LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Friday, 27 July 2012

Today in London, Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, will declare the Games of the XXX Olympiad open.

It is a Games that has not come cheaply and, like all Games, has not been without its difficulties or its controversies.

The construction process was smooth and within budget. The venues, built largely by British contractors, are impressive. The Veldodrome and the Aquatics Centre are raucous arenas and the 80,000-seat main stadium is a worthy arena for an Olympic Games.

However, it still needs athletic talent at the end of it all, and there is evidence that there is enough of that bedded down tonight in the Olympic village, as well as in Weymouth and Eton Dornay where the sailors and rowers will compete.

That curious worldwide audience has been replaced by an expectant one.

Let the Games begin!