London 2012: opening ceremonies are electric but can be a laugh too

I won Olympic bronze and Commonwealth silver but appearing in opening ceremonies ranks right up there as a career highlight
Britain's Natasha Danvers won Olympic bronze
Britain's Natasha Danvers carried her bronze medal, held by royal purple ribbons, with pride at the 2008 Olympics closing ceremony. Photograph: Ian West/PA

During my career as a top-level athlete, there were many highlights and fantastic moments. I won bronze in the 400m hurdles at the Beijing Olympics and silver at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. But I'd rank appearing in opening ceremonies at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Manchester in 2002 right up there too.

The night goes something like this. You check yourself over in the mirror, once, twice, three times, and correct the collar on your opening ceremony suit before you and your team-mates bunch together for those all-important snaps. Travelling to the stadium it's all excitement, fun and anticipation – and wondering just how many millions of people will be glued to their screens for this one event that you are lucky enough to be a part of.

Finally the alphabet gets around to your team and the pain of standing on your feet for hours (yes, hours) doesn't seem quite so bad. Electric!

Absolutely electric is the feeling you get as you proudly march around the stadium waving and smiling with those that have also managed to be part of this great honour.

At the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 I remember for a laugh making a bet with British No1 hurdler Diane Allahgreen about who could get their faces to appear on the big screen the most times but laughing too much to ever keep count – the atmosphere was even more amazing because of the home crowd. Their cheering made me feel like at any minute the stadium would explode – something that sounds absolutely fanciful but wasn't for those there.

I imagine the Olympic Games opening ceremonies are even noisier, and more magical. I say imagine because like most athletes I was far away at a training camp when the Sydney and Beijing ceremonies happened, which unfortunately is standard for certain sports for various reasons all of which boil down to putting performance first and everything else second.

Some training camps are so far away that logistically it just doesn't make sense to do it. For Sydney we were in the Gold Coast, for Beijing we were in Macau and this year the team is in Portugal. Missing the ceremony is just one of the many sacrifices that athletes make in order to achieve their dreams.

I'm lucky though. Later on Friday, for the first time, I will be involved in an Olympic opening ceremony and I can't think of a better Games for it to happen at than London 2012. It was certainly worth the wait! I'm truly excited and just can't wait. I may have been unlucky to have had to retire but it certainly has its perks.

And while there has been some criticism of the number of British athletes missing the opening ceremony, I completely understand where they are coming from. Given a choice between attending the ceremony and potentially sacrificing my performance, performance wins every time. The lives of those who do well at these Games could change forever. No ceremony, no matter how cinematic it is, is worth that.

When the dust has settled, there's always the closing ceremony. Fingers crossed many of them will not just be there, but marching around the stadium with gold, silver and bronze accessories held by royal purple ribbons. That's what I did in Beijing, and it was one of the sweetest feelings of all.