An expectant London Friday launched the greatest sporting show on earth with excitement reaching fever pitch hours ahead of the Olympic Games opening ceremony.
After seven years of intensive planning, the Games will officially begin in a once rundown area of east London where 80,000 spectators will watch a spectacular show devised by “Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle.
Queen Elizabeth II will declare the Games officially open in the Olympic Stadium after a ceremony which Boyle has promised will showcase Britain’s history as well as the nation’s quirky sense of humour.
More than 120 world leaders are expected to attend the ceremony, while First Lady Michelle Obama will represent the United States alongside a host of celebrities including Angelina Jolie.
The Olympic flame was rowed up the River Thames in a ceremonial barge as it approached the end of a 70-day journey around Britain and Ireland, but the person who will light the Olympic cauldron remains a closely guarded secret.
The weather is expected to play its part. Although heavy cloud hung over the British capital on Friday, it was expected to be dry in time for the opening ceremony. Once the curtain goes up, the stage is set for superstars such as Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Roger Federer to dazzle, while an army of unsung competitors will also hope to strike gold.
A budget of £9.3 billion ($14.5 billion, 12 billion euros) has been lavished on bringing the Games to London for an unprecedented third time, but the first time since 1948.
Bells ring out to start Games
LONDON: Big Ben chimed for three minutes on Friday to ring in the Olympic Games, which were set to kick off later in the British capital with the much anticipated opening ceremony. The giant bell, whose clock tower is one of London’s best-loved landmarks, was joined by hundreds of churches and bell-ringers across the country in a cacophony to mark the start of the Games. The bell onboard Queen Elizabeth II’s barge, which is carrying the Olympic flame down the Thames as part of its final journey to the Olympic Stadium, also joined in the ringing at 8:12 am (0712 GMT). The ringing came 12 hours before pre-ceremony entertainment was due to kick off in the stadium at the symbolic time of 8:12 pm, or 20:12. Organiser Martin Creed, a previous winner of Britain’s prestigious Turner Prize for art, encouraged everyone in Britain to join in the “All the Bells” event. Creed aims to set a world record for the largest number of bells rung simultaneously, and has encouraged people to ring everything from doorbells to bells on their bicycles. AFP
