Olympic Journal: Update from Indiana's Farrell

As a dual citizen of the U.S. and France, Indiana swimmer Margaux Farrell competed for France in the 2012 Summer Olympics. In her latest Big Ten Olympic Journal entry, Farrell recaps what she has done in London since winning her bronze medal and writes about her excitement for the closing ceremony. Read her journal entry among others in our Big Ten Olympic section.

Here?s Farrell?s entry from Saturday night:

"The end of the games is almost here and I can?t believe it. I got here about three weeks ago and I feel like it went by in three days. Since my last post, I went into the heart of London and visited all of the typical tourist spots, including Big Ben and Westminster. I also toured the entire Olympic park and took pictures of most of the venues that are close to the Olympic Village. In addition, I did some more shopping and made sure to get all of my souvenirs in order.

Indiana standout Margaux Farrell is a dual citizen and will swim for France in the 2012 London Olympics. She's sending back Olympic diary entries from London. Read all of our Olympic journals.

While I have not swam in a while, I?m extremely sore! There is so much to see and do here that I am constantly walking around. Unfortunately, tickets to sporting events have been very sparse and so I have not been able to go see anything else besides the volleyball game I went to a few days ago. Luckily, though, we have a live stream of all sports on the televisions in our rooms.

It is strange to see the village transform over the last few weeks. Different sports coming and going, people who are finishing their competitions and others that have only just begun. It is weird to know that I finished my race over a week ago and that at this very moment in time there are so many other athletes around me that are playing for their chance at a medal as well.

Probably my favorite place that I?ve seen so far was the stadium. I finally got up close to it yesterday evening and it made me really excited for the closing ceremony. On the same note, though, it is making me sad to think about all of this coming to an end.

However, I have heard that the closing ceremonies will have performances from Adele and even the Spice Girls! I can?t wait to finally go in to the stadium, seeing as how I was unable to attend opening ceremony. From what I have heard from other athletes who have been to the Olympics before, three closing ceremony is a special time amongst all the athletes as they celebrate the end to the most special sporting event in the world.

Next time I write, the flame will be extinguished and I?ll be heading back over the Atlantic to go home. For now, I?m going to continue taking advantage of this wonderful experience before it all just becomes a memory of the past."

Editor's note: Farrell set a new school record in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 55.69 in prelims at the 2011 World University Games in China this past August. Find Farrell's full bio page at IUHoosiers.com.