2012 London Olympics torch begins its 8,000-mile journey - nola.com
British sailing hero Ben Ainslie kicked off the torch relay for the 2012 London Olympics on Saturday with a stroll through teary, flag-waving crowds who cheered the arrival of the flame in Land's End, England. Hundreds held up mobile phones to snap photos as he jauntily walked past and banged on plastic tambourines handed out by sponsors, creating a roar that shook the hillsides of this picturesque spot — the westernmost point in England.
The sun rose and shone across the moors all day, lifting spirits at a place known for its fog. It was a good-natured start of an event, which lasts for 70 days and ends with the lighting of the cauldron to start the games on July 27.
There were some mishaps along the way.
The torch is carried by torchbearers along part of its journey around Britain, but it also travels in a bus during other parts of the route.
A man who got too close to the torch as it was being carried by a torch bearer was tackled by police officers and pushed out of the way. Metropolitan police who are providing the security for the torch said in a statement that the public should be careful not to get between the torch and police officers guarding it.
A group of disabled patients from a Cornish care home space had gathered along the route to watch the flame, at a spot given to them by the local council, but were disappointed when they realized that the torch would only pass them in a covered bus, not carried aloft by one of the torch bearers. Olympic organizers said the council had mixed up the route and should not have allocated the group a spot where the torch was being driven.
But elsewhere, the mood was jubilant.
Organizers of the London Olympics assume the rest of the world is excited about the Olympics.
But what they are really working on is the people who live here — the people who are paying $14.7 billion to host the event and are wondering whether this is money well spent. The organizers need the torch relay to inspire excitement in Britain ahead of the games. And for the first day anyway, it was working. People got up as early as 4 a.m. to watch the flame rise with the sun.
"It's iconic, isn't it?" said Beverly Wills, 47, who came with her husband and her son. "It's not going to happen again in our lifetime. It brings everyone together."
The flame arrived on British soil Friday night, a week after being captured by the sun's rays in ancient Olympia.
Soccer legend David Beckham and Princess Anne headlined the dignitaries who came to collect it, flying it on BA flight 2012 to the Royal Naval Air Station at Culdrose. The air rescue pilots then flew the flame over to Land's End in the morning. They took a spin over the crowd, and hundreds of hands reached into the air to wave and to cheer.
The crowd's goodwill was not just for the flame. This is an island after all, and the search and rescue team often does rescue people. "It was a great way to celebrate the search and rescue guys," said Paul Deighton, the organizing committee's chief executive. "That's what our torchbearers are to do: honor unsung heroes."
From here on out, it journeys around the country in an 8,000 mile jamboree featuring the same number of runners. It will make appearances at Stonehenge and in Scotland, in Durham and at Dover, in London and in Liverpool. Organizers are proud of saying that the flame will come within 10 miles of 95 percent of the British population.
They are hoping, together with tourism officials, to create a video calling card of all things pretty and British — a sort of running "come and visit us commercial."
This is part of the reason to host the Olympics in the first place — to bring tourism, attention and money into the country.
The people of Cornwall — and especially those who clogged Land's End on Saturday — think it is perfectly appropriate that the tour should begin with them. As the name suggests, this place likes to think of itself as the craggy edge of the world. A signpost beside Ainslie as he picked up the torch offers a helpful milestone and an arrow "New York, 3,147." The Isles of Scilly, by helpful contrast, are a mere 28 miles.
"We're glad that Cornwall is in this," said Callum Brown, 13, who sat with his class, Union flags at the ready, waiting for Ainslie's appearance. "It will be good for the wider UK."
Cornwall could use a little attention.
It is surrounded by miles of rugged beaches and cliffs, and is often portrayed as an escape hatch for hip celebrities. But the reality means that this naturally beautiful corner of England has struggled economically, especially in the off season.
One big draw to the area recently has been the Eden Project, a biodiversity program that features the world's largest greenhouse. Not surprisingly, the sanctuary devoted to all things green and sustainable was a key stop on day No. 1 of the torch tour. The torch bearer is to rise above the tree canopy in a balloon. The flame will be held in a miner's lamp — as explosions are not part of the plan.
Danica Kirka of The Associated Press wrote this report.
London 2012 Olympics: Lawrence Okoye improves British discus record - The Guardian
Lawrence Okoye has broken his British discus record at the Halle Throws International in Germany. The 20-year-old, who is the reigning European under-23 champion, held the previous national best with a throw of 67.63 metres in London last July.
But he produced an effort of 68.24m in the fourth round of throws to finish third and provide the British highlight of the event, showing the form that could take him a long way at London 2012.
Germany's two-times world champion Robert Harting took first place with a throw of 70.31, ahead of Poland's Olympic silver medallist Piotr Malachowski, who had four throws of 68m, including a best of 68.94.
Okoye's British team-mates Abdul Buhari and Brett Morse finished in ninth and 11th, after respective best efforts of 61.22 and 59.72, both well below their personal bests.
The Scottish hammer thrower Mark Dry, who has already achieved the Olympic B qualification standard, fell just short of his personal best in finishing fifth in his event with a best of 73.88. His fellow British thrower Alex Smith was 10th with 71.68.
Sophie Hitchon, who has already set the A Olympic standard, finished fourth in the women's hammer with 70.09, while Jade Nicholls and Eden Francis were 11th and 12th in the discus with throws of 56.93 and 56.54.
'London 2012 - The Official Videogame of the Olympic Games' preview - Digital Spy
London 2012 torch relay starts in Britain - Assam Tribune
LANDS END (UK), May 19 (AFP): Sailor Ben Ainslie was the first torchbearer as the Olympic flame began its 70-day journey around Britain and Ireland today ahead of the 2012 London Games.
The flame arrived in Britain from Greece yesterday and was flown to Lands End, the southwesterly tip of England, today by a Royal Navy helicopter before it was used to light the torch for the start of the 8,000 mile (12,875-kilometre) relay.
Ainslie, who has won gold medals in sailing at the last three Olympics, then walked just 300 metres, allowing some of the 3,500 spectators lining the route in the morning sunshine to touch the gold-coloured torch.
The yachtsman, wearing the number 001 on his T-shirt as the first torchbearer, then passed on the torch to 18-year-old Anastassia Swallow, a surfer who is hoping that her sport will one day become an Olympic discipline.
Ainslie, who on Friday won a sixth world title in the Finn class as he prepares for an attempt to win a fourth Olympic gold, said it had been a special moment for him to start the relay in his home county of Cornwall.
It was pretty emotional, so much effort has gone into getting the Olympics in London and it means so much to everyone involved, he said.
On its first day, the torch will be carried through Cornwall to the city of Plymouth.
Over the next 10 weeks, 8,000 people will carry the torch as it makes its way around the United Kingdom and heads for the Olympic Stadium in east London for the opening ceremony on July 27.
It will travel through 1,019 cities, towns and villages and visit landmarks such as Stonehenge.
From June 3-7, it will go to Northern Ireland and then the Republic of Ireland the only country outside the United Kingdom on the torch route.
No overseas legs of the relay have been planned this year after those before the 2008 Beijing Games was hit by protests against China.
The flame was lit in Ancient Olympia in Greece on May 10 and was handed over to the British delegation in Athens in a rain-blighted ceremony on Thursday.
It was flown to Britain encased in a special lantern on board a British Airways plane renamed The Firefly for the occasion, accompanied by football star David Beckham and Princess Anne, the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II.
Beckham had the honour of lighting the first torch at the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall on Friday.
In contrast to the shoestring operation when Britain last hosted the Olympics in 1948, this years relay is a big-budget affair, with parties and public events at each of its stops.
London 2012: Jason Smyth just outside Olympic standard - BBC News
Paralympic star Jason Smyth just missed out on achieving the 100m Olympic standard as he clocked a time of 10.24 seconds in Florida on Saturday.
The Northern Irishman's time was 0.06 seconds outside the Olympic A standard in the meeting at the National Training Centre in Clermont.
Smyth will chase the London standard again at meetings in the US over the next three weeks.
The 24-year-old trains alongside Tyson Gay at the Clermont venue.
The Derryman's set his personal best of 10.22 at the same track a year ago and Saturday's run is his second fastest ever 100m.
Earlier, Smyth had clocked a wind-assisted 10.23 in the heats in Saturday's meeting.
"I'm delighted with that. It's a fantastic season opener for him," said Smyth's coach Stephen Maguire.
"He made a few mistakes in both races so there's more to come."
Smyth has been training alongside top athletes such as American star Gay at his regular Florida base since November.
Like South African star Oscar Pistorius, Smyth's main career ambition is to compete at both this year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.
He competes in Orlando next week before racing again at the Clermont venue on 2 June.
The 24-year-old has also received an invitation to the Diamond League meeting in New York on 9 June.
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