Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:
Ceremony of Wonders (no blabbing)
Danny Boyle has let 60,000 people in on the secrets of his Olympic opening ceremony — and then begged them to keep the information to themselves.
Tens of thousands of spectators who attended a technical rehearsal for Friday's ceremony entered the stadium to be greeted by signs imploring them to "Save the Surprise." Boyle, the Academy Award-winning director of "Slumdog Millionaire," addressed the crowd with a personal plea not to blab, for the sake of future viewers and the 10,000 volunteer performers who have been working on the spectacle for months.
Many details have already leaked out out of the ceremony, titled "Isles of Wonder" and inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and by two centuries of British history and culture.
And Boyle left some gaps in Monday's run-through where extra-secret segments will appear on Friday.
Most of those who saw the show seem to be keeping mum. Many tweeted enthusiastically, but vaguely, about the contents of the show, which mixes grand spectacle with British humor and irreverence.
Many of the spectators streaming out of the stadium afterward said they had been wowed —even those who had been skeptical at first.
— Jill Lawless — Twitter http://twitter.com/JillLawless
Better than Sydney?
The Aussie team's chief says the Brits might just do a better job than the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Nick Green tells Australian reporters Tuesday that in his opinion London 2012 will be "the best Olympics ever." The predominantly Australian media responded with mock shock.
Australia's games 12 years ago have until now been considered among the best. But, says Green, "London's learned a lot out of Sydney ... my view is it'll be the best ever."
Edinburgh's finest
Olympic fever hasn't swept through all of Britain — at least not yet.
Most people in Edinburgh, Scotland, are focused on the upcoming Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, an annual festival and demonstration that takes place on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a cheer inside pubs such as Maggie Dickinson's on Grassmarket on Monday when Edinburgh's own cycling star Sir Chris Hoy — already Scotland's most successful Olympian — was chosen to carry the British flag for the Opening Ceremony.
Hoy won his first Olympic gold at the Athens Games, but cemented his legacy in Beijing, where he became the first Brit to win three gold medals in a single Olympics since Henry Taylor in 1908. Hoy was chosen to carry the Union Jack at the Closing Ceremony in 2008, and will now carry it for the Opening Ceremony on Friday after a vote of the 542 members of the British team. Hoy will be trying to defend his gold medals in the keirin and the team sprint when the track cycling program begins.
Just how popular is Hoy in Scotland? The Scottish National Velodrome being built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will be named in his honor.
— Dave Skretta — Twitter http://twitter.com/APdaveskretta
Britain deploys 1,200 more troops
Britain's government opted Tuesday to deploy 1,200 more troops to protect Olympic venues, after a key security contractor failed to supply enough guards.
The fresh troops come only three days before Friday's opening ceremony and mean that some 18,200 U.K. military personnel are now involved in some capacity in securing the London games — dwarfing the 9,500 British troops now in Afghanistan. The decision followed a Cabinet meeting discussing venue security.
"On the eve of the largest peacetime event ever staged in this country, ministers are clear that we should leave nothing to chance," Olympics Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement. " The Government continues to have every confidence that we will deliver a safe and secure Games."
The government put the troops on standby a few days ago, but suggested that was merely a prudent contingency measure that was unlikely to be used. Tuesday's announcement is yet another embarrassment for security provider G4S, which has consistently failed to deliver on its Olympic contract.
Thousands of British soldiers have been sent on short notice to fill the gap in guards. Some of the servicemen have seen their leaves cancelled while others have only recently returned from tours in Afghanistan.
Ceremony of Wonders (no blabbing)
Danny Boyle has let 60,000 people in on the secrets of his Olympic opening ceremony — and then begged them to keep the information to themselves.
Tens of thousands of spectators who attended a technical rehearsal for Friday's ceremony entered the stadium to be greeted by signs imploring them to "Save the Surprise." Boyle, the Academy Award-winning director of "Slumdog Millionaire," addressed the crowd with a personal plea not to blab, for the sake of future viewers and the 10,000 volunteer performers who have been working on the spectacle for months.
Many details have already leaked out out of the ceremony, titled "Isles of Wonder" and inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and by two centuries of British history and culture.
And Boyle left some gaps in Monday's run-through where extra-secret segments will appear on Friday.
Most of those who saw the show seem to be keeping mum. Many tweeted enthusiastically, but vaguely, about the contents of the show, which mixes grand spectacle with British humor and irreverence.
Many of the spectators streaming out of the stadium afterward said they had been wowed —even those who had been skeptical at first.
— Jill Lawless — Twitter http://twitter.com/JillLawless
Better than Sydney?
The Aussie team's chief says the Brits might just do a better job than the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Nick Green tells Australian reporters Tuesday that in his opinion London 2012 will be "the best Olympics ever." The predominantly Australian media responded with mock shock.
Australia's games 12 years ago have until now been considered among the best. But, says Green, "London's learned a lot out of Sydney ... my view is it'll be the best ever."
Edinburgh's finest
Olympic fever hasn't swept through all of Britain — at least not yet.
Most people in Edinburgh, Scotland, are focused on the upcoming Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, an annual festival and demonstration that takes place on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a cheer inside pubs such as Maggie Dickinson's on Grassmarket on Monday when Edinburgh's own cycling star Sir Chris Hoy — already Scotland's most successful Olympian — was chosen to carry the British flag for the Opening Ceremony.
Hoy won his first Olympic gold at the Athens Games, but cemented his legacy in Beijing, where he became the first Brit to win three gold medals in a single Olympics since Henry Taylor in 1908. Hoy was chosen to carry the Union Jack at the Closing Ceremony in 2008, and will now carry it for the Opening Ceremony on Friday after a vote of the 542 members of the British team. Hoy will be trying to defend his gold medals in the keirin and the team sprint when the track cycling program begins.
Just how popular is Hoy in Scotland? The Scottish National Velodrome being built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will be named in his honor.
— Dave Skretta — Twitter http://twitter.com/APdaveskretta
Britain deploys 1,200 more troops
Britain's government opted Tuesday to deploy 1,200 more troops to protect Olympic venues, after a key security contractor failed to supply enough guards.
The fresh troops come only three days before Friday's opening ceremony and mean that some 18,200 U.K. military personnel are now involved in some capacity in securing the London games — dwarfing the 9,500 British troops now in Afghanistan. The decision followed a Cabinet meeting discussing venue security.
"On the eve of the largest peacetime event ever staged in this country, ministers are clear that we should leave nothing to chance," Olympics Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement. " The Government continues to have every confidence that we will deliver a safe and secure Games."
The government put the troops on standby a few days ago, but suggested that was merely a prudent contingency measure that was unlikely to be used. Tuesday's announcement is yet another embarrassment for security provider G4S, which has consistently failed to deliver on its Olympic contract.
Thousands of British soldiers have been sent on short notice to fill the gap in guards. Some of the servicemen have seen their leaves cancelled while others have only recently returned from tours in Afghanistan.
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