Transport, security big questions 100 days from London

Queen Elizabeth II will declare the London Olympics open on July 27 but while the stadiums are ready with 100 days to go, question marks hang over the security of the Games and transport.
When the flame is lit, London will become the first city in the modern era to host the Olympics three times, having already had the honour in 1908 and 1948.
Last time the event came to London, Britain was still gripped by the effects of World War II which had ended barely three years earlier and the makeshift approach earned it the label the “austerity Games”.
With Britain’s economy still in the doldrums, austerity will leave its mark on these Olympics too, albeit to a far lesser extent than in 1948, when competitors were housed in military barracks and university dormitories.
Despite a budget of £9.3 billion ($14.8 billion, 11.2 billion euros), the Games will be on more modest scale than the spectacular 2008 Beijing Olympics at which China announced its growing global presence.
“We are not coming out as a superpower,” noted Britain’s Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson.
Prime Minister David Cameron is nevertheless promising “the greatest show on Earth” and “a celebration of everything that’s great about Britain”.
The job of putting the stamp of Britishness on the opening ceremony has been handed to Danny Boyle, the director of the multiple Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire”.
With the theme “Isles of Wonder”, Boyle has promised a fitting curtain raiser before 10,500 competitors from 204 countries do battle.
When the sport begins, one of the big questions is whether China can maintain its performance of four years ago when on home soil it topped the medals table for the first time.
Two of the stars of those Olympics are set to make a huge impact again, with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt likely to be the face of the Games, closely followed by US swimmer Michael Phelps, who won eight golds in China.
London’s bid was based on the promise that hosting the Games would leave a lasting legacy for the city. The International Olympic Committee believes it has achieved its aim so far — the residents’ verdict will only come later.