Saturday, July 28, 2012

China Started olympic 2012 by wining first gold

Chinese shooter Yi Siling won the first gold of the London Olympics on Saturday, while swimmer Michael Phelps barely qualified for his final and Beijing 400-meter champion Park Tae-hwan was disqualified.
Top-ranked Yi won the women’s 10-meter air rifle while Sylwia Bogacka of Poland took silver and China’s Yu Dan the bronze.
In the swimming heats at the Aquatic Centre, Phelps, who won eight gold medals at the Beijing Games four years ago, qualified only eighth-for the night final of the 400-meter individual medley.
“That one didn’t feel too good,” he said.
Olympic champion Park of South Korea won his 400 freestyle heat, but was disqualified for a false start. Paul Biedermann of Germany, the world record holder in the event, failed to make the final.
Phelps, the two-time defending Olympic champion won his heat in 4 minutes, 13.33 seconds with a time that was well off his world record of 4-03.84 set four years ago in Beijing.
But it was only good enough to secure the last spot in the evening final, when Phelps will swim in lane one instead of the middle of the pool.
“The only thing that matters is just getting a spot in,” he said. “You can’t win the gold medal from the morning.”
Three other finals were scheduled in swimming on Saturday nightthe women’s 400 IM, men’s 400 freestyle and the women’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
The cycling road race got underway Saturday on the first full day of competition, and, with it, Britain’s best chance for an early gold medal.
Mark Cavendish, riding alongside fellow Briton and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, was among the starters for the 250-kilometer race which passes some of London’s most iconic landmarks. Huge crowds lined the course.
British team manager Dave Brailsford said Cavendish was the focus of his team.
“There’s no doubt they are riding for one rider,” Brailsford said. “They’ve got no aspirations for themselves. It’s all for Cav. We have all our eggs in one basket.”
After Prince Charles was introduced to the British team, the race started on a processional pace from the Mall, with the peloton heading southwest through the city.
In a later shooting final, Tan Zongliang of China was hoping to underscore his No. 1 ranking in 10-meter air pistol with a first Olympic gold medal ahead of the likes of Beijing silver medallist Jin Jong-oh of South Korea and 2010 world champion Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan.
Finals were also scheduled in the women’s 48-kilogram class in weightlifting, two in judo, the men’s team final in archery and women’s individual foil in fencing. 
Report from:The Hindu...

Friday, July 27, 2012

Indian contingent greeted with huge cheers

Huge cheers welcomed the colourful Indian delegation into the Olympic Park Friday night during the opening ceremony of the London Games.The 81-strong Indian contingent, the biggest ever, was led by wrestler Sushil Kumar, a bronze medallist in the 2008 Beijing Games.It was a smartly dressed Indian contingent. The men wore yellow safas, navy blue blazers, cream-coloured trousers, off-white shirts and ties, and the women were dressed in elegant sarees.Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary-general Randhir Singh waved at the contingent from the VIP box.Indians will take part in 13 disciplines. Four years ago, India won three medals, gold for shooter Abhinav Bindra and bronze medals for Sushil and boxer Vijender Singh.(IANS)




Sushil Kumar of the India Olympic wrestling team carries his country's flag during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England


London Olympics 2012 kicks off in style!


The queen and James Bond gave the London Olympics a royal entrance like no other Friday in an opening ceremony that rolled to the rock of the Beatles, the Stones and The Who.

And the creative genius of Danny Boyle spliced it all together.

Brilliant. Cheeky, too.

The highlight of the Oscar-winning director's $42 million show was pure movie magic, using trickery to make it seem that Britain's beloved 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth II had parachuted into the stadium with the nation's most famous spy.
A short film showed Daniel Craig as 007 driving to Buckingham Palace in a black London cab and, pursued by the royal corgis, meeting the queen, who played herself.
"Good evening, Mr. Bond," she said.
They were shown flying in a helicopter over London landmarks and a waving statue of Winston Churchill -- the queen in a salmon-colored dress, Bond dashing as ever in a black tuxedo -- before leaping into the inky night over Olympic Park.
At the same moment, real skydivers appeared as the stadium throbbed to the James Bond theme. And moments after that, the monarch appeared in person, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip.
Organizers said it was thought to be the first time she has acted on film.
"The queen made herself more accessible than ever before," Boyle said.
In the stadium, Elizabeth stood solemnly while a children's choir serenaded her with "God Save the Queen," and members of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force raised the Union Jack.
Boyle sprang another giant surprise and picked seven teenage athletes for the supreme honor of igniting the Olympic cauldron. Together, they touched flaming torches to trumpetlike tubes that spread into a ring of fire.
The flames rose and joined elegantly together to form the cauldron. Fireworks erupted over the stadium to music from Pink Floyd. And with a singalong of "Hey Jude," Beatle Paul McCartney closed a show that ran 45 minutes beyond its scheduled three hours.
Organizers said the cauldron would be moved Sunday night to the corner of the stadium where a giant bell tolled during the show.
Boyle turned the stadium into a giant juke box, with a nonstop rock and pop homage to cool Britannia that ensured the show never caught its breath.
The high-adrenaline soundtrack veered from classical to irreverent. Boyle daringly included the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" and a snippet of its version of "God Save the Queen" -- an anti-establishment punk anthem once banned by the BBC.
The encyclopedic review of modern British music continued with a 1918 Broadway standard adopted by the West Ham football team, the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," by still another Queen, and other tracks too numerous to mention, but not to dance to.
The evening started with fighter jets streaming red, white and blue smoke and roaring over the stadium, packed with a buzzing crowd of 60,000 people, at 8:12 p.m. -- or 20:12 in the 24-hour time observed by Britons.
Boyle, one of Britain's most successful filmmakers, who directed "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Trainspotting," had a ball with his favored medium, mixing filmed passages with live action in the stadium to hypnotic effect, with 15,000 volunteers taking part in the show.
Actor Rowan Atkinson as "Mr. Bean" provided laughs, shown dreaming that he was appearing in "Chariots of Fire," the inspiring story of a Scotsman and an Englishman at the 1924 Paris Games.
AP Photo/Morry Gash
London kicked off the 2012 Summer Olympics in style Friday night, in an effort masterminded by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle.
There was a high-speed flyover of the Thames, the river that winds like a vein through London and was the gateway for the city's rise over the centuries as a great global hub of trade and industry.
Headlong rushes of movie images took spectators on wondrous, heart-racing voyages through everything British: a cricket match, the London Tube and the roaring, abundant seas that buffet and protect this island nation.
Opening the ceremony, children popped balloons with each number from 10 to 1, leading a countdown that climaxed with Bradley Wiggins, the newly crowned Tour de France champion.
Wearing his yellow winner's jersey, Wiggins rang a 23-ton Olympic Bell from the same London foundry that made Big Ben and Philadelphia's Liberty Bell. Its thunderous chime was a nod to the British tradition of pealing bells to celebrate the end of war and the crowning of kings and queens, and now for the opening of a 17-day festival of sports -- London's record third as host.
The show then shifted to a portrayal of idyllic rural Britain -- a place of meadows, farms, sport on village greens, picnics and Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne's bear who has delighted generations of British children tucked warmly in bed.
But that "green and pleasant land," to quote poet William Blake, then took a darker, grittier turn.
The set was literally torn asunder, the hedgerows and farm fences carried away, as Boyle shifted to the industrial transformation that revolutionized Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, the foundation for an empire that reshaped world history. Belching chimneys rose where only moments earlier sheep had trod.
The Industrial Revolution also produced terrifying weapons, and Boyle built a moment of hush into his show to honor those killed in war.
"This is not specific to a country. This is across all countries, and the fallen from all countries are celebrated and remembered," he explained to reporters ahead of the ceremony.
"Because, obviously, one of the penalties of this incredible force of change that happened in a hundred years was the industrialization of war, and the fallen," he said. "You know, millions fell."
Olympic organizers separately rejected calls for a moment of silence for 11 Israeli athletes and coaches slain by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The parade of nations featured most of the roughly 10,500 athletes -- some planned to stay away to save their strength for competition -- marching behind the flags of the 204 nations taking part.
Robert Deutsch-USA Today Sports/US Presswire
Kobe Bryant entered Olympic Stadium with Team USA on Friday night.
Greece had the lead, as the spiritual home of the Games, and Team Great Britain was last, as host. Prince William and his wife, Kate, joined in thunderous applause that greeted the British team, which marched to the David Bowie track "Heroes." A helicopter showered the athletes and stadium with 7 billion tiny pieces of paper -- one for each person on Earth.
Both Bahrain and Brunei featured female flag bearers in what has been called the Olympics' Year of the Woman. For the first time at the Games, each national delegation includes women, and a record 45 percent of the athletes are women. Three Saudi women marching behind the men in their delegation flashed victory signs with their fingers.
Two-time Olympic fencing champion Mariel Zagunis, the first American to win a fencing gold in 100 years at the 2004 Athens Games, carried the U.S. flag.
NBA stars Yi Jianlian and Pau Gasol carried the flags for China and Spain, while WNBA player Lauren Jackson was Australia's flag bearer.
"This is a major boost for gender equality," said the International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge. These are his last Games as head of the IOC. He steps down in 2013 after completing the maximum two terms.
Rogge honored the "great, sports-loving country" of Britain as "the birthplace of modern sport," and he appealed to the thousands of athletes assembled before him for fair play.
"Character counts far more than medals. Reject doping. Respect your opponents. Remember that you are all role models. If you do that, you will inspire a generation," Rogge said.
The queen then said: "I declare open the Games of London, celebrating the 30th Olympiad of the modern era."
Last month, the nation put on a festive Diamond Jubilee -- a small test run for the Games -- to mark her 60 years on the throne, a reign that began shortly after London's last Olympics, in 1948.
Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images
David Beckham, right, drove a speedboat under Tower Bridge while a torch bearer carried the Olympic torch toward Olympic Stadium.
Former world heavyweight champion and 1960 Rome Olympic gold medalist Muhammad Ali was cheered when he appeared briefly with his wife, Lonnie, before the Olympic flag was unfurled.
Some 8,000 torch bearers, mostly unheralded Britons, had carried the flame on a 70-day, 8,000-mile journey from toe to tip of the British Isles, whipping up enthusiasm for a $14 billion Olympics taking place during a severe recession.
Soccer star David Beckham drove the Olympic flame down the Thames toward the stadium in a speedboat.
The final torch bearers were kept secret -- remarkable given the scrunity on these, the first Summer Games of the Twitter era.
The show's lighter moments included puppets drawn from British children's literature -- Captain Hook from "Peter Pan," Cruella de Vil from "101 Dalmations" and Lord Voldemort from J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, as well as Mary Poppins.
Their appearance had a serious message, too -- the importance of literacy.
"If you can read and write, you're free, or you can fight for your freedom," Boyle said.
Boyle's challenge was daunting: To be as memorable as Beijing's incredible, money-no-object opening ceremony of 2008, the costliest in Olympic history.
"Beijing is something that, in a way, was great to follow," Boyle said. "You can't get bigger than Beijing, you know? So that, in a way, kind of liberated us. We thought, 'Great, OK, good, we'll try and do something different.'"

Grand Opening Ceremony begins 2012 Olympics


The 2012 London Olympics got underway with a spectacular opening ceremony at the Olympics stadium here on Friday night.
And after a long suspense, there were seven young athletes who lit the Olympic cauldron. The chairman of the London Organising Committee, Sebastian Coe, and the president of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, delivered speeches and Britain's 86-year-old monarch Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Games.
Unlike the 2008 Beijing Olympics' curtain raiser, which featured 2,008 pounding drummers and a cauldron-lighter who seemed to float in the air of the Bird's Nest stadium, London 2012 opening ceremony had 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens and nine geese - recruited by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle along with a cast and crew of 10,000 presented a quirky, humourous and vibrant vision of quintessential Britain, its history and future.
Grand Opening Ceremony begins 2012 Olympics
AP Photo
In Beijing, the geopolitical significance of China's rise as a global superpower was as much the story as the sports. London, the first city to host the event a third time after previous games in 1908 and 1948, in contrast, focused more on the athletes than the context.
And despite being in the midst of severe economic crisis, Britain lavished more than $14 billion, triple the estimated cost when London secured the games in 2005, for the London Games.
In depicting Britain, Boyle took a cue from William Shakespeare, British pop culture, literature and music, and other sources of inspiration that would speak not just to Anglophiles but to people across the globe.
Boyle's Isles of Wonder show not only celebrated the green and pleasant land of meadows, farms, cottages, village cricket matches and bird song, but also dwelled on Britain's darker industrial past by creating a dark backdrop, portraying 'dark satanic mills'. Horses paraded, smokestacks appeared from the ground and drummers marched through the lower tiers. Yellow submarines, Chelsea pensioners and Pearly Kings and Queens also featured in the three-hour long extravaganza.
Then a helicopter hovered over the stadium to the James Bond theme and The Queen was received at the entrance of the stadium by Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC, and the Union Flag was raised. An 'SOS segment' was next, featuring NHS nurses, Mary Poppins and footage from Chariots of Fire.
The drama continued with zorb balls - human-sized, inflatable balls - and bubble guns in the aisles before Abide With Me is sung. The first athletes entered thereafter: Greece first, followed by the other nations in alphabetical order, ending with Great Britain.
The Indian contingent was led by Sushil Kumar, the bronze medallist at the Beijing Olympics who hold the tri-colour aloft. The other 80 athletes, who are part of different disciplines made their presence felt by clapping and waving to the crowd as they made their way into the stadium.
Along with thousands of athletes and performers, some 60,000 spectators packed the Olympic Stadium. Around 120 national leaders from around the world also attended the ceremony.
The Olympic flag was carried into the stadium and hoisted as the Olympic anthem was played. An athlete, judge and coach from Great Britain stood on the rostrum and took the oath, pledging to adhere to the rules of their sport. The ceremony culminated in a firework display, which illuminated the London sky with bright, colourful light.
Now for the next 16 days, the Games will see 10,902 athletes from 204 countries competing for as many as 300 gold medals in 29 disciplines.

Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony time, schedule: London welcomes world tonight with massive event

One of the biggest secrets in London will finally be revealed Friday: what will happen at the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympic Games.

Friday night perhaps a billion people will finally get to see the extravaganza created by Danny Boyle, best known for the Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionare."

The day got off to a resounding start as bells around the country, including London's famous Big Ben, pealed for three minutes.

The Olympic torch, which has traveled around the United Kingdom over the past 70 days, then set off on the final leg of its journey toward the stadium, aboard the royal barge Gloriana.

Rowers will propel the barge, which played a central role in Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee celebrations, down the River Thames from Hampton Court to Tower Bridge.

Visit our Olympic Zone page for live streaming video, slideshows, athlete profiles and more. Click here: http://bit.ly/NyjtnC

Former Olympian rower Matthew Pinsent, tasked with carrying the flame on to the barge, said this was "a huge day for London."

Crowds lined the river's banks to cheer the torch along, adding to the more than 13 million who've turned out to watch it pass in the course of its 8,000-mile journey, according to the government.

Forecasters at Britain's Met Office say rain showers over London should clear by evening, allowing those watching the opening ceremony at the stadium to stay dry.

Few specifics have been released about the three-hour show -- but keeping the details quiet has been a challenge taking into account the thousands of performers and technicians involved, plus two dress rehearsals held this week.

A Twitter hashtag, #savethesurprise, was started by Olympic organizers to help keep details private, but some aspects of the show have leaked out nonetheless.

What the organizers have made public is that the show's opening scene is dubbed "Green and Pleasant," after a line from poet William Blake's Jerusalem and will showcase an idyllic view of a British countryside.

The elaborate set will comprise rolling hills, fields and rivers, complete with picnicking families, sport being played on a village green and real farmyard animals.

Not many names of the celebrities that will be part of the ceremony have been released. But star footballer David Beckham has said he has a role in the spectacle.

It will begin at 9 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) with the tolling of the largest harmonically tuned bell in Europe, cast by the nearby Whitechapel Foundry.

The torch will reappear during the show's grand finale, when it will be carried into Olympic Stadium and used to set the Olympic cauldron aflame, symbolizing the beginning of the Games.

On Thursday, the torch was taken past iconic London landmarks.

Crowds joined British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife as the torch reached the doorstep of their Downing Street home. Next, the torch went past the Big Ben clock tower, carried by 81-year-old native Londoner Florence Rowe, who says she fondly remembers the excitement of the 1948 London Olympics.

The last major stop was Buckingham Palace, where Prince William, his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry greeted the torchbearers.

Fake ticket warning

Some Olympic competition commenced ahead of the official opening ceremony.

All 128 competing archers are taking part Friday in a preliminary round at Lord's Cricket Ground to determine seedings for the individual and team competitions.

UK media reported Friday that hundreds of disappointed people had been turned away from the site Friday morning, however, after the apparent sale of some fake tickets and confusion over whether the event was open to the public.

The London organizing committee, LOCOG, said tickets had neither been advertised nor sold.

"We think we have made it very clear that this is not a free event, like the Road Races or Marathon which have been advertised as free events," a statement said.

"This is a ranking round and there is no spectator access at all. We are dealing with this at the venue, along with some people who have turned up with fake tickets purchased from a fraudulent website."

People are urged to "be extremely cautious and vigilant when attempting to buy tickets and only purchase from an official source," the statement says.

Thursday saw the start of the men's football competition, with global favorites Spain and Brazil playing, though not against each other.

Spain, which won the European Championship this year and the last World Cup, suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat to Japan in one of eight games scheduled Thursday.

Brazil -- which, like Spain, is considered a likely contender to win Olympic gold -- beat Egypt 3-2. Great Britain, playing football in the Olympics for the first time since 1960, scored a 1-1 draw in its match against Senegal after letting in a late goal.

Two notable absences are Argentina and the United States, neither of which qualified.

Opening Ceremony London 2012 Guide

The Summer Olympics is the biggest stage for the greatest athletes on earth.

Up to a billion fans will enjoy athletics, swimming and basketball to gymnastics, volleyball, diving and tennis.

But for some - the main event is the Opening Ceremony.

WHEN:

London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony can be seen at 7:30 pm ET on NBC.

WHERE:

Olympic stadium is the centerpiece of London's Olympic Park, which is hosting all of the athletics and paralympic athletics events.
The Stadium seats up to 80,000 people, and 55,000 of the seats are removable. About 10,000 tons of steel were used to build the venue, compared to the 42,000 used by Beijing for their ‘Bird’s Nest’.

THE SHOW:

This year's show is called the 'Isle of Wonder.' A celebration of British culture, with a touch of Shakespeare, pop music, James Bond — and even some farm animals. Up to a billion people are expected to tune in to the $42 million, three-hour extravaganza.

Over 15,000 volunteers have worked together on the show that will bring you through the rich and textured journey through British history.

The man behind the massive Opening Ceremony effort is Director Danny Boyle.

Boyle says there will be sheep, horses, a cricket game, and Paul McCartney.

Reports are also suggesting a pre-recorded segment filmed inside Buckingham Palace featuring actor Daniel Craig as Bond, and a stuntman dressed as 007 who will parachute into the stadium to start the show.

Each of Great Britain's four nations — England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — will be represented by a maypole topped with their national flowers, according to the Associated Press. "A pagan folk symbol, the maypole is still commonly erected in British villages during May Day celebrations (as well as elsewhere in Europe) to celebrate the return of warmer weather."

Expect dancing nurses.

Boyle says dancing nurses will be used to celebrate the National Health Service, the country's universal health program.

#SAVETHESURPRISE:

Oscar winning film director, Boyle pulled out all the stops in attempting to keep the Opening Ceremony a secret.

During rehearsals, the hashtag #SAVETHESURPRISE was put on all of the stadium's big screens. Lord Coe, the chairman of the Olympic games,also made a personal appeal to the the crowd sealed about the show.

According to the Telegraph, although there have been aerial photographs of the rehearsal. Most tweets from show volunteers point to a spectacular show.

Jill Lawless tweeted: “I will #savethesurprise, but will just say that Danny Boyle's #London2012 opening ceremony is splendidly British and magnificently bonkers.”

TORCH LIGHTING:

The identity of the person who will light the Olympic cauldron is still a mystery but many believe it will be an Olympic champion. Roger Bannister is the favorite. Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier in the mile in 1954.

The Olympic cauldron will be lit with a flame that was kindled May 10, at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics in Greece.

Since then, 8,000 torchbearers, mostly Britons, carried the flame on a 70-day, 8,000-mile journey throughout the British Isles.

Olympics Schedule 2012: live stream online and TV has tennis, swimming Saturday

The Olympics schedule 2012 edition will kick off the latest summer games from London, England, with multiple events shown on Saturday, July 28th. These will include tennis and swimming events both televised, as well as live streaming online coverage. Among those competing are Team USA's Michael Phelps, Venus Williams and Andy Roddick in these first events of the London Olympics.

The Olympics live stream coverage will be shown via internet feeds courtesy of NBC Olympics website, while television programming will be seen on NBC affiliates, as well as Bravo, NBC Sports Network and Telefutura on cable or satellite providers around the nation.

According to Mercuy News, Michael Phelps looks to continue to add to his impressive total Olympic medal count of 16. He'll be competing in the 400m IM event for the men. There's coverage scheduled for Telemundo from 8:00 a.m. EST through 5:00 p.m. EST, as well as qualifying on local NBC affiliate stations from 1:30 p.m. EST to 2:30 p.m. EST. The swimming finals will be part of the "NBC Primetime" coverage from 8:00 p.m. EST through 12:00 a.m. EST on Saturday night.


Video: 2012 London Olympics preview video for swimming

With the early swimming, Team USA will feature two stars competing against the rest of the world, and each other. Friends Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps will go head-to-head in the 400 IM event. Phelps needs just three more medals to become the "most-decorated Olympian of all-time." Lochte said of his teammate and opponent:

"Me and him, we've created a great rivalry but also a great friendship after the race. I hope it continues that way."

Round 1 of tennis starts at 6:30 a.m. EST for both the men and women with several times already announced for the Wimbledon courts. In the men's opening round, it will be Andy Roddick taking on Slovakia's Klizan Martin. John Isner will face Rochus Olivier of Belarus at 8:30 a.m. EST on court 2 at Wimbledon. Roger Federer of Switzerland battles Alejandro Falla of Columbia starting at 11 a.m. EST. Novak Djokovic, Federer, and Andy Murray currently lead the Olympics odds on favorite to win the men's side.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams begins round 1 of the Women's Singles tennis playing Italy's Sara Errani, while her sister Serena starts off against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia at 9:00 a.m. EST on the Centre court at Wimbledon. Also in action for the women is Russia's Maria Sharapova, Belarus' Kim Clijsters, and Denmarks Caroline Wozniacki (1:00 p.m. EST).

Televised tennis coverage can be seen on Bravo via Cox Cable channel 41, from 7:00 a.m. EST through 3:00 p.m. EST. It can also be seen live streaming online via the NBCOlympics.com website.

Opening Ceremony 2012: LIVE Updates From The Start Of London Olympics

As far as most people are concerned, the 2012 London Olympics officially begin on Friday with the highly-anticipated Opening Ceremony helmed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle. That some of the events have already taken place (including a thrilling comeback by the U.S. women's soccer team) won't detract from the "Isles Of Wonder"spectacle unfolding at the Olympic Stadium in London.

With its elaborate -- and somewhat still secret -- production, the 2012 Opening Ceremony will aim to produce moments as memorable as Muhammad Ali's inspiring torch lighting in Atlanta and the breathtaking long-range, pyrotechnic archery of Barcelona.

Stay tuned for live updates, commentary, images and video from the real-time rendition of the spectacle in London all the way through the televised version that airs later on NBC in the United States.

For those waiting for the stateside primetime broadcast, be warned there will be spoilers below.

London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremonies Live Coverage

6:11 p.m. London/1:11 p.m. ET: Did you know you can't wear oversized hats to the Games? Or bring in too much food? Or big umbrellas?

Michael Katz (@KatzM) breaks down a half-dozen silly things banned from the Olympic venues.

5:40 p.m. London/12:40 p.m. ET: Joe Posnanski leads off the debut of the new site Sports On Earth with an essay on the simplicity of the Olympics. Money quote:

"Ryan Lochte has already been the best in the world at something more than once. Michael Phelps has been the best in the world many, many times. But that part of them doesn't quench. That's part of what makes this race so fascinating. They each want to be the best again, and as a sports fan it doesn't matter the sport, it doesn't matter the event, it doesn't matter the particulars. It only matters that one of them will get to the wall first."

Read the whole essay here and check out Sports On Earth's Olympics coverage here.

4:29 p.m. London/11:29 a.m. ET: As we wait for reports to emerge from the run-up to the Opening Ceremonies, here are a few must-see storylines from the past 24 hours:

Olympic swimmers do "Call Me Maybe": Swimmer Cullen Jones told USA Today's Nicole Auerbach: "Four of the ladies were like, 'We're going to make this video, we're going to make it viral, we're going to put it out there. We want all of you guys in it." Watch the video here.

Your must-see photo of the day: US wrestler Elena Pirozhkova picks up Michelle Obama during theFirst Lady's visit with Team USA athletes:

Going up?!

(Photo hat-tip to wrestler Clarissa Chun, who caught the photo and posted it to Twitter.)

See more cool photos from Michelle Obama's visit with Team USA.

The most memorable Opening Ceremony moment?Christine Brennan has hers: 2002 Salt Lake City. "For the first time in 22 years, the 1980 gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team, led by captain Mike Eruzione, is reunited at the top of the stadium to light the caldron. Check out the rest of her Top 10 here.

Olympic fashion preview:Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony are ready for their Opening Ceremonies walk, sporting the distinctive Team USA beret:

(Be sure to like USA Today Sports' Facebook page to get some of the best up-to-the-minute photos from the Opening Ceremonies.)

USA Basketball in Berets

PHOTOS:London on the eve of the Games. Check out a stream of cool photos here:

Olympic mascot Wenlock: Creepy or cute? USA Today Sports' Mike Foss investigates.

3:52 p.m. London/10:52 a.m. ET: Is LeBron James on Team Phelps or Team Lochte? "You going to make me choose? I love them both. They're dolphins in the water." (USA Today Sports' Jeff Zillgitt, via Twitter)

Eve of games

Summer Olympics 2012 opening ceremonies streaming in London

It’s time to check out all the streaming live video streams we can for the kickoff of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. This is the third time that London has hosted the Olympics, with their first being all the way back in 1908 and the next just a few years after the end of World War II in 1948. Here in 2012, it’s time for a party – and without a doubt the entirety of England will be in rare form throughout the events which start off tonight with an above-average strange set of characters that’ll only be come apparent once the ceremony has begun – Voldemordt and Mary Poppins have been tipped.

What you’ll be looking for online on your desktop computer for live video is a collection of feeds from NBC. While there are other streams out there, the Olympics committee appears to be working directly with NBC for this event for all streaming content via YouTube. Of course the BBC will also be streaming all of the events, including the opening ceremonies, all via Facebook. Have a peek at BBCSport on Facebook to see what your options are right this minute!

Have a peek at the following presentation video to get connected:

For those of you looking to connect via Android, you’ll want to check out the NBC Olympics app which will be working asap starting tonight. This same app is available for iOS and made for both the iPhone and the iPad. You can check out our whole collection of iPad apps for the Olympics in iPad Olympics app set to cover from all angles.

Watch London Olympics Ceremony Live in India | Streaming Read More: Watch London Olympics Ceremony Live in India | Streaming

Later today will happen one of the most awaited events of the year, the opening ceremony of the London Olympics 2012. In India you will have to tune into Dooradarshan to watch the Olympics ceremony live from London on TV.
In case you don't have a TV at home and is planning to watch the olympics ceremony by streaming then you can either use the Dooradarshan India website or the TVchannelsfree's Dooradarshan page. The event will be telecast live at half past one AM IST. The olympic games will be broadcasted in India by ESPN.
Watch online Link 1: http://www.ddindia.gov.in/
Watch online Link 2: http://www.tvchannelsfree.com/watch/6429/Doordarshan.html
Read More: Watch London Olympics Ceremony Live in India | Streaming

Watch London Olympics 2012 Live Streaming Online Summer Olympics July 27 From NBC

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The time the world has been waiting for this summer has nearly arrived, as the London Olympics Opening Ceremony 2012 schedule begins at 9 p.m. London time (3 p.m. Central Time) on Friday. U.S. viewers who want to see the event live are out of luck — they’ll have to wait until NBC’s tape-delayed coverage airs Friday evening.

The good news, however, is that NBC is live streaming the rest of the Olympics. Those who want to see events on live stream can visit here to watch live streaming online at www.nbcolympics.com.

 

“We are live streaming every sporting event, all 32 sports and 302 medals,” said Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, according to the Wall Street Journal. “It was never our intent to live stream the Opening Ceremony or Closing Ceremony.”

But there’s a trick to watching the live stream online: It’s free, but you will need to sign up before you can watch the feed. To do so, it will require having an account with a TV provider that includes MSNBC and CNBC. You will need a user ID and password to log on.

As for watching the opening ceremony, NBC will kick off coverage at 6:30 p.m. Central Time Friday. IOC executive director Gilbert Felli has said the opening ceremony should last no more than three hours.

Those who want live glimpses of the opening ceremonies before NBC’s tape-delayed coverage will have to turn to Twitter’s page that will pull in tweets from athletes, their families and fans during the opening ceremony. The Twitter page will be live during the opening ceremony, according to the Wall Street Journal, with photos and reactions from inside London’s Olympic Stadium.

The ceremony will have a cast and crew of 10,000. It will be held at the 80,000-capacity stadium in east London and be watched by a global television audience expected at 1 billion.

Already, speculation abounds as to what mega-celebrities will appear at the opening ceremonies.

What’s known is that British director Danny Boyle, known for such classic films such as “Trainspotting” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” will join fellow acclaimed director Stephen Daldry to oversee the opening ceremonies.

The ceremonies have been named “Isle of Wonder,” inspired by William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest.” The world’s largest harmonically tuned bell will sound to start the festivities. Among the rumors are that former Beatle Paul McCartney will be on hand to close at the ceremonies, while others suggest that Muhammad Ali will be at the opening ceremony.


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London Olympics opening ceremony to escape the rain, say forecasters


More rain is predicted for the UK as the jet stream moves south again, but forecasters say the weather for the start of the Olympics will not be as bad as it has been for much of the summer.

Friday night's opening ceremony is expected to escape the rain. London will be most at risk of rain during the morning and early afternoon, but experts said showers should have cleared by 9pm when the eagerly awaited £27m showpiece gets under way.

Temperatures are expected to remain warm for tens of thousands of spectators making their way to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London.

The wettest April to June on record and a rainy start to July were blamed on the jet stream being much further south than normal, bringing wet weather conditions that would usually bypass much of the UK.

After the high-altitude band of wind that guides weather systems moved to a more normal position further north, the UK basked in a week of warm, sunny weather, but as the Olympics get going forecasters say more rain is expected.

Aisling Creevey, forecaster at MeteoGroup, the weather forecasting division of the Press Association, said there was a lot of unsettled weather on the way.
London Olympic


"What's happening is the jet stream is moving south and there's an 'upper low' – low pressure in the mid atmosphere – which is bringing quite a mobile weather pattern with fronts moving through and showers."

But she said: "I don't think it's going to be as unsettled as it was. The last we had was very widespread, but this particular spell of unsettled weather is quite mobile, just affecting different areas at different times."

She said Scotland and the south-west were likely to see the worst of the rainy weather, with the potential for some heavy, thundery showers across Scotland, but the weather would not be as disruptive as the last period of wet conditions, which saw flooding across many parts of the UK.

As Olympic sporting events get going in earnest over the next few days, the picture is mixed in London and the south, with drier conditions on Saturday and Monday, but the possibility of frequent showers on Sunday.

The wet weather is likely to hit northern areas first and then spread south, and by Wednesday it will be unsettled everywhere.

London Olympics opening ceremony hours away


The opening ceremony of the London Olympics is just hours away after seven years of preparations.

The three-hour spectacle in the Olympic Stadium will be viewed by a global TV audience of around a billion people.

The day of celebration began at 08:12 BST with a mass bell ringing. Big Ben rang for three minutes for the first time since King George VI's funeral.

Lord's cricket ground has turned away spectators trying to get in to watch archery amid confusion over ticketing.

The London 2012 website advertised the event's preliminary rounds as "unticketed", which some members of the public interpreted as open to the public.

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Start Quote

It's a great opportunity to show the world the best of Britain”

David Cameron
Prime minister
But Olympic organiser Locog said it had not advertised or sold tickets for the ranking event and had always made it clear preliminary rounds were not open to spectators.

South Korea later claimed the first two world records of London 2012 in the men's team and individual archery. Meanwhile, the Olympic flame has arrived at City Hall on the Queen's rowbarge Gloriana after first weaving through the maze at Hampton Court Palace and being carried down the Thames on the final day of the torch relay. Around 50 boats took part in the flotilla, each reflecting London's waterborne heritage.

The flame's 70-day nationwide journey ends with the lighting of the cauldron during this evening's opening ceremony but the identity of the person who will take on the honour remains a mystery.

Five-times rowing gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave and two-times decathlon champion Daley Thompson will take part in the closing stages, although neither is expected to light the flame.

The ceremony is expected to remain dry, but BBC weather forecasters say the jet stream is moving southwards and there will be a return to more unsettled and chillier conditions over the next few days.

BBC forecaster Krista Mitchell said Saturday would remain mainly dry in the south, but showers were likely to affect the Games on Sunday.

There have not been any reports of major transport issues. Network Rail and the Association of Train Operating Companies said most services were running to schedule. Some roads in London were congested around the route of the Olympic torch relay, and in St John's Wood where the archery competition began at Lord's cricket ground.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "It's a great opportunity to show the world the best of Britain, a country that's got an incredibly rich past but also a very exciting future.

"Someone asked me yesterday what face of Britain do we want to put forward - is it Blur or the Beefeaters? - and frankly it's both."

'Wave of excitement'

US First Lady Michelle Obama has given her own personal good luck message to Team USA
Mayor of London Boris Johnson told BBC Radio 5 live: "What's so amazing is just the wave of excitement seems to pass from person to person like some benign form of contagion. Everybody is getting it."

Danny Boyle, the artistic director of the £27m opening ceremony, dedicated it to the 15,000 volunteers taking part.

"This is a live performance and it's the actors, and in our case they're volunteers, who have to get up there and do it."

Europe's largest bell will ring inside the Olympic stadium at 21:00 BST at the start of the extravaganza, said to be a quirky take on British life.

Some 15,000 square metres of staging and 12,956 props will be used, and the event will boast a million-watt PA system using more than 500 speakers.

The crowd of about 80,000 will include the Queen and a host of dignitaries and celebrities.

The Queen and Prince Philip will host a Buckingham Palace reception for heads of state and government and an opening ceremony celebration concert featuring Snow Patrol, Stereophonics, Duran Duran and Paolo Nutini will be held in Hyde Park.

More than 10,000 athletes from 204 nations will take part in the London Olympics, which has taken £9bn of public money to stage.

London Olympics 2012: Danny Boyle excited for the volunteers as the Opening Ceremony approaches


The Oscar-winning director will tonight lay his singular personal vision of Britain, titled The Isles of Wonder, before a global audience of several hundred million people as the London Games formally begin.

Seven years after the city was awarded the Olympics, London seems set fair for a largely dry, warm evening for the showpiece moment. The heatwave of the week has given way to showers in the capital, but they are forecast to clear in time for the start of the ceremony at 9pm.

More than 10,000 volunteers, including a large number of NHS nurses, have given up their time to take part in the show, rehearsing in the dreadful conditions that have marred most of the summer, and Boyle said his thoughts were with them today. “It has been a long road but we are almost there, and I am thinking about the volunteers.

"Directors really just sit at the back, but this is a live performance and they are the ones who have to go out there and do it. "Any nervousness I feel is for them, and the excitement I feel I hope they share." Boyle said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all involved.

“I’m looking forward to it, it will never come round again, so it’s very exciting.” The final moments of the Opening Ceremony, including the lighting of the cauldron, remain secret, with bookmakers taking bets on the Queen, as well as Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Roger Bannister.

Boyle is determined that it should remain secret. The ceremony is “heading for a sell-out” according to the London organising committee, with just 50 tickets left by lunchtime. As Boyle made his final preparations the Olympic torch completed the penultimate leg of its journey from Olympia to Stratford by river, travelling from Hampton Court Palace to the Tower of London aboard the royal barge Gloriana.

With more than 130 world leaders gathering in London for the Opening Ceremony, prime minister David Cameron said it was an opportunity to show the world “the best of Britain”. “It's very exciting ... I think it's a great opportunity to show the world the best of Britain, a country that's got an incredibly rich past but actually a very exciting and vibrant future,” he said.

“Somebody asked me yesterday what face of Britain I wanted to put forward, Blur or the beefeaters, and frankly it's both. "We have got a great past, a very exciting future and this is a great moment for our country, so we must seize it.”

Opening ceremony London 2012 to wow with memorable show

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The world city that needs no introduction but could do with an Olympic-sized pick-me-up in the midst of economic recession launches the 2012 Summer Games with a spectacular opening ceremony Friday that faces a unique challenge: to be as memorable as Beijing's planet-wowing, money-no-object extravaganza of 2008.

The British capital will set itself apart, as it has so often down the centuries, by being different. Beijing's curtain raiser featured 2,008 pounding drummers and a cauldron-lighter who seemed to float in the air of the Bird's Nest stadium. London will have 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens and nine geese — recruited by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle along with a cast and crew of 10,000 to present a quirky, humorous and vibrant vision of quintessential Britain, its history and future.

London is not the same as it was when the games were awarded seven years ago. Its serenity and confidence were shaken by riots last year and by terror bombings on the transport network that killed 56 people the day after the International Olympic Committee picked London over Paris in 2005. In London, the Olympic Games have come to a sprawling, historic metropolis that lives and breathes sports, with a population more global and diverse than perhaps any other, but which still feels it needs the Olympic spotlight to secure its future as one of the world's great cities.

In depicting Britain, warts and all, Boyle has drawn from William Shakespeare, British pop culture, literature and music, and other sources of inspiration that will speak not just to Anglophiles but to people across the globe. One segment involves actor Daniel Craig's James Bond, and former Beatle Paul McCartney will lead a sing-along.

Boyle's "Isles of Wonder" show will celebrate the green and pleasant land of meadows, farms, cottages, village cricket matches and bird song, but also dwell on Britain's darker industrial past. That's not a surprise from a movie director who depicted Scottish heroin addicts in "Trainspotting" and Indian poor in "Slumdog Millionaire."

As well as thousands of athletes and performers, some 60,000 spectators will pack the Olympic Stadium. Political leaders from around the world, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and her daughters, and a sprinkling of European and celebrity royalty will also attend.

According to the Sunday Times, one section will feature characters from children's fiction classics including "Alice in Wonderland" and "Peter Pan" — and a showdown between Lord Voldemort, the villain of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books, and a horde of flying magical nannies based on Mary Poppins.

"I would have thought the difficulty is how you cram in all that is great about our country," British Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday. "Whether it is sport, art, literature, history, contribution to world events, there are so many things to celebrate about our country that packing all that in to these hours must be a pretty tough task. But I am confident they have done a good job."

Many of juiciest and most significant details from the three-hour show, including the identity of the person or people who will light the Olympic cauldron — if, indeed, there is one — remain secret. That is, in itself, remarkable for the first social media Olympics, where the urge to tweet anything and everything is putting more scrutiny than ever on organizers and the 10,902 athletes from 204 countries.

Most will return home after 16 days of competition as they arrived: the pride of family and friends but still unknown to the wider public, unsung practitioners of sports — think archery, synchronized swimming, wrestling and the like — that get little attention for 206 weeks before blossoming in the two-week Olympic festival.

Medalists will be guaranteed recognition and perhaps fame and fortune for the luckier ones, especially the more than 300 who win gold. A hundredth of a second here, a centimeter there, in the pool or in the shooting gallery could make an athlete a household name. Their gold medals will be largest of any summer games and, at 400 grams (14 ounces), the heaviest, too.

Amputee runner Oscar Pistorius and women boxers will get headlines for being Olympic pioneers. But for other established stars who fail in quests to retain or win more Olympic titles, London will mark the end or the beginning of the end of their careers.

U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps insists these will be his last games. The 14-time gold medalist will go out with a bang, aiming to claim the unofficial title of greatest Olympian ever from Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina. She got 18 medals. Phelps has 16, and seven opportunities in London to overtake her. His rivalry with U.S. teammate Ryan Lochte promises one of the most compelling dramas of London. They will swim against each other twice: in medleys over 200 meters and, on the first full day of competition Saturday, over 400 meters in the Aquatics Center with its ceiling that slopes like the underbelly of a whale.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, the other standout star from Beijing, wants to become a sports legend on a par with Jesse Owens, Pele or Muhammad Ali by retaining his Olympic titles in the 100, 200 and sprint relay. But the World's Fastest Man faces stiffer competition this time from countryman Yohan Blake and American rivals Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin.

In Beijing, the geopolitical significance of China's rise as a global superpower was as much the story as the sports. London, the first city to host the event a third time after previous games in 1908 and 1948, could in contrast be a purer Olympics, more about the athletes than the context. Could be more fun, too, without the backdrop of international concern over China's human rights record.

Big questions are how London's transport system will cope with millions of spectators and whether grumbling Britons will get behind their Olympics as they did for this year's celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. The monarch will officially open the games at Friday's ceremony that will start at 9 p.m. with the sound of a 27-ton bell forged at the 442-year-old Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which made London's Big Ben and Philadelphia's Liberty Bell.

Lavishing more than 9 billion pounds ($14 billion), triple the estimated cost when London secured the games in 2005, in the midst of severe economic storms in Britain and Europe has provoked pointed and persistent questions about whether the expense can be justified and whether the games will have a lasting positive impact for the host city and for Britain.

The most obvious legacy for London is Olympic Park, with the 80,000-capacity stadium that will host theopening ceremony and other new venues. It is built on formerly derelict, polluted industrial land in the east of the city that bore the brunt of bombing in World War II and, for centuries, concentrated London's stinkiest industries and its poor.

Other benefits from the July 27-Aug. 12 games, particularly the power of the Olympics to inspire kids to take up sports and to aim high, might not be obvious for years.

Opening Ceremony London 2012: World ready for Olympics opening Ceremony

The stage is set and the athletes are primed as the seven-year countdown to the London 2012 Olympics reaches its finale with Friday's much-anticipated opening ceremony.

The three-hour spectacle, expected to be watched by a global television audience of up to one billion, will mark the beginning of 17 days of athletic endeavour which will create heroes, shatter dreams and fire national pride.

But London is preparing for its own intense examination as questions over the city's creaking transport system and the ever-present security threat hang over the event, ready to overshadow on-track achievements.

Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on Thursday that Britain would deliver a memorable Games after US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney backtracked on barbed comments he made about the preparations.

The Republican hopeful, in London to attend Friday's opening, said the build-up had been "disconcerting", pointing to the failure of a private security contractor to provide the number of guards it had promised.

Cameron responded by saying he was sure Britons would get behind the Games despite an economic downturn -- and took an apparent swipe at Romney's past as head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

"We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world," Cameron said.

"Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere."

Sneak previews of the £27 million ($42 million, 35 million euros) opening ceremony -- filmed at Wednesday's final rehearsal -- suggest it will be a grand but quirky production, reflecting the philosophy of director Danny Boyle.

The Slumdog Millionaire Oscar-winner has promised to create a "picture of us as a nation" and revealed the eccentric show will feature live sheep and dancing surgeons from the National Health Service.

Thousands of VIPs including some 120 national leaders are in town for the event, with guests ranging from Angelina Jolie and US First Lady Michelle Obama to the king of Swaziland.

Germany's Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda are among the leaders set to attend while Michelle Obama will head the US delegation.

Prince William and his wife Catherine along with a flock of European royals including Prince Albert of Monaco will watch Britain's 86-year-old monarch Queen Elizabeth II officially open the Games.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will lead Russia's delegation although President Vladimir Putin has indicated he may fly in later to watch the judo, in which he is a black belt.

British football legend David Beckham said he will perform some role at the ceremony despite not being selected for Team GB, fueling gossip he may be given the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron.

From the world of showbusiness, Hollywood mega-couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will attend after hosting a star-studded charity dinner for boxing icon Muhammad Ali on Wednesday, which counted racing driver Lewis Hamilton and actress Rosario Dawson among its guests.

Audience members at Wednesday's rehearsal promised the show would be a spine-tingling extravaganza.

The crowd at the 80,000-seater Olympic Stadium in Stratford, a previously run-down area of east London, were filled with enthusiasm as they flooded out.

"That was absolutely amazing. I wanted to whoop," said Hilary Midgley from Darwen in northwest England. "It was beyond my wildest expectations."

But with the spotlight of the world on Britain, authorities are acutely aware of the terror threat.

An additional 4,700 troops have been deployed in recent days to make up the shortfall in guards supplied by giant contractor G4S.

Anti-aircraft missiles have been placed on rooftops and a warship is anchored in the River Thames as part of the country's biggest ever peacetime security operation.

A force of more than 40,000 military and civilian personnel, backed by a huge intelligence operation, has turned the British capital into a fortress to protect venues, athletes and millions of visitors.

Cameron on Thursday stressed that security "matters more than anything else".

"I think we've made as many preparations as we can. I think we have very good contingency plans in place," Cameron said at a press conference with chief Games organiser Sebastian Coe in front of the Olympic Stadium.

Ten times Olympic medallist Carl Lewis captured the building sense of anticipation on Thursday.

"The Olympics is the only event where the world stops," he said.

"If you're the smallest country with the fewest people in the world or the biggest country with the most people in the world, everyone's allowed and everyone is invited, so it's a great thing because you get to see the world and the world sees you," he added.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Lakshmi Mittal and his son to carry the Olympics torch

Lakshmi Mittal is the main sponsor of the giant AreclorMittal Orbit near the Olympics Stadium and his trust has also been supporting Indian athletes.
Lakshmi Mittal said, "The torch relay is an excellent embodiment of all that the Olympic Games have come to symbolise - a celebration of the human spirit.
It needs to be added that created by noted artist Anish Kapoor, the ArcelorMittal Orbit is the tallest structure in the UK and Mittal's company has contributed 20 million pounds towards the creation of the structure.

Opening ceremony of London Olympics is going to be a big affair


ONE DAY to go for the world's biggest sports event - the XXX Olympics event better known as London Olympics to start. London won the right to stage the event in Singapore in 2005 against bids from New York, Madrid, Paris and Moscow. London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) are jointly organising the summer Olympics 2012. This event is co-chaired by the Minister for Sport and Olympics and the Mayor of London.

During the 17 days of competitions in London Olympics, 26 Olympic sports will be played at 34 venues. Wenlock and Mandeville is the mascot of the Olympic Games 2012, which are scheduled from July 27 to August 12. The opening ceremony of the mega sports extravaganza will kick off at 9 p.m. on Friday July 27 at the Olympics Stadium in London. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh will officially open the event.

During the opening ceremony the 204 competing nations will parade with their national flag and according to custom, Greece, who hosted the first modern Olympic games in 1896, will lead the parade and the host nation Great Britain will come in last. Other competing countries take part in the parade in alphabetical order. In the Opening Ceremony Olympic flame will ignites the Cauldron.

The name of the Olympic Opening Ceremony show will be called 'Isles of Wonder'. Film Slumdog Millionaire 'Oscar-winning' director Danny Boyle, who is also the Artistic Director of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, and his team will provide an opportunity for the world to view the artistic expression and the culture of London and the UK.

According to the London Olympics official website, the ceremony will kick off with the sound of the largest harmonically tuned bell in Europe, produced by the Whitechapel Foundry, and the Stadium will be transformed into the British countryside for opening scene ‘Green and Pleasant’, which includes real farmyard animals.

During the event the stadium will be packed with 80,000 spectators, 16,000 athletes, 10,000 performers. In the opening ceremony 70 sheep, 12 horses, ten chickens, three cows, two goats and even dogs and geese will also be the part of it. The Republican Presidential nominee of United States, Mitt Romney, will also attend the event. Along with Mitt Romney hundreds of VVIPs will also attend the event from across the world.

 
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