Mayor upbeat as nervy London gets ready
Source: AFP |
July 23, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson insisted yesterday the city was ready to host the 2012 Olympic Games despite a national plunge into nervous self-depression before the excitement begins.
Johnson said Britain was feeling the necessary tension before a big performance, as the clock ticks down to Friday's opening ceremony at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.
He said the venues were safe and the transport system was bearing up despite a week dominated in Britain by fears over travel chaos and gaps in security.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is in London and "he thinks that our city is as well-prepared as any city has ever been in the history of the Games," Johnson told BBC television. "So far the traffic system and transport networks generally are holding up well.
"Possibly what we're going through at the moment as a nation, as a city, is that necessary, pre-curtain-up moment of psychological self-depression before the excitement begins on Friday when the curtain goes up.
"It is only natural that people should be tense, that they should be expectant. And, of course, there are loads of things that we need to get right."
Athletes have been getting used to their new surroundings and taking time to relax before the Games begin.
Usain Bolt, who took a trip to the cinema to watch new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," insisted he was ready to defend his Olympic 100-meter and 200-meter titles after recovering from a mystery problem which has hampered his preparations for London.
'Slight problem'
The Jamaican star withdrew from the Monaco Diamond League meeting citing a "slight problem" but said he "got it checked out and it's all right."
The Olympic flame, making a seven-day tour in London that will culminate at the opening ceremony, was given a trip on the London Eye observation wheel.
Amelia Hempleman-Adams, who at 16 in December became the youngest person to ski to the South Pole, held the torch aloft on top of one of the wheel's capsules. "It was amazing and just to look out and see the whole of London was incredible," she told BBC television.
Johnson said he had been told that more than 500,000 people turned out on Saturday to welcome the torch on the first day of its tour around London.
The flame was being carried through east London yesterday before being taken across the River Thames in a fire brigade boat to finish with a celebration where Stratford-born former world heavyweight champion boxer Lennox Lewis, was to light a cauldron.
Chinese piano virtuoso Lang Lang was to carry the torch onto the stage at the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch.
Johnson said Britain was feeling the necessary tension before a big performance, as the clock ticks down to Friday's opening ceremony at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.
He said the venues were safe and the transport system was bearing up despite a week dominated in Britain by fears over travel chaos and gaps in security.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is in London and "he thinks that our city is as well-prepared as any city has ever been in the history of the Games," Johnson told BBC television. "So far the traffic system and transport networks generally are holding up well.
"Possibly what we're going through at the moment as a nation, as a city, is that necessary, pre-curtain-up moment of psychological self-depression before the excitement begins on Friday when the curtain goes up.
"It is only natural that people should be tense, that they should be expectant. And, of course, there are loads of things that we need to get right."
Athletes have been getting used to their new surroundings and taking time to relax before the Games begin.
Usain Bolt, who took a trip to the cinema to watch new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," insisted he was ready to defend his Olympic 100-meter and 200-meter titles after recovering from a mystery problem which has hampered his preparations for London.
'Slight problem'
The Jamaican star withdrew from the Monaco Diamond League meeting citing a "slight problem" but said he "got it checked out and it's all right."
The Olympic flame, making a seven-day tour in London that will culminate at the opening ceremony, was given a trip on the London Eye observation wheel.
Amelia Hempleman-Adams, who at 16 in December became the youngest person to ski to the South Pole, held the torch aloft on top of one of the wheel's capsules. "It was amazing and just to look out and see the whole of London was incredible," she told BBC television.
Johnson said he had been told that more than 500,000 people turned out on Saturday to welcome the torch on the first day of its tour around London.
The flame was being carried through east London yesterday before being taken across the River Thames in a fire brigade boat to finish with a celebration where Stratford-born former world heavyweight champion boxer Lennox Lewis, was to light a cauldron.
Chinese piano virtuoso Lang Lang was to carry the torch onto the stage at the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
