London 2012 Olympics: Opening Ceremonies

I feel so fortunate and blessed to be in the city hosting a summer Olympics games, and not just because I’m a fanatical runner and exercise scientist by trade, but because it's such an amazing legacy and such a rare thing to experience. I've been given a real gift.

I’m writing this while the London 2012 Opening Ceremonies take place, as the athletes take the stage, and it's off to a spectacular start. If you remember, I wrote about the Stratford Mall a while back which was erected for the purpose of hosting all the needy shoppers during the Olympics. Well, that's where it's all at tonight. Construction in preparation for the Games has involved considerable redevelopment, particularly themed towards sustainability. The main focus of this is a new 200 hectare Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford in the east of London. The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will use a mixture of new venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities, some of them in well-known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. Some of the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form, while others will be resized or relocated. 

In a way, this Olympic season began during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, the Olympic Flag was formally handed over from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London. Later, a countdown clock in Trafalgar Square was unveiled, 500 days before the games. The countdown to the start of the Olympics began with a ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece. Approximately 4,700 Olympic and Paralympic medals have been produced by the Royal Mint. Many test events were held throughout 2011 and 2012, either through an existing championship such as 2012 Wimbledon Championships. Basketball and BMX were the first events to be tested within the Olympic Park.

2012 Olympic Gold Medal

The Olympics torch relay ran from 19 May to 27 July 2012, before the games. The relay was focused on National Heritage Sites, locations and venues with sporting significance, key sporting events, schools registered with the Get Set School Network, green spaces and biodiversity, Live Sites (city locations with large screens), festivals and other events. 8,000 inspirational people carried the Olympic Flame as it journeyed across the UK. They had to be nominated by someone they know; it was their moment to shine, inspiring millions of people watching in their community, in the UK and worldwide. The Torch each one carried is made up of an inner and an outer aluminum skin and perforated by 8,000 circles representing the inspirational stories of the 8,000 Torchbearers. The circles which run the length of the body of the Torch also offer a unique level of transparency so you can see right to the heart of the Torch and view the burner system which will kept the Olympic Flame alive on its journey around the UK. The Torch was tested in BMW’s climatic testing facility in Munich to make sure it can withstand all weather conditions, which it did. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to see one of those runner on her course as part of the team carrying the Flame to Startford. We, along with thousands of others, lined the streets in Fulham to see the procession that had traveled all the way from Greece. 

David Beckham brings the torch to the stadium on it's final leg of the journey

So tonight, east London is awash with people from all over the world. In Great Britain, ticket prices range from £20 for many events to £2,012 for the most expensive seats at the opening ceremony. The three-hour spectacle, capturing the best of Britain, is set to be viewed by a TV audience of one billion people. A target of 70,000 volunteers was set as early as 2004 to make this possible. When recruitment took place in 2010, over 240,000 applications were received!

National icons including James Bond, David Beckham and Beatle Sir Paul McCartney will all feature with the Old Baked Bean — cockney slang for the Queen. The Royal Family was also present, as was the President of the United States and First Lady, Michelle Obama. Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has masterminded the show tonight, which is costing £27 million to stage, less than half the cost of the Beijing extravaganza, but in my opinion, as a true lover of this wonderful, culturally and historically rich country, it's twice as fantastic. This dramatic spectacular that encompassed all thing beautifully British began on BBC with a beautifully crafted video showing what it is to be in London. The virtual tour of the city finishes at Stratford, where the real ceremony began.

Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, the first British winner who completed the race just days earlier, rang out the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world to set things off. Then, as costumed Brits marched in, Sir Kenneth Branagh, dressed as industrial pioneer Brunel, delivered a speech from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Crowds were rewarded with a startling spectacle covering all aspects of British social, political, industrial and creative history. The field at the stadium in Stratford in east London was turned into a green meadow, with a cast of 10,000 volunteers taking roles from British history. Real farmyard animals were grazing in the country scene, with a menagerie including 30 sheep, 12 horses, three cows, two goats and 10 chickens, plus three sheepdogs. The show took the watching world through "great revolutions in British society", from an agricultural setting through to the Industrial Revolution itself. Steelworkers began forging material that transformed into golden Olympic rings, which lifted into the air to be suspended above the performers.

That was the signal for a ceremony featuring began with children's choirs signing Jerusalem, Oh Danny Boy, Flower of Scotland and Bread of Heaven, and went on to include a dance routine by staff and patients from Great Ormond Street Hospital, which was incredibly touching. Their routine was on trampoline hospital beds that glowed a bright white on the darkened stage. Meanwhile, JK Rowling read an excerpt from JM Barry's 'Peter Pan'. Other moments of note included a celebration of Great Britain's widely diverse musical heritage with a glowing, flashing choreographed dance number which finished with an appearance by Sir Tim Berners Lee, the British creator of the world wide web. 

 

Stunningly, in her first acting role, the Queen stars in a four-and-a-half minute film set in her private study at Buckingham Palace. "Good evening Mr Bond," the Queen said in the clip, where she briefed Daniel Craig, acting in his 007 role, on a "secret" mission ahead of the Olympic Games. She was seen to leave Buckingham Palace with Bond, and clambered aboard a helicopter, leaving behind her corgis Monty, Willow and Holly behind. A helicopter then flew over the stadium to the sound of the Bond theme tune, as two figures parachuted down, one dressed as the monarch. As if by magic, the Queen appeared in the stands at the stadium - part of a crowd of about 80,000 - amid cheers. Click the photo to watch it on youtube:

James Bond Escorts the Queen to the Plympics

The final act of the entertainment was a rendition of Abide with Me by Emeli Sande, before the start of the parade of the competing teams - as always, led by the team from Greece, the home of the ancient Olympic Games.

As the sports persons continue to march in it's wonderful to see so many people glowing and smiling. The Olympics are special because they bring people together from all over the world, as if all the hate and segregation and fighting between peoples pauses for just a moment in time. But that one moment is the relief we need to keep us going and rejuvenate our confidence in the goodness of people. The simple brilliance behind using a common love of games and sport to bring people together in a contest that celebrates hard work and dedication is awe-inspiring. 

As Great Britain, the hosts, arrive in the stadium the sense of joy and celebration as 7 billion bits of biodegradable paper are released into the air, representing each person on the planet. It will be the first year GB is entering each of the 26 summer sports. To bring things to a close at the end of the night The Arctic Monkey's (from South Yorkshire, where I was just a few weeks ago) perform live while guys on bikes in the dark quietly coast in with glowing wings flapping.

 

The Queen has declared the London Olympics officially open, before seven young athletes were given the honour of lighting the ceremonial flame. And now London is the only city to host the Olympics 3 times. This year, every country competing will have female athletes, a major boost for gender equality. One of the greatest marathoners with two Olympic Golds, Haile Gebrselassie, helped to carry in the Olympic Flag with other promoters of human rights.

After speeches by the heads of the Olympic Committee, the identity of who was to light the symbolic flame had been shrouded in secrecy ahead of the ceremony. Opting for young athletes over one of Britain's sporting greats, the group of seven circled teh stadium, each with their own flag alight, and each lit a single tiny flame on the ground, which triggered the ignition of more than 200 copper petals, each representing a competing country. Long stems on the cauldron then rose towards each other to signify their unity. With the torch fully lit, Sir Paul McCartney lead the final song, Hey Jude. A staggering production and an immense performance.

David Beckham summed it up best. He said exactly what I want to say: It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. I know I am biased but, what the rest of the world will see, I don’t think any other country in the world could do it better. No other country could offer an opening ceremony which includes The Queen, our royal family, James Bond, Shakespeare, The Beatles, country villages, NHS nurses, centuries of history and some of the greatest music ever produced. It is an amazing mix that represents exactly what makes Britain so great.