Heather Fell, Olympic silver medallist, writes about her life in the media and sports world.

IT isn't very often that a weekend away becomes longer than you expected. Last weekend I was in Northern Ireland with friends to watch the cycling spectacle that is the Giro D'Italia, and this is exactly what happened to me. I arrived at the airport on Sunday night for the last return flight to Bristol only to discover it was delayed by nearly three hours, which would have left me with no transport connection home. My heart sank at this news and I had visions of camping out at Bristol airport waiting for the buses to start running again the next morning. Cursing a certain airline I headed to the help desk, not sure exactly what I was hoping for as I didn't imagine they'd provide hotels or taxis in this type of situation. Running out of ideas I suggested I could travel on a different flight and was quietly impressed when this was met with a polite reply of 'Yes, of course Madame' — definitely not the response I was expecting and I wasn't even charged a fee! This was great news although perhaps not for my friends. I'd been dropped off at the airport, said my goodbyes and waved them off. It was slightly awkward when I had to call them just 30 minutes later and ask not only to be picked up but to stay one more night. I'm very lucky to have such accommodating friends who so kindly hosted me for another 24 hours and I got to enjoy an extra day in surprisingly sunny Belfast.