Greece formally handed over the Olympic flame to a London delegation led by Princess Anne and including David Beckham yesterday at the Panathenaic Stadium, where the first modern Games were held in 1896.
Seb Coe, chairman of the London organizing committee LOCOG, spoke of a “massive, massive moment” as the clock ticks down to the Games’ opening ceremony on July 27, while London Mayor Boris Johnson was typically ebullient.
“It’s an amazing day for us. This is the moment when we prepare to take the torch and the eyes of the world are swiveling to London,” Johnson said.
Photo: AFP
“I think they will see a city that has made phenomenal progress in getting ready ... by any measure, London is extraordinarily well prepared,” he added.
Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as well as a former Olympic equestrian competitor, received the flame from the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, in the ceremony.
Former England soccer captain Beckham, born in east London where the new Olympic Park has taken shape, played a role in the proceedings with five young Britons chosen for their commitment to sport and promoting Olympic values.
The youngsters joined Princess Anne, who is president of the British Olympic Association, in receiving the flame.
The flame would be kept overnight in lanterns at the British embassy in Athens and then flown on the golden-liveried “Firefly,” British Airways Flight 2012, to a navy base in Culdrose near Land’s End in southwest England.
The 70-day, 12,874km relay around Britain starts tomorrow.
“This is really the beginning of the journey,” Coe said.
“Once that flame starts its route ... 8,000 torchbearers within 10 miles [16km] of 57 million people over 1,000 villages, towns and cities, I think people will recognize that actually there is no turning back now. It’s theirs,” he added.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
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