2012 Olympics site ?

[invisible_r]

i think lots of people don't want the olympics here in london. they keep complaining about costs and disruption. i find that very weird because despite all the debt, the greeks (or rather the athenians i guess) really really wanted the olympics!

anyway, i don't know where i will be in 2012 either but paris and london are easily reachable so i'd be happy with either as i could get to go! last year it was seriously amazing, such a great atmosphere!

[Kevin]

It 's ..... London !!?!?!! God help you all , now :guitar: :guitar:

[Foxy]

Wooooooooooooooooow LONDON!!! :happybanana:

[invisible_r]

wicked!

[edna]

Congrats, London!!!!!

[SoulGirl]

lahndahn baybee yeah!!

in his book my grandad talks about being at the london olympics in 1948. maybe i should go this time to represent my family there!

[Kevin]

The History of the Olympics:

1948 - London, England

Though World War II was over, Europe was still ravaged from the war. When it was announced that the Olympic Games would be resumed, many debated whether it was wise to have a festival when many European countries were in ruins and the people near starvation. To limit England's responsibility to feed all the athletes, it was agreed that the participants would bring their own food. Surplus food was donated to British hospitals.

No new facilities were built for these Games, but the Wembley Stadium had survived the war and proved adequate. No Olympic Village was erected; the male athletes were housed at an army camp in Uxbridge and the women housed at Southlands College in dormitories.

Germany and Japan, the aggressors of World War II, were not invited to participate.

There was one major snafu at the Games. Though the United States had won the 400-meter relay by a full eighteen feet, a judge ruled that one of the U.S. team members had passed the baton outside of the passing zone. Thus, the U.S. team was disqualified. The medals were handed out, the national anthems were played. The United States officially protested the ruling and after careful review of the films and photographs taken of the baton pass, the judges decided that the pass had been completely legal; thus the United States team was the real winner. The British team had to give up their gold medals and received silver medals (which had been given up by the Italian team). The Italian team then received the bronze medals which had been given up by the Hungarian team.

Though there had been much debate as to whether or not to hold the 1948 Olympic Games, the Games turned out to be very popular and a great success. Approximately 4,000 athletes participated, representing 59 countries.

[SoulGirl]

this is what my grandad recorded about it:

My next London story is about my attendance on the final day of the Olympic Games in that city. My friend of many years Bill Meegan, who was involved in athletics both as a participant and teacher, phoned me up the day before. He gave me two tickets for the grand stand, one for myself and one for a friend, a man I knew very well. Bill?s instructions were, ?If he can make it, he will there at about a quarter of an hour before. If he fails to turn up you can give the ticket to somebody. I will arrive later.? So far so good.

With about five minutes to go, I concluded my friend wasn?t coming so I looked around hoping to see someone in the crowd which might have a familiar face. Not so. I then spotted an impeccably dressed man. As they say at home, the crease in his trousers would peel spuds. Collar and tie, a beautiful Harris tweed sports jacket and a cap to match, and to complete the ensemble, a mackintosh over the crook of the right arm, a real dude. He was not involved with the touts so over I went. ?Excuse me? said I, ?are you interested in a ticket?? ?Yes? was his reply, ?but I would not deal with the racketeers.? I was quick to point out that I did not qualify for that label. I was between two minds with regards to whether I would give him the ticket or not but somehow he sensed his mistake and apologised sincerely. ?Come along? said I, and we went and sat down.

Bill was soon to occupy the vacant seat. Proceedings were about to start. As time went on, the coffee and sandwich facility arrived. I could not believe what I was about to witness. Along he went, bought a mug of coffee and a pack of sandwiches and, to compound his meanness, he came back, sat down and proceeded to stuff his belly. Bill and myself looked at each other. The first thing that ran through my mind was that I would not be sorry if he choked himself. I later modified that to feeling sorry for him. I would say, without fear of contradiction, that he was the meanest man who entered Wembley Stadium that day in 1948. During conversation I discovered where he came from and what he did for a living. One thing is certain, he wasn?t short of a pound. As for me, I don?t apply labels to people irrespective of where they come from but, in order to put the record straight, he wasn?t an Irishman. Anois fágaimid an scéal mar atá sé.

Now back to the games, for me, an experience of a lifetime. I was about six seats back from the front row. I watched the different athletes mount the podium and receive their medals. Two remains in my memory to this day. First, Miss Fanny Blankers-Koen. I feel privileged at having the opportunity of witnessing her magnificent performance. Each time she stepped onto the rostrum to receive her medal she got a standing ovation. I am sure she was then and still is an inspiration for the women who came after her. She sure was some lady.

The next thing which stands out crystal clear in my memory is seeing the fast man on feet then in action that day, the one and only Harrison Dillard. And what I remember best about him was his performance in the final of the relay race. He was last to go. Oh boy, did he burn that ground straight up. His opponents looked like as if they were tethered. Although the USA were clear-cut winners, an objection was lodged. As a result, the British boys who came in second were awarded the gold. After the national anthem was played and sung, there was a big cheer all round the stadium. However when the dust settled there was an announcement. Dillard demanded photographic evidence. The judges agreed. In the meantime the programme was continuing. Very little notice, if any, was taken of the objection. Then came the announcement. The photographic evidence demanded revealed that the baton change which was deemed illegal in the first place could not be upheld. There was crystal clear evidence to the contrary. The medals were taken back and awarded to the American team instead. The band struck up ?The Stars and Stripes?. Fair dues, there were the scatter of Americans here and there who sang. Neither Bill nor myself knew the words but we hummed.

Shortly afterwards, the man in the Harris tweed took leave of himself. We presumed he was gone for more coffee and sandwiches. He was gone quite a while before we missed him. As a lot of people were leaving by now, we concluded that he found another perch or maybe the fact that we hummed ?The Stars and Stripes? had something to do with it. Whether or which, we shall never know.

Before I finish there is something I?d like to clear up. A certain sports commentator on RTÉ recently referred to the Harrison Dillard objection, pointing out how sophisticated we are now in playback. ?Situations of that kind? said he, ?are cleared up in a matter of seconds while the Harrison Dillard affair carried over onto the following day.? Not so. The photographic evidence was produced in ten minutes and the judges? decision in around the same time. When the opportune moment arrived an announcement was made over the public address system. I would say a half hour would be the maximum time which elapsed between the objection and the reverse decision. Considering the fact that that?s almost forty-five years ago, the photographic technology of the day solved a lot of problems.

[Kevin]

I haven't seen the stone-faced BBC anchors and reporters so smug since the end of The Falklands War ...