The 2008 Beijing Olympics
and Paralympics
on the 91Èȱ¬
91Èȱ¬ Radio team Olympic impressions
Nicky Campbell
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Nicky Campbell co-presents the Breakfast
show on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 5 Live each weekday
from 6.00 to 9.00am with Shelagh Fogarty.
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Nicky joined 5 Live in October 1997, after
10 years on the drivetime and afternoon
shows at Radio 1, to present the morning
phone-in programme, and moved to
Breakfast in January 2003.
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Nicky has won four Sony Awards, including
a Gold in 2002 for the 5 Live Breakfast
programme's coverage of the 9/11 attack
on New York, and was voted Variety Club
of Great Britain Radio Personality of the Year
in 1999.
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As a TV presenter he has, over the years,
worked on projects including Wheel Of
Fortune, Top Of The Pops and Panorama, and
he currently fronts Watchdog on 91Èȱ¬ One.
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"For me the Olympics represents that I'm a
really lucky person.
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"I was working for 5 Live
in Sydney and Athens and love the whole
Olympic experience.
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"Each is very different
and I try to help listeners to get a flavour of
the city and the events.
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"Looking back at past Olympics, I'll never
forget the rowing finals last time at Lake
Schinias.
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"The GB four won on a photo finish.
I was lakeside with the familes of the team –
and live on air we linked Matthew Pinsent
and co with their injured teammate Alex
Partridge who was back in the studio.
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"They' d
named the boat after him and they were all in
tears as they talked to each other on 5 Live.
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"Thinking of Beijing, I'm fascinated to see
how the Chinese respond to the attention of
the world via the Games. What will they
make of the scrutiny – and how will they
react if things don't go according to plan?
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"I think the significance of the Games being
held in Beijing is that it's China's coming out
party.
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"From being a place most of us know
little about and haven't seen much of … they
are going to have to throw the doors open,
for a couple of weeks at least.
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"The question
is whether the doors slam shut again when
the Games end.
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"With regard to the actual events
themselves, it'd be great if Alex Partridge
could win this time and it'd be
nice if Paula Radcliffe could finish a race,
unlike last time.
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"As far as British glory goes, I just hope it
won't be glorious failure...
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"Looking ahead to 2012, it'll cost a fortune
to buy tickets for my four daughters who'll
want to be there.
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"When London won the
Games I had what my editor described as my 'Meg Ryan moment' on air. I was in Trafalgar
Square and just kept yelling 'Oh yes!'
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"For Team GB and for the city itself, it'll be
the culmination of years of soul-searching
over the money, rows over the lack of
quality of our athletes, fears about the
weather and general paranoia about the
transportation.
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"But it'll be fab, won't it?
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"And
will we be cheering on a GB football team – and if so how many Scots will be in it?"
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