Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 3

Nelson Mandela declares the Special Olympics open

The days long and varied experiences are overshadowed by the Opening Ceremony*. The atmosphere is electric and many stars were there to show their support for the Games. Arnold Schwarzenegger** and Mohammed Ali can't be missed and Jon Bon Jovi gets nabbed by all the athletes. Entertainment is ably supplied by The Corrs, River Dance, Ronan Keating and U2. Other highlights are performances from arts and dance troops comprising both able-bodied and special needs children and adults. The Special Olympics flag is summoned into the stadium by over 120 drummers.

Finally, the stadium erupts when Nelson Mandela arrives - we shout ourselves hoarse and wave our flags madly. The flame of hope is lit by an Irish athlete and fireworks bring a magical evening to an end.

* = I can't believe I said so little about it as 80,000 spectators, 7,000 athletes, 2,000+ performers etc. all descending on the stadium at once was just awesome. A fleet of helicopters were constantly overhead flying all the dignitaries and celebs into Croke Park. In contrast I was in a seething mass of friendly people all walking there - we'd long abandoned trying to get there by bus. The traffic in Dublin is bad at the best of times, this was pure gridlock. But nobody minded at all, it was just wonderful. We all had flags to wave - each block had its own colour and we were choreographed into giant Mexican waves using them - I still have mine, an orange one. I was perched right at the top of the stadium, so had a gnats eyed view of everything. We shouted ourselves hoarse, screamed along to all of the songs (as did a passing steam train passing by just as U2 came on stage), stomped till our feet hurt and hugged all of our neighbours. It was good craic!

** = He declared his canditature for Governor of California on returning to the US and looked huge even from where we were at the top of the stadium

Other stars who made an appearance:

• Pierce Brosnan
• Colin Farrell
• Eddie Irvine
• Lots more - I can't remember them all!

Click here for Day 4.