The eyes of the world are glued to the Games as records tumble and champions are made.

But sadly spectators are not exactly filling out the Olympic arenas.

In the third extract of her Beijing Blog, former Simon Langton pupil Esther Irwin reports from inside the Olympic hockey stadium.

I went to the men’s hockey preliminaries this week.

Friends and I watched Australia thrash Canada, and then Holland take on South Africa in a really exciting, fast-paced match, won comfortably in the end by Holland.

I don’t have the expertise to report on the game from a sports angle but I am able to describe the atmosphere and environment, to assess the Olympic spirit as it were.

Firstly, getting to the venue - which may seem trivial but really isn’t in a country where the written language is artistic doodles to an outsider - was surprisingly easy.

Using the underground and a bus, volunteers were happy to help at every corner and signs were international.

Arriving, we found ourselves within grounds that were shiny, new, pristine - yet almost empty.

We took in the surroundings before deciding to search out the main area, whatever we thought that might be, where we were guessing people must be gathering.

We were hungry. But there was no main area, not many people, and no food.

The hockey was fantastic to watch, the skills and speed were phenomenal. But aside from the play it felt unlike the Olympics in atmosphere.

It was as though the pitch was an international venue borrowed for a top university match. The venue dwarfed the event, excellent though it was.

The grounds were relatively deserted and when we took our seats to watch the game, the stadium was no way more than half full. It was quiet.

Without the scores of shipped in Chinese cheerers in yellow there would have been nothing other than encouraging claps.

I had a great time still.

But everywhere people are talking of the empty seats at events and that is a shame.

On Sunday I am going to the Bird’s Nest to watch athletics. Perhaps it’ll be different there…