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The Olympic rings are seen during a pyrotechnics display - Source: Reuters -
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New Zealand Olympic boxer Siona Fernandes on the amazing experience of being at the Opening Ceremony.
The night of the Olympic opening ceremony is an experience I will never forget.
Even though there were only 60 New Zealand athletes who marched, we were all blown away by the reaction from the fans who lined the streets on the way to the Olympic Stadium.
Being a girl from Goa, I was amazed by the amount of fans who were cheering for New Zealand. It was really something to see the amount of kids who were as young as 10 cheering us on.
One particular British boy started doing a full-blooded haka for the team as we approached the destination and we all just stopped and thought 'wow.' There is a lot of support for New Zealand and I guess we can thank the All Blacks for that.
So the march to the stadium almost overshadowed the actual walk inside but when we went through the tunnel there was a bright light and then boom - it hit home!
The noise of the 80,000 crowd was phenomenal and even though you couldn't really see anything because of the thousands of cameras flickering around, you knew it was full and it was buzzing.
At that very moment I felt a massive wave of pride representing New Zealand and I'm sure all my team-mates did too.
It didn't matter if it was your first Olympics, or your fifth Olympics - we all knew that this was a moment that belonged to all of us as equals.
That fact really blew me away and even does now on reflection.
The Netherlands were marching ahead of us and it is quite funny to see some of their male athletes taking photos with our hockey girls and swimmer Samantha Lucie-Smith but I guess they must get that all the time haha.
I eventually got back to the athletes village at 1am but our team leader, Nick Willis, decided he needed to get back sooner so he chucked on his running shoes and blitzed back in record time. Hopefully that is a good omen.
The village itself is amazing. You can eat nearly anything you could imagine and EVERYTHING is free. Massages are free, dentist care is free and whatever you need can be sorted.
Which makes it easier to focus on your sport and that is something I really appreciate.
Speaking of sport and I find it so funny when I meet other athletes for the first time and they discover I'm a boxer.
They never believe me! One security guard said "you must be really good because you have a pretty face," which was flattering but creepy all the same haha.
I guess my dancing background means I haven't really developed a boxing physique yet but I can't wait to get into the ring and show the world what I have got.
My first fight is against Bulgarian Stoyka Petrova on Monday morning (NZT) however I'm not focusing on her - it's all about what I can do.
Anyway I will let you know how my preparations are going later in the week but thanks for your support!