It turns out that Phoebe Gill isn't the only St Albans connection to this year's Paris Olympics, with a camera operator and a set of trusty bin liners from the city playing their part in protecting equipment at the Eiffel Tower Stadium.

Rich Lambert's role may not have the glamour of the 17-year-old starlet set to run for gold, but his work in Paris plays a vital part in the pictures beamed around the world.

Rich, who moved to St Albans from High Green, a village near Sheffield in 1991, is responsible for operating the broadcast equipment in the mixed zone, the area where athletes mingle with the world's press before and after events.

He has the task of managing and looking after the equipment, a tall task given the biblical weather the city was battered by in the first few days of the games.

So, how did bin liners emblazoned with the familiar logo of St Albans City and District Council end up in the glamorous Eiffel Tower location that is playing host to several Olympic events?

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Rich explains: "As I knew that we would be outdoors at the beach volleyball event, I grabbed a sack of bin liners on my way to catch the Eurostar to Paris.

"They've ended up being used as I've been covering up tripods and cameras from the rain. 

"You'll have seen on TV how bad the storms have been so the SADC bags really helped tide us over until eventually organisers gave us some clear bags."

The bags have come in handy for Rich and his team at the Olympics so far.The bags have come in handy for Rich and his team at the Olympics so far. (Image: Rich Lambert)

Rich's work has seen him fly the flag for St Albans in a small way at several Olympics, with the first games he worked on coming at Sydney 2000.

He says: "I am fortunate enough to have seen the world with my work, from war zones like Afganistan and Iraq to amazing sporting events."

But Paris 2024 will surely go down as the first Olympics where SADC got its own small little shoutout on the biggest stage of them all.