When the first medal ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics gets underway at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich on Saturday 28 July, Bath graduate Rachel Spry will be there as part of the events team running the Olympic shooting competition.
Rachel spent her placement year at Event360, a sports event management company, an experience which she believes helped her to secure her Olympic role, together with management experience from her involvement in numerous student committees and events teams.
“The first medal ceremony of the Olympic Games will be in the shooting finals hall after the Women’s 10m Air Rifle,” she said. “It will be an amazing start to the Olympics and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Rachel, 22, graduated this year from our newly-named BA Sport & Social Sciences programme and has been working as Shooting Field of Play Group leader since April. She is managing Games Maker volunteers within the four shooting ranges at the Olympic and Paralympic Shooting venue.
“In April we hosted the ISSF Shooting World Cup which was part of the London Prepares Series and with over 800 athletes and continuous rain, it was certainly a good test for us prior to the Games.
“We’re now busy preparing for July and I can’t wait to see all of our Games Makers again and for the athletes to arrive. We had a great team at our test event and the Games Makers really do make the Games. It wouldn’t be the same without everyone’s hard work and enthusiasm!”
Rachel finished her studies at Bath early to enable her to take up the London 2012 role. “Although I missed a lot of final year celebrations, I certainly wasn’t going to turn down such a great opportunity at London 2012 and I am one hundred per cent sure that I made the right decision.”
“I worked incredibly hard to be able to leave Bath at the end of March and my lecturers were really supportive in helping me to do this.”
— Rachel Spry, Sports & Social Sciences graduate
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and as I’m just stepping onto the career ladder it’s the perfect time for me to gain valuable experience and develop my career.”
“As the Games get closer everyone is busy working hard to ensure we produce a great event. We’re all looking forward to the first day of competition and, of course, really excited!”