b'20252012 2020London Olympic Games Covid pandemicIn 2012, for the third time in its history, the Summer Olympics wereIt was over five years ago that we held in London, the capital city of Britain. The two previous timeswere all watching in our homes were in 1908 and 1948. As you might guess, the 1948 Games wereas Boris Johnson announced very different, as the world was recovering from the devastatinga nationwide lockdown to help effects of the Second World War, so the Games were not organisedprevent the spread of Covid-19. to the amazing standard they had been. Even the iconic OlympicThe disease, which came from Village, which had been built in every host country until then, was notChina, rapidly spread across constructed; instead, in an attempt to reduce costs, existing buildingsthe globe and killed just under were used for the village rather than building new ones. The 1948227,000 people in the UK. Not Olympic Games are today known as the Austerity Games due toonly did we lose so many due to how their budget was so limited following the war.the pandemic, but we also had to Fast forward 64 years later to 2012, and Britain had Olympic Fever,change the way we lived. We were as London had been selected to host the 30th Olympiad. And it wasno longer allowed to visit other now a very different capital city. A time traveller from 1948 would havepeoples houses, we had to wear encountered a London vastly changed, unrecognisable from whatface masks everywhere we went, and it had been decades earlier. Film director Danny Boyles stunningcould no longer go to school. There Opening Ceremony on 27th July 2012 reflected this, as he presentedwas also panic buying, one consequence being different aspects of Londons history and celebrated its diversity andthat all the toilet rolls in the shops were sold out!multi-ethnicity. And who would have thought that the late QueenLooking back over the past 25 years of this century, would have arrived at the ceremony by parachuting out of a helicopterI dont think any event has impacted as many people as the with James Bond! pandemic did, with some changes we made during Covid still in The London 2012 Olympic Games were a huge success and hadeffect today. One example close to home is the one-way system captured the public imagination, with a new generation of athletesin our school, and also people becoming far more aware of their inspired by watching the Games. There was a sense of nationalpersonal hygiene. Its strange to think that in the next century pride and euphoria that London had welcomed the world to thesewhat to us became the normality of sitting in our homes, having shores to join in a party which had reverberated around the planet.to test for the virus daily, will be looked at as a major historical The London 2012 Paralympic Games which followed were equallyevent, its social phenomena studied in schools, and heroes such successful. And London 2012s legacy continues today, with all theas Captain Tom, together with all the brave NHS and key workers citys new infrastructure still thriving, with new transportation systems,being remembered for their service to their country.accommodation sites, sporting venues, and shopping centres.Amazingly, the first Covid-19 vaccines were developed and London 2012 has now become the benchmark for all future Summerauthorised for emergency use in record time, less than a year Games, with the message to all future Olympic host citiesbeat that! after the virus was identified. Despite these vaccines being Mohammed Zaman, Year 10 extremely important, booster doses were also recommended to prolong immunity with emerging variants.When we look at another huge moment in history, we remember the Second World War and the strong, empowering and decisive leadership of the Prime Minister at the time, Sir Winston Churchill. During Covid, our Prime Minister was Boris Johnson, who had his fair share of memorable moments, although not for all the right reasons. Confusion over messages about staying at home was just the tip of the iceberg, and a number of political leaders were caught breaking their own lockdown rules, the biggest scandal in the UK being the Prime Minister accused of participating in a party! Its hard to imagine anything like that happening 80 years ago, when Churchill on VE Day was acclaimed a hero.Although some of us may reminisce of a time where we didnt have to get out of bed for school or work in the morning, its safe to say that were all glad that Covid-19 doesnt have to be spoken about so much any more, and we can move on from that dark time in our lives when we lost so many. The Covid pandemic affected all of us, an event that no one will ever forget.Matthew Fenwick, Year 1031'