"Welcome to a windy and rainy london" called the head of the organization sebastian coe with typical british humor to the world. Previously, british prime minister david cameron had contributed to 77 newspapers around the world to promote the games. It’s supposed to be the "greatest show on earth. Concerns about security and transportation wiped off government’s mind. "We are assuming that everything will work out," said sports minister jeremy hunt.
"We will deliver fantastic games in the uk and 200 nations will be there," coe said in london on wednesday. 70,000 volunteers are currently preparing to do "the job of a lifetime. 8000 torchbearers are ready to run from the 19. May to carry the olympic flame across the kingdom for 70 days over 8000 miles. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said 47-year-old john hamilton. The scotsman, who lives in london, will carry the torch on 23. July in the london borough of barking carried 300 meters.
"The city and the whole country are in great shape," said coe, who won olympic gold in the 1500 meters in 1980 in moscow and 1984 in los angeles as a track and field athlete. "I looked in my old training diaries," he said. "At this point it was still 160 hard training sessions."The games should be an unforgettable experience, especially for more than 10,000 athletes. He set the theme of the london games as "inspire a generation".
13,000 schools, half of all in the uk, took part in a program to give children access to sport to mark the games. Jamaican sprint star usain bolt, meanwhile, announced "something spectacular" for his 100-meter race on may 5. August on – one of the high points of the games. Before the opening ceremony on 27 may, staged by director danny boyle under the title "isles of wonder. July the military aerobatic team "red arrows" are to fly over london, promised coe. The relay has been discredited by two fatal accidents in the past twelve months.
The chief executive of the olympic organizing committee (LOCOG), paul deighton, was also very pleased with the preparations for the games. "There are still 200,000 seats to be installed," he said. This applies above all to the competition venues that already exist and have to be converted for the olympics, such as exhibition halls or the open-air arenas, for example for beach volleyball at the famous horse-guard parade. There on wednesday, 260 wax soldiers wearing bare-skin hoods formed a symbolic 100. Olympic rings of flowers have been planted in the royal kew gardens, to be seen from the airplane on approach to heathrow.
Deighton also pointed out that the london games were already a success from an economic point of view. 6000 british contractors had signed contracts worth 7.5 billion pounds. He was responding to the skepticism of many in the U.K. Who believe the cost to the taxpayer of at least £9.3 billion for the olympics is too high. According to a BBC poll, 64 percent of brits think too much money is being taken from the treasury for the games. "I am not particularly surprised," says coe. "The economic situation before the games is worse worldwide than it has probably been since 1976."
Even the criticism that the ticket allocation process was not transparent enough bounced off the responsible officials. "Ten percent of the british population will be there in london," said british culture and sport minister jeremy hunter. Half a million additional people were expected to watch each day in front of 22 public viewing screens across the country.