London 2012: Right Here, Right Now

What a week!  I wrote my previous blog just after the Olympic torch had arrived in London and the final countdown to the start of the games was beginning.  I don't think even by my stupidly overexcited standards I could have guessed just how much the UK and in particular London would have been gripped by Olympic fever in the subsequent days as people finally swung around in support of the games after years of, let's face it, moaning about it.  If there was a medal awarded for complaining then the Great British Public (TM) would win every time (lame joke copyright every newspaper ever).

Torch-bearers at Islington Town Hall

The credit for much of that has to go to the torch relay that ran for seventy days in advance of the start of the games, and apparently travelled within ten miles of 95% of the population.  The relay really helped spread some of the Olympic fever around the country and answer the criticism that it was a London-only event.  The BBC offered pioneering coverage of the entire relay using 3G to relay the pictures to be watched online and occasionally the red button.  The tactic of awarding people the chance to carry the torch based on their contribution to the community also brought some positive coverage, although the amount of celebrities who got to carry it was a little excessive.  I'll forgive Matt Smith in Cardiff and Bruce Forsyth in White City, but Will.i.am carrying it through Taunton extracted the urine somewhat.  His local links are as yet unconfirmed and the timing seemed more to promote the climax of the piss-poor talent show he was appearing than anything to do with the Olympics.

The Olympic Torch on Upper Street

The final week saw it touring London and I was lucky enough to see the flaming thing twice (see what I did there?).  On Wednesday evening it reached Haringey and the people of Crouch End downed their hummus and focaccia in order to see it run past the edge of the area on the final leg of that day, on the route from Turnpike Lane to Alexandra Palace.  What's been less reported is the array of corporate crap that proceeds the torch itself - Coca Cola, Samsung and Lloyds TSB all have their own floats that precede the main event, the latter sadly not booed by the crowd who were in high spirits.  I consume rather a lot of Diet Coke so I couldn't really boo them, and unlike Apple I have no real issues with Samsung.  Tom and I witnessed the torch being passed to a young woman in a wheelchair, who was announced with unfortunate timing as the Coke float blared out the timeless LMFAO lyrics "hey look at that body....I work out".  Early on Thursday I went to see it with Kate in Angel, getting a much better view this time and hearing big cheers for the next torch-bearer (who we later found out was David Walliams).  By that evening excitement had reached fever-pitch at an event in Hyde Park, and - credit where it's due - Boris Johnson gave a terrific speech to the crowd.



And then....the opening ceremony.  There's not a lot that hasn't been said about it so it's perhaps difficult to know where to start, but...wasn't it just the most brilliant thing, ever?  The real genius of it was all the pre-publicity focussing on the "green and pleasant land" bit at the start (represented by the scene that plays out in John Major's head as real life) which was then promptly ripped up within the first fifteen minutes of the show proper.  So many moments sprung out as superb.  The brilliant opening going up the Thames, with the best bits undoubtedly the theme to The South Bank Show ringing out as the shot lurched over the Waterloo area and the sudden swoop-out to show the whole of east London accompanied by the EastEnders drum beat.  The frankly astonishing "industrial revolution" segement, and the poppy-framed pause in the middle to remember casulaties of war.  The Queen and James Bond - whatever your opinion of her, a few years ago that bit would have been inconceivable.  The touching tributes to the NHS and Tim Berners-Lee.  Rowan Atkinson turning a potential loo-break into unmissable TV.  The bit with Beckham and the speedboat - he may not be an Olympian, but his appeal and sportsmanship undoubtedly helped bring the games to these shores, and I hope John Terry was watching to see what he'll never be. 



And, of course, the lighting of the torch.  After all the speculation of who would light it, with the focus on the legacy of the event of course it was always going to be the young sporting stars of the future.  Coupled with the cauldron being made up of "petals" brought into the stadium by each of the participating nations, the moment where it was lit and brought together - representing the uniting power of the Olympics - was perhaps one of the most moving things we'll ever see, at least on this scale.  I have to admit there might have been "something in my eye" at that point, and it wasn't the first time that night.



After years of getting bigger and louder and brasher, Danny Boyle has redefined the art of the opening ceremony.  In truth there was little else we could do after Sydney's party, Athens' heritage and Beijing's spectacle, but few expected it to be executed so flawlessly, and to be such a love letter to our history, culture and humour.  He managed to get us hand-wringing lefties to finally feel comfortable with a form of patriotism by linking it to the UK as it stands in the world now, rather than trumpeting past military glories.  Much of the credit should also go to Underworld, who arranged the music used throughout the ceremony.  The soundtrack album is required listening and has been number 1 in the iTunes album chart for much of the last week, with the two standout track undoubtedly And I Will Kiss (from the industrial revolution sequence) and Caliban's Dream (from the lighting of the flame).  Other than by insane Tory MPs and the Daily Mail (always a tough crowd to please) the show was universally acclaimed. Perhaps unsurprisingly the broadcast is the highest rated programme of the century so far, silencing all but the most miserable of Olympic moaners. 

At St. Pancras International Station

Kate and I were lucky enough to have got tickets to see some swimming heats in the infamous first draw of tickets, but the sting in the tail was the time on our alarm clock.  A start time of 10am, being advised to get there two hours before for security checks, and then having to get there in the first place resulted in it waking us up at 5.45am on the morning of Sunday 29th.  Shortly after 7am we were at St. Pancras station to catch the infamous "Javelin" train that transports you to Stratford in just seven minutes (and Ebbsfleet International, should you so wish).  Upon arriving at the Olympic Park we were immediately bowled over by the enthusiasm and friendliness of the volunteers, cheerfully pointing us in the right direction.  Some spotted some foreign visitors, asked what country they were from and asked for a cheer for that nation - which of course was obliged by the crowd.  It's at this point you finally get the whole "people's games" schtick.  Security was fairly painless but again, friendly, with even the controversial military prescence taking time to chat to excited children in the queue.

We're in!

Once we were in the park there was such an incredible atmosphere, like nothing I've experienced before.  I found myself speaking to strangers next to us at the swimming and in the queue for food, everyone equally excited.  We were lucky enough to Rebecca Adlington's 400m heats, and she actually won her heat to everyone's delight, although obviously this successs didn't translate to gold later in the day.  Following our session in the Aquatics Centre we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Olympic Park.  It's an impressive development and is much-lauded, with previous groups of venues apparently not landscaped as extensively. 

The Orbit (left)

There's naturally a great feel to the place and it was undoubtedly a good experience to visit it, but one thing that's pleased me about the games is the use of venues across the capital.  I initially thought that it was a bit of a cop-out, with the focus naturally on Stratford, but using the landmarks in events such as the marathon and the beach volleyball has provided the most wonderful backdrop and global advertisement for London. 

In the Aquatics Centre

Of course, it's not over till it's over.  The expected boost to London's economy hasn't come yet (unless you have a unit in Westfield Stratford City) and there may yet be recriminations if it's judged TFL has been over-zealous with their advice.  But as an experience it's been unparalleled.  I've lost count of the number of people I know who normally wouldn't give sport the time of day who've been gripped by the coverage, which incidentally the Beeb has excelled at.  It also looks like giving the Paralympics a huge boost at the end of August.  Tickets to that have been selling well following the success of the main event and following the opening ceremony and our trip to the Olympic Park, we've bought tickets to the Paralympics closing ceremony on September 9th.

Personally - and to be monumentally slushy for a moment - it's cemented my love for the capital.  When I first visited here, aged 17 or 18, I was put off by the size, how busy it was and of course the cost of living.  I wasn't entirely convinced when I moved down a few years later but figured it'd be worth it just to be with Kate (and of course for my career).  But the following seven years have changed my opinion of the place completely.  I adore the north but I also love London in an entirely different way, and the Olympics has really confirmed that by proving that we can stage such a massive event, we can welcome the world to our city and we can put on a bloody good party.

And we're not too bad at the actual sport either.