London Olympics: ExCeL Centre spectators are there for experience

LONDON — Shortly before 9:30 a.m., Barbara Mulroney settles into her seat at the ExCeL Centre and thumbs through her souvenir table tennis program.

Inside the booklet, the native Londoner sees the names of two athletes who will be competing in the preliminary rounds: Olufunke Oshonaike of Nigeria and Neda Shahsavari of Iran. Mulroney doesn’t have the foggiest idea who they are or let alone how to pronounce their names.

“No matter,” she says, smiling. “I’m at an Olympic event. That’s what matters.”

This, quite simply, is the unofficial motto at ExCeL Arena, a cavernous convention hall that has been transformed into a lower-profile sports buffet for the 2012 Games. Seven Olympic events — boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling — will take place here over the next fortnight with an estimated 1.2 million spectators passing through the arena’s doors.

Many of those ticket holders will have no clue what they’re watching. And, if the first official day of competition was any indication, they’ll be fine with that.

It doesn’t matter that ExCeL is the size of seven football fields and lacks the stunning cityscapes found at other venues. The arena offers a chance to see an Olympic event in person, and that’s what counts.

Boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis and weightlifting all held competitions at ExCeL on Saturday over a crowded, but oddly intimate, 14-hour period. With the exception of perhaps boxing, these are not marquee sports and the entire building’s vibe celebrates that fact.

Connected by a vast main concourse, each arena forms its own little village, complete with souvenir booths, concession stands and dining areas that made the reported 70,000 spectators in attendance Saturday seem far less imposing. The athletes mingle in these smaller sections too, adding to the friendly atmosphere.

Marquee-ticket holders probably won’t see big-name basketball players milling around Olympic Park after their games, but ExCeL spectators had the opportunity to stand in line with several Ukrainian fencing team members as they temporarily exhausted one concession stand of its Cornish pasty supply.

First introduced at the Atlanta Games in 1996, the multisport venues have been embraced by subsequent organizing committees because they encourage a more efficient use of resources. The number of volunteers, security forces and staff members can be reduced considerably by putting several sports together under one roof.

But logistics aside, the ExCeL Centre worked for the masses Saturday because organizers treated the events more like minor league baseball games than obscure Olympic sports with complicated scoring systems.

At the women’s 106-pound class weightlifting event, spectators could be heard asking one another the difference between lifts as they waited for the event to begin. Ignorance of the sport, however, mattered little as the competition was run like a game show, complete with neon lights and a loud, tension-building heartbeat thumping over the public address system a la “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

As the athletes prepared for their lifts off stage, the announcer threw out little tidbits about their lives back home. He told the audience, for example, that Indian lifter Soniya Chanu Ngangbam is a deputy with Uttar Pradesh Police Department and considers herself the strongest female cop in her country.

The crowd, which had left several empty seats in the arena, applauded as if she had broken a world record.

Police, yes! Strongest cop in India, woo-hoo! Now this, we can understand! Please don’t ever mention the term “snatch” or “clean and jerk” again!

Down the hall in fencing, the arena was completely dark with the exception of four mats, each bathed in a bright blue, yellow, red or green light. Techno music blared over the loudspeakers, as a video on the jumbo screen encouraged the audience to get up and dance.

“Get loud and make some noise!” the announcer implored the mostly filled arena. “Get behind these athletes! It’s London 2012!”

After a tough quarterfinal loss, U.S. fencer Lee Kiefer confirmed suspicions that fencing matches don’t often take such a ruckus tone.

“Well, maybe at the world championships,” she said. “But not like this. No, not really.”

Back at table tennis, Oshonaike and Shahsavari are locked in an epic seven-set match during the preliminary rounds. It’s obvious neither woman will make it far in the tournament, so the crowd’s enthusiastic applause seems as much a nod to their spunk as it is to their skills.

The Iranian coach soon calls a timeout, a decision that makes a few people giggle because they didn’t know such a thing even existed in pingpong.

“Yes, it’s a timeout. It’s a time for these athletes to regain their strength and have a word with their coaches,” the announcer says as his hushed, dramatic voice grows louder. “They’re putting on quite a show. Is this what you expected of an Olympic match? Let these athletes hear you!”

Barbara Mulroney curls her program into a megaphone and cheers. She still can’t remember the athletes’ surnames.

No matter.

sstclair@tribune.com