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The Olympics have officially begun, with the Opening
Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium tonight. Danny Boyle directed a masterpiece of
a ceremony, ignoring many of the Opening Ceremony stereotypes and creating a
unique spectacle, one quintessentially British in character, and ultimately a
brilliant watch. It was eccentric and excellent.
Amongst the highlights was the musical medley, with a mix of
some of the best artists Britain has produced both past and present. Rowan
Atkinson, playing Mr Bean, made an appearance, an excellent cameo during the
orchestra playing Chariots of Fire, brilliantly put together. Sir Kenneth
Branagh also made an appearance, playing Isambard Kingdom Brunel and acting in
a key role during the transition from the initial pastoral British scene to one
representing the Industrial Revolution. The Olympic Rings in the sky were truly
spectacular. Meanwhile recent Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins was in attendance
to start the celebration off. The identity of the man chosen to ring the bell, custom-made
for the ceremony at the same foundry that produced Big Ben, was a well-kept
secret, but it was former Olympic gold medallist Wiggins who was selected.
During the athletes’ procession, a number of Czech Republic’s athletes came
wearing wellies, fully prepared for typical British summer weather. They’ve
clearly been checking the weather forecasts. The placing of the flags on the
artificial hill which formed a part of the ceremony throughout was a nice touch
and made for a great effect as the teams came in to the stadium. The final team
into the stadium was Great Britain, led out by Sir Chris Hoy, wearing
tracksuits that could have been mistaken as a tribute to the late Jimmy
Saville.
Yet the
highlight of the night was surely the appearance of James Bond, a.k.a
Daniel Craig, alongside the Queen. Even up to the moment she turned her head,
everybody was thinking ‘surely not’ but it was Queen Elizabeth II herself. The
pair were transported to the stadium by helicopter and then parachuted down. Of
course in reality the Queen was already there waiting, but the idea for the
skit was brilliant, excellently produced, and fair play to Her Maj for taking
part.
The Ceremony got the balance just right. History, spectacle,
comedy, music, guest appearances and surprises were all involved. A truly
unique event, brilliantly produced, directed and performed. Lord Sebastian Coe,
IOC President Jacques Rogge and finally the Queen herself made speeches to declarethe Games open.
Then there was the lighting of the cauldron. David Beckham
was shown driving the speedboat transporting the torch up the Thames towards
the stadium. The final torch bearer was much speculated, but it turned out to
be Sir Steve Redgrave, five time Olympic gold medallist. But the lighting of
the cauldron, the design of which was another closely-guarded secret, was leftto specially nominated young people, emphasising the next generation of
Olympians; a nice touch. This prompted the main firework display of the night
centred on the Olympic Stadium but also the surrounding Olympic Park. The night
was capped off by a performance by Sir Paul McCartney leading a truly rousing, as usual, rendition of Hey Jude, bringing to an end a
truly inspiring ceremony.
Unsung Heroes
Amidst all the excitement around the Opening Ceremony, the
archery got underway at Lord’s cricket ground on Friday. The South Korean
archery team is accepted as the best in the world. Im Dong-hun set a new
individual world record during the ranking round of the Men’s Individual
competition. This is in spite of the fact that he is legally blind in one eye.
The South Korean representatives in the Men’s team event also set a new world
record today.
British medal watch
Larry Godfrey has qualified for the men’s archery individual
event ranked fourth out of 64 participants. He is the highest ranked archer
from outside South Korea. In the men’s team event, Team GB was ranked eighth
out of twelve. The Great Britain women’s archery team were ranked eleventh out
of twelve in the women’s team event, with all three individual entrants being
ranked in the bottom half of the 64 competitors.
Other news
Gymnast Louis Smith has
said he is thinking positively about his chances at the Games. Smith is a
specialist in the Pommel Horse, and is looking to become the first male gymnast
from Great Britain to win an Olympic medal for a century.
Ryan Giggs, captain of the Team GB men’s football team, has
criticised yesterday’s opponents Senegal for their heavy tackling.
Judo medal hope Colin Oates has been handed a tough
draw, facing world number 14 Ivo dos Santos in his first match. Should he
win that, he would likely face Mongolia’s Tsagaanbaatar Khashbaatar, who beat
Oates the last time they faced each other.
Great Britain’s Laura Robson, winner of the 2008 Girls’
Singles title at Wimbledon, has been given a late
call-up to play in the Women’s singles event at the Olympics. Robson
replaces Croatian Petra Martic, who has withdrawn. Robson was already due to
play in the doubles, with Heather Watson.
And finally…
Team GB football players from Scotland and Wales have caused
controversy by not singing along with the national anthem. God Save the
Queen is often seen as representing Englishness, despite acting as the anthem
of both England and the whole United Kingdom.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt suffered a mishap today, as
the bell he was ringing as part of a ceremony to mark the start of the Olympics
flew off its handle, narrowly missing people standing nearby.
Specsavers have
capitalised on the Korean flag debacle with a new advert. The advert show
the flags of both North and South Korea, with text in Korean written below
which presumably reads ‘They should have gone to Specsavers.’
Tomorrow’s big events
So, the Games proper begin tomorrow with a feast of sport.
Twelve gold medals will be up for grabs, the pick of the bunch being at the
Aquatics Centre where Michael Phelps goes for his first gold of London 2012 in
the 400m Individual Medley. This is the first of four swimming finals tomorrow
evening. Sports Personality of the Year in 2011, Mark Cavendish could become
the first gold medal winner of the Games, as he competes in the Men’s Road Race
(start time 10am). There’s more women’s football with Team GB taking on
Cameroon (kick-off 5:15pm). Other events getting underway include badminton,
boxing, gymnastics, tennis and beach volleyball.
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