Let the games begin: Olympic Park is put through its paces Other visitors attended events at the park's hockey, water polo and basketball venues. Security around the park was tight, with armed officers patrolling the site, a police helicopter above and police boats on the River Thames. Spectators going through security check points faced waits of around 10 minutes. Lord Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, said security was "proportionate." He added he was still "shaken" by the transformation of the Olympic Park. If I think back eight years, I'm standing at the top of a tower block looking at the site with the IOC's evaluation teams, feeling a bit like a Costa Brava timeshare salesman, saying 'You see that rotting pile of fridges, that's where the stadium is going, and that's where the velodrome is going. And I'm hearing the words coming out and they are looking at me like 'Yeah?' We've come a long way really. I walked around anonymously last night and I was just listening to the excitement of the people who were walking in. It was a bit like watching my kids on the first day they woke up to find snow in the back garden. I don't think people quite realise, unless you have been here, just what has happened. I still get occasionally shaken by what I see. Ed Smith, chairman of BUCS, said: "We know that our Higher Education system in the UK is among the very best in the world and we know that many of our Olympic and Paralympic team will have honed their minds and bodies in our universities and colleges. It is therefore fitting for us to have been given access to the Olympic Stadium in the run-up to the Games and for future generations of athletes to participate in an arena to be occupied by the world elite. Students who are participating this week will enjoy an experience that will last their life time. Pippa Woolven, 18, a Birmingham University student, won the 2000m steeplechase, setting a new championship record of six minutes 36.06 seconds. She said: "I'm feeling a bit emotional. I am so happy. Running in the stadium felt like it was the Olympics.