LONDON, July 27: Big Ben chimed 40 times as bells rang across Britain on Friday to signal the final countdown to the Olympic Games, and an expectant London prepared for a spectacular opening ceremony in front of a crowd of 80,000 and more than one billion TV viewers. Finally, let the Games begin!
Seven years after the British capital won the right to host the Olympics, the city was ready to celebrate the official start of the 30th edition of the Summer Games.
Big Ben, one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks, chimed for three minutes in honour of the opening ceremony featuring Queen Elizabeth II and directed by celebrated filmmaker Danny Boyle.
A budget of 9.3 billion pounds ($14.5 billion, 12 billion euros) has been spent on bringing the Games to London for an unprecedented third time, but the first time since 1948.
There have been last-minute hitches with security after 4,700 additional servicemen had to be drafted in when a private security contractor failed to supply thousands of guards. Organisers insist it was a temporary blip in Britain’s biggest peacetime security operation.
The Olympic flame was rowed up the River Thames aboard the royal barge Gloriana, which was used in Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee in June as it approached the end of its 70-day journey.
An effusive London Mayor Boris Johnson was typically flamboyant in his attempt to sum up the mood.
“The excitement is growing so much I think the Geiger counter of Olympo-mania is going to go zoink off the scale,” he told crowds in London’s Hyde Park.
In his final news conference before the Games, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said a crackdown on dopers had proven a success with more than 100 athletes caught for doping violations in the months leading up to the Games.
“This is a good sign for the fight against doping,” Rogge said. “This is proof that the system is working and is effective.”
Rogge also declared himself satisfied with the Olympic preparations.
“I can say with pleasure that London is ready and we are eagerly waiting for the opening ceremony,” Rogge said.
The London organisers have stressed they are not trying to rival the no-expense-spared extravaganza of Beijing four years ago.
Instead they have promised a Games for the athletes and — against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty — have ensured many of the venues can be reused or recycled.
Iconic locations such as Wimbledon, Lord’s cricket ground and Hyde Park will host events while the Olympic Park complex, home to swimming and athletics, has transformed the Stratford district of east London. —Agencies