Rob Mulgrue - Technical Official

When I was running for the University over 40 years ago I never dreamt of participating in the Olympics. Well, I never got anywhere near as an athlete, but I did get there as a Technical Official - specifically as an umpire for track events - one of the officials positioned round the track to spot infringements that could lead to disqualifications. We had to look for such issues as: running out of the allocated lane on bends, jostling, not going over hurdles correctly, in relays taking over in the proper zones and for multi-lap races ensuring that all competitors ran the required number of laps, change the lap board displaying the number of laps to go and ring the bell for each competitor on the last lap. My abiding memories will be of the friendliness and helpfulness of all concerned - volunteers, spectators, officials and the service personnel drafted in to carry out security checks - and of the jet engine-like roar that followed Mo Farrah round the track in his races. I would have preferred the pinnacle of my athletics career to have been competing myself as an athlete, but undoubtedly the next best thing was to help the Olympic athletes by ensuring that their competition was conducted fairly.