LONDON - Since August 2008, when Beijing showcased a spectacular Olympic Games with stadia that gave state of the art a whole new meaning, unmatched hospitality and such an eye for forensic detail that left nothing to chance, London and its chairman of the Games 2012 Sebastian Coe were consumed with envy to at least equal if not surpass that magical moment in the history of an inexorably Rising China.
This fabulous city that has been at the centre of so much that has shaped and influenced the last 400 years of human history, spared no expense for a rendezvous to this end – footing the bill to the tune of a staggering, give or take a few pounds here and there, a neat 10 billion sterling. Not for nothing are the Olympics dubbed as the Greatest Spectacle on this Planet.
The stunning three-hour plus extravaganza in the backdrop of a British meadow — after weeks of speculation as to who would open the Games before it was revealed that it would be the Queen herself – celebrated London and its enviably rich history with the Bard taking the pride of place alongside Blake and Milton, and Great Britain’s remarkable contribution to sports and the Games itself.
Nearly 80,000 packed the swank new stadium – 80 of them world leaders, dignitaries and celebrities including the US first lady Michelle Obama, with tens of thousands in the Olympic Park as well. And apart from these who were intrinsically a part of the ceremony, another one billion around the world witnessed the razzmatazz on their television screens.
The jury would remain out for a while whether London has set a new benchmark in terms of the organisation of the Games, but the opening was a pretty suave job. ‘This is for everyone’, was the theme, at the end of which a beaming Queen declared the Games open — the cue to set the skies ablaze with fireworks.
The football arena had already seen some exciting action before the opening. But from today (Saturday) it would the turn of the elite athletes from all over the globe to set the tracks and the pools ablaze with their own version of shock and awe.