Paris is going to be my third Olympics and, let me tell you, I’ve learned a thing or two while waving a badminton bat around. Want to know how you get all your kit? What about the madness of the Olympic Village? Or what the script is with cardboard beds and condoms? Then I’m right here for you. Welcome to my handy Frequently Asked Olympic Questions.
.. In badminton, you pretty much know because it’s down to the world rankings, but then you get an email from the BOA asking you to confirm your selection.
After that comes a formal letter on fancy Team GB headed paper and a smaller embossed card welcoming you to the team and wishing you the best. It all gets a bit boring for the next couple of months. You do the mandatory anti-doping workshops, suffer through the media training and put it into practice for the announcement media day, then hopefully stay awake through the logistics briefing of times, dates, venues, transport etc.
All the while training, in my case, for four-six hours per day in preparation for your final few tournaments and the Games themselves. You get a slot for kitting-out day. I’ve done a few of these now and they are wild.
Basically, you turn up at the NEC in Birmingham and are directed into a cavernous hall which has been converted into an enormous Adidas showroom with rails and rails of newly-designed gear. And everything is free. I know.
.. Once you’ve checked in, lounged in the welcome area, then had a briefing on how special it is to be a Team GB.
