London Games open with fun-filled show

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LARGER THAN LIFE: An image of Jamaica’s track star Usain Bolt, is projected on The Houses of Parliament in London. — AFP photo

AND THE GAMES BEGINS: Queen Elizabeth II (centre) arrives during the opening ceremony. — AFP photo

LONDON: Seven young athletes lit the cauldron at the London Olympics on Friday at the finale of a humour-filled opening ceremony watched by more than one billion TV viewers.

Departing from the tradition of choosing a gold medal winner to light the flame, the London organisers handed the honour to seven youngsters nominated by British Olympic heroes of the past.

Five-time gold medallist rower Steve Redgrave had brought the torch into the Olympic Stadium in east London before passing it on to a series of young runners.

They embraced their mentors, including decathlete Daley Thompson and middle-distance runner Kelly Holmes, before the teenagers lit a series of torches which hydraulically lifted to create a high-tech cauldron.

Queen Elizabeth II, who had made a royal entrance like no other in a spoof film with James Bond actor Daniel Craig, declared the Games open as London took on the role of host nation for an unprecedented third time.

SPECTACULAR: Five rings, the symbol of the Olympic movement, were then hoisted up at the middle of the stadium.. — AFP photo

International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge told the crowd of 80,000: “In a sense the Olympics are coming home,” recognising Britain’s role in developing modern sport.

The chief organiser of the G a m e s , Sebastian Coe, thanked his fellow Britons for “making all this possible”.

“In the next two weeks we will show all that has made London one of the greatest cities in the world,” he said.

The show before the cauldron was lit was quintessentially British, as its creator, British film director Danny Boyle, had promised.

The queen was shown parachuting from a helicopter with Craig into the stadium before the real 86-year-old monarch took her seat to loud applause.

The show traced Britain’s development from a bucolic past through the Industrial Revolution before fast-forwarding to the present day.

PANDELELA RINONG

The show included a tribute to Britain’s state-run National Health Service while actor Kenneth Branagh, “Harry Potter” author J.K.Rowling and “Mr Bean” Rowan Atkinson all had roles.

When the athletes paraded in, the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt sauntered into the stadium carrying the Jamaican flag.

The British team was greeted with a huge roar from the crowd as they marched into the stadium last an honour reserved for the hosts behind four-time Olympic champion cyclist Chris Hoy.

Then came the dramatic cauldron-lighting sequence.

Football star David Beckham escorted the flame in a speedboat up the River Lea before it was passed on to Redgrave to bring it into the stadium.

Britain’s Saturday newspapers lavished praise on the spectacular four-hour long ceremony.

The Times ran the headline “A Flying Start” on a souvenir wraparound photograph of the Red Arrows display team flying over the stadium while Rupert Murdoch’s market-leading tabloid The Sun went simply with “Golden Wonder”.

The stage is now set for superstars Bolt, Michael Phelps and Roger Federer to dazzle in competition, while an army of unsung competitors are also aiming for gold.

A budget of 9.3 billion pounds (US$14.5 billion) has been spent on bringing the Games back to London.

The Malaysian contingent, comprising 22 athletes and offi cials for the parade led by Chef-de-Mission Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid and Jalur Gemilang bearer, Pandelela Rinong, joined the parade at 11.13pm.

The Malaysian men were dressed in the yellow and black stripes, the colour of `Harimau Malaysa’ ‘Baju Melayu’ and women in ‘baju kurung’.

The men also wore a head-gear (tanjak) while the women put on the ‘selendang’ or shawl.— AFP/ Bernama

MAY THERE BE LIGHT: The final seven torchbearers, whose identity remains a secret, light the Olympic cauldron. — Reuters photo