London 2012 parade: one last hurrah for Olympic and Paralympic star.
Athletes revel in two-mile celebratory trip through London.
It was “mindblowing”, it was “crazy”, it was “insane”. The athletes who brought home 185 medals and inspired hundreds of thousands of people to flood the streets of London struggled to find the words to describe a celebratory trip of just under two miles that was the end of a rather longer journey for most of them.
It was, as London mayor Boris Johnson put it – in a show-stealing speech on the Mall that again left the prime minister, David Cameron, in the shade – the “final tear-sodden sundering climax” to Britain’s Olympic summer. ‘You brought this country together.’
On Sunday night here in London, the Olympic Games ended with closing ceremonies that reminded the world that, yes, a lot of popular music has come from Britain.
London was never going to out-Beijing Beijing, and the wisest decision was not even to attempt it. Instead, the organizers of London 2012 decided that Beijing could not out-Britain Britain, and that there was something of value for the Olympic movement and the world in that distinction.
The past 17 days have proven them right.
They have proven that the Olympics did come to their spiritual home in Britain – where rowing and fencing and tennis, not to mention the sporting ideals that underlie the entire Olympic movement, began.
They have proven that their city’s history and charm was more than enough to compensate for the lack of signature venue like the Bird’s Nest or Water Cube. Could any other city match the scenes at Horse Guards Parade or Wimbledon or the Mall?
But more than any of these things, London 2012 has proven, beyond the remotest doubt, that much if not most of Britain truly did want these Olympics in the end. Not for national pride, though that was in present in good regulation, but because it was a bloody brilliant time to be British.
“These were happy and glorious Games,” said International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge at the closing ceremonies, quoting a line from the British national anthem.
Seven years ago, Dame Kelly Holmes and Steve Cram bounced around Trafalgar Square upon hearing the news that London had been awarded the Olympic Games.
And now the time has come. Things came full circle yesterday when the Olympic torch was welcomed to Trafalgar Square by thousands of people.
A winning start for Great Britain’s women’s football team and a Korean flag foul-up aside, the Games begin properly tonight with the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
Film director Danny Boyle’s vision for the event may have looked like the set of Postman Pat when it was unveiled in model form last month, but reports from the dress rehearsals have been positive. Amazingly in this technological age, the event has become the best kept secret in Britain.
Tonight’s ceremony will set in motion more than two weeks of sporting action. Medals will be won, records will be broken, tears will be shed, toys will be thrown out of the pram and the sun will shine. Okay, perhaps one of those things cannot be guaranteed.
Away from the track, the field, the pool and the arenas, other questions will be answered too. After weeks of criticism of the handling of Olympic security, will things run smoothly? Will London’s transport system cope with one million extra people?
Whatever happens over the next few weeks, the world will be watching.
