• Olympic Accessories

In the time-honoured tradition of ending reports with a mish-mash of curiosities that might have escaped notice, here are some final idle images from London 2012.  Until Rio, then!

The Park Live area was ringed by these incredibly powerful ground loudspeakers.  Cute, though.

The high-wire trapeze act of a stadium loudspeaker.

The Olympic logo being fired out of a cannon?  No, this was a monster of a telephoto lens.  It could even look round corners.

These were the dinkiest technology on show: two remote-controlled mini-Minis for retrieving thrown hammers (the ball – top left – was placed in the roof of the car and the wire along the aerial-like holder).  They whizzed back and forth, creating a web of track marks.

The party’s over – and my throat’s as dry as dust.

Just as well it didn’t rain.

Ringside seats.

This volunteer’s job was to put in the lane-break markers at the end of the first bend of the 800m and to whip them out before the runners came round again.

While waiting her turn in Group B, the Portuguese hammer-thrower Vania Silva practised energetically with her handbag.  She came last.

The winner of the Iron Man competition.  He went at it flat out.

If you entered by the Eton Manor Gate, having parked your cycle at its transport hub, the first thing you came across was a steep-sided mound covered in green mosses.  And this sign – another prone figure.  A bit drastic, but no-one died and everyone had a great time!