The Opening Ceremony was as fantastic an event as I've seen since Cathy Freeman stole the show on that amazing night in Sydney in 2000. Everything was epic, from the music to the fireworks to the Queen and James Bond in Buckingham Palace, Danny Boyle crafted a superb masterpiece. It was good to see that the actual lighting of the flame was done in a manner that departed from the norm. Instead of famous former Olympic athletes or other sportsmen - I can't understand how people could imagine that David Beckham might've gotten the nod - it was ignited by the future of British sport, which was a nice touch, and will be long remembered.
Congratulations to China and their shooter Siling Yi who won the first gold medal of the Games of the 30th Olympiad, in the Women's 10m Air Rifle at the Royal Artillery Barracks. That's a wonderful accomplishment.
GOLD AUSTRALIA!! The girls in the 4x100m freestyle relay broke an Olympic record (3:33.15) and took home our country's first gold medal! Alicia Coutts, Cate Campbell, Britany Elmslie and Melanie Schlanger, welcome to Australian sporting immortality! Schalnger's final leg was perfect. Go Aussie!! Pulsating call by Ray Hadley. Say what you will about his non-sporting radio broadcasts, but he brought the moment into Australian lounge rooms beautifully. So great to hear that Australian national anthem ring out!!
The men's cycling road race didn't quite go to plan for Team Great Britain, who tried and tried and tried and ultimately failed to control the 250km event that was run at a furious pace through the streets and parks of London. The final sprint towards Buckingham Palace that Team GB wanted never materialised, the race never run the way they wanted it to be run. Really, who could've imagined that the medal places would be filled by riders from, in order, Kazakhstan, Colombia and Norway, when it seemed like Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish were poised to deliver a gold-silver blow for the locals.
Michael Phelps and his quest for immortality got off to a shaky start at the pool on the first night of finals, finishing 4th in the Men's 400m Individual Medley. It was another American, the quickly-emerging Ryan Lochte who won, checking out halfway through the race and wasn't headed after that. He was on World Record pace during the first half of the event, but swimming on his own without any meaningful competition probably squashed that chance. Still, an impressive swim from the American, who the experts say might be just as good as Phelps. Watch out for him in four years time? Watch out for him in the next few days. It'll be great to see a neck-and-neck Phelps vs. Lochte race like we saw Hackett vs. Thorpe in Sydney.
Twenty-year-old Sun Yang can lay claim to breaking the the first WR of the London 2012 swimming competition, winning the men's 400m freestyle with the reigning world champion Taehwan Park coming in second. That was a story in itself, the North Korean having earlier been sensationally disqualified from his heat and then, even more sensationally, later reinstated for the final. There was no shortage of pool-deck drama on the opening day.
Stephanie Rice had a Michael Phelps moment, not exactly showing her best - or at least the best that we've become used to seeing - in the women's 400m Individual Medley. Although she was up in the lead early on, she faded badly, coming home in sixth, well adrift of the wonderful USA vs. China battle that ended with 16-year-old Chinese swimmer Shiwen Ye smashing the world record, with her Chinese compatriot LI Xuanxu in third. Very good start in the pool for the Chinese team.
Australia got one over Great Britain - never a bad thing, especially in the current sporting climate with them beating us regularly in just about everything - with the Opals, favourite for gold in women's basketball, doing their work nicely, recording a 74-58 win over the home team. Business as usual for the Opals, with Lauren Jackson scoring 18 and Suzie Batkovic grabbing 10. Of course, the more stern tests for the ladies are yet to arrive.
Tomorrow: looking forward to seeing the men's basketball team in action on the second day of competition and the Hockeyroos, amongst others. Team sports are really ramping up.
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