It seems to be generally accepted that last night's Opening Ceremony was a success. However, from a personal point of view, although some of the early section brought a patriotic tear to the eye and lump to the throat, once the 'historical' content was over, a lot of what followed seemed drawn-out, at best, and somewhat uneccessary at worst - especially when considering the inevitable (and quite proper) length of time the parade of competing countries was bound to take. Speaking of which, I'm surprised that more hasn't (yet) been made of what appeared to be a Nazi salute from one of the German officials.
Going on from that, I'm also surprised that - having quite admirably demonstrated the 'legacy' aspect of these games by getting former Olympians to 'hand-over' the reins to allow the younger generation to light the flame - the organisers rather lost the plot by allowing a seventy-year-old to top the bill (as it were). BTW, rather worrying rumours that the former Beatle demanded a six-figure sum for appearing are circulating in some quarters. Let's hope they're not true.
Turning to today's events, as someone who lives within a couple of miles of part of the route taken by the men's cycling road race, I was astonished by how many came out to support the riders. I hope the predicted rather less encouraging weather forecast isn't used as an excuse for the turn-out for tomorrow's lady's race to be disappointing.
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