In a little over 24 hours, London, Londinium, Lundene, one of the greatest cities on earth, if not the greatest city, will open the 2012 Olympics.
The XXX Olympiad.
The city that is already host to every culture and creed on the planet will become the only city to ever host the modern Games of three Olympiads.
England will invite you into its gentle arms and embrace you with lashings of British culture and heritage, English values and traditions, London cockiness and old-world charm.
Ten and a half thousand athletes from around the world will come together to ignite London and the world for 17 days of unrivalled strength and skill, courage and determination. They will join as one for the greatest show on earth. The finest display of sporting art and theatre.
London will provide a feast of sport and sportsmanship fit for any King.
Photo credit: Peter J Dean (Flick Creative Commons) |
London will put on a show
It will rain. Traffic will grind to a halt. The transport won’t run on time.
This might not be a perfect Games – it won’t have the fantastic weather that Sydney had, it can’t have the iconic facilities that became the hallmark of Beijing, it will never have the ancient connection to the Games that we saw with Athens.
London will march to its own beat, sing to its own tune. It will do things its own way and it will put on a brash, modern show. This is the way that London has been for time immemorial.
Londoners may be slow to accept these Games, but accept they will. The complaints will eventually end once the performances have commenced. When Day One gets underway, London will thrive and we’ll quickly forget any problems there were.
It will be hard
I hope this is a tremendous Olympics, that the sun shines, possible threats recede, and the naysayers turn a leaf and enjoy a sporting spectacle the likes of which we only see once every four years.
But I won’t lie to you.
I will grow homesick. I will pine for the place of my birth. I will reflect on a possible future return.
Watching this Olympics from the land down under will be hard. It will tug at my heartstrings and pull me from afar. I will fill with patriotic pride and I’ll mourn absent family and friends.
Yet, rather than wallow in self-pity, I’ll try to draw strength from these historic Games.
Finding greatness
You don’t have to be a star athlete to be great. You don’t have to win gold medals to show how capable you are.
You just need to be great in your own unique way because everybody is good at something.
Whether it’s completing a 10k run, meeting those lofty targets at work, or writing that killer blog post, great things can be achieved in less high-profile ways.
I will use these Games to find my own tiny piece of greatness. I will write, I will train, I will be the best daddy-to-be I can be. I’ll tell myself I can be great in my own small way and I’ll be as proud as punch when someone else agrees.
During this Olympic Games, go out and find your own small piece of greatness. Tell yourself you’re good at something and go be the best you can be.
For these will be a massive Games. They might even be the best Games yet.
Here comes London 2012.
So let the Games begin.
Will you be watching the Games? Who will you be cheering on?
veryboredincatalunya says
Love this, I cannot wait for it all to start, if not a little bit sad that I won’t be in England.
Carrie says
I am looking forward to watching the Games, in particular the sports that often don’t get much coverage (hockey for example). I will be cheering for Team GB (Jessica Ennis and Rebecca Adlington are two of my favourites) and for The Netherlands – since I am cross-cultural I think I am allowed to cheer for more than one country π
Also I cannot wait for the Paralympics – those athletes are so inspiring…
Jo Carroll says
Great post. And a challenge to some of the whingers over here who are busy wailing because there’ll be nothing but sport on the telly and the transport will grind to a halt … blah blah blah … I’m not hugely sporty, but I think this will be a great opportunity to encourage young people to be more active, and for the rest of us to have a good party.
I’ll raise a glass to you.
Russell V J Ward says
Me too. The anticipation is building but I also would have preferred to be in amongst it. Still, I’m sure it will be great!
Russell V J Ward says
Thanks Jo. Is the whinging that bad? That’s a shame if so. All we pick up on is the British media reporting and it’s been pretty negative so far. I’m hoping it will die down once the Games get under way.
Enjoy that party and the sports – it’s been quite the year for parties and celebrations in England π
Russell V J Ward says
Hey Carrie, I’m like you and also try to get into some of the minor sports. I watched the kayaking and outdoor swim events in Beijing. Also, the triathlon. I don’t know much about Jessica Ennis other than she’s supposed to be the pin-up girl of Team GB. I remember Rebecca Adlington from Beijing. I’m also looking forward to the cycling.
My wife will be cheering on the Aussies. We’ll have a bit of a cross-cultural rivalry thing going on, but we both also cheer on each other’s countries. Looking forward to seeing how the medal table shapes up. It’s big news here, particularly now it looks like Team GB will probably finish above Oz π
Damook 76 says
Great post & attitude towards watching the games from afar. It isn’t easy, I remember being in London during the Sydney Olympics. I love the idea of everyone finding their own ‘true greatness’.
Jack Scott says
I’ve been excited about the Games right from the beginning. I think the prediction that London will come to a standstill are hugely overrated and, let’s face it, the city could do with the money tourism brings. The transport infrastructure has received huge investment to help get people to the events (extensions to the DLR with longer trains, the revamped and extended London Overground, the fabulous Javelin trains that will transport spectators to the Park non-stop from St Pancras in minutes, a transformed hub at Stratford, to name but a few). Besides, schools are now off which always reduces the usual transport scrum during peak times by about 20% and most people visiting the events will be travelling against the prevailing rush hour traffic anyway. Today’s opening ceremony will be the acid test but I can’t see it being much different from the annual FA cup final at Wembley. The numbers are about the same. As you know, Brits just love to whinge. It’s a national pastime along with the weather. And for those that just really can’t bear it, why not take a holiday?
NewLifeOnTheRoad says
its funny but i dont follow the Games ~ not a very sporty person but because its in London I am excited about it. We are trying to work out how we can watch the games, or at least some ot if!
Kym Hamer says
Oh Russell how could you possibly ask who I’ll be supporting? My happy little Vegemites of course! Although you will probably see more Oz action on the telly than I will here, driven as broadcasts are by the interest of local audiences. That is something I will miss.
It will be nice to see something about Australia in the British news that doesn’t involve shark or crocodile attacks, floods or bushfires, or whatever shocking irreverent behaviour our dear PM has indulged in of late. That’s presuming we manage some medals….otherwise that might go down as another natural disaster!
Kym Hamer says
I’m with the wife Russell – cmon Aussie cmon cmon!
Emma Caroline Lewis says
Gentle arms? Whenever I return to the city of my birth, which is rarely these days, I find it abrasive and stressful and rude – but maybe that’s the norm for big cities these days. Thousands of soldiers, warships etc. doesn’t sound very gentle to me, either. Why should London’s taxpayers accept the Olympics? It is going to put them in huge debt and will hardly pull them out of their deepening economic recession as they probably hope it will. I’m sorry, I’m being a “whinger” now, and I don’t even live there! I am sure everyone will have a great time – I hope they do…
Melissa says
I know exactly how you feel. That is how I felt when I was here for the Winter games in Vancouver in 2010. So proud for your home country and longing to live there again even if things are good in your adopted one. I shall be watching and blogging, that is until I go home before the end.
Russell V J Ward says
Thanks Damook. It’s never easy, but it’s great to be reminded of what you miss about where you’re from. For me, I’m reminded of how much I like British culture. And I’m proud of it. Hope you enjoy the Games π
Russell V J Ward says
It’s great to just get into the spirit of it, regardless of the various sports. I’m sure there’ll be some great festivals and events happening on the sidelines. I’m looking forward to soaking it up from afar. Hope you get to watch some of the games.
Russell V J Ward says
Haha, I bet you are! Should be a great sporting rivalry at the Games… again!
Russell V J Ward says
Hey Melissa – what is your blog URL? Would love to follow some of your posts on the Games.
I was in Vancouver when they were awarded the Winter Games, then we left before we got to see them so it was bittersweet to watch on TV from here in Australia. That said, I really enjoyed those Games. Are you heading home permanently?
Russell V J Ward says
That’s a shame, Emma, but I don’t doubt things there aren’t what they were when you were younger. I saw that the Games will come to a pretty hefty total cost in the billions. I’m sure it will impact on Londoners but hopefully the Government’s secret war chest will pay for most of it. Who knows. I only hope they a) enjoy it, and b) it passes smoothly. For me, that will equal a successful outcome (in the short-term). Thanks for stopping by.
Russell V J Ward says
Forgive me but I had to check… are you sure you won’t secretly be supporting Team GB given how long you’ve been away? π
You raise a really interesting point about the TV coverage. Obviously, the programming I’ve watched so far has completely focused on the Aussie team and hasn’t shown much of the Brits at all. I was worried that the coverage would be the same for the individual events i.e. the channels here would only follow those events the Aussies would do well in, so I’ve signed up for Expat Telly and will be watching UK TV if and when I can.
A retiring BBC foreign correspondent here recently complained that he’d only be able to get Australia-related news into the UK media if it involved crocs, sharks or bush fires. It’s a shame that the more regular stuff never gets in… like the local petrol prices, as is the norm here π
Russell V J Ward says
Good on you, Jack. Pleased to hear some positive backing of the Games from a fellow Brit!
I’ve not heard of the Javelin trains but they sound impressive. I saw a report on the transformed hub at Stratford. Looks great and will be good for the ‘locals’ after the Games. So how was the traffic/transport for the Opening Ceremony? I didn’t see anything negative online.
I bet you got some good views of the fireworks at the stadium last night. Very envious π
Jack Scott says
We got off the train from Norwich at Stratford Station (the main Games gateway) a couple of hours before the start of the ceremony and hopped on a bus. It was busy but not uncomfortably so. Lots of stewards and volunteers to shepherd people along. The sun was shining everyone was in a good mood.
Jandal Road says
I will be watching the mens and womens beach volleyball! Yes! I was less than enthusiastic about this whole Olympics thing, living in London, scared of even more people on the Tube. But to be honest, it’s not half as bad as I thought it would be. No problems so far.
Andy Martin says
I have to say I agree totally about feeling a little homesick, especially after watching the Opening Ceremony from here in Brazil. I hadn’t expected that would be the case!
Russell V J Ward says
Me neither. It was a great ceremony. At least you’ll get to see another opening ceremony in your current neighbourhood in four year’s time π
Russell V J Ward says
Have you been enjoying it? Aside from the rain, the setting has been great for the volleyball.
I’m hoping that many of the initial fears will prove to be unfounded. Glad it’s not as bad as you thought it might be.
Russell V J Ward says
Great to hear. Missing it and am looking forward to checking out some of the Park when I’m next over.