault, and women’s floor and balance beam.
For me, although I can see there is likely to be interest in the show and dance components of the women’s musical floor routines, and their skill in balancing on the narrow beam, I found the men’s event much more enthralling in terms of physical prowess and skill. It takes tremendous strength especially of the upper body to do the bar exercises which are almost ‘poetry in motion’. All that, and Great Britain won bronze in the Vault and gold in the Horizonal Bar events, too.
£8.50 for a plate of fish and chips and a Coca-Cola, free programmes, and unreserved seating which put us very close to the action in what will be the £200+ seats for the event proper in July.