London 2012 Olympics: Gold rush continues into the final hours

It is no exaggeration; by hosting the most successful Olympics games ever, the organizers, sportsmen/women and consistently-jubilant supporters have collectively put ‘Great’ back in Britain without any shadow of doubt. The organizers are especially praised for managing to keep the game-related controversies to a bare minimum, defying the critics both here and abroad.

The unpatrolled success bolstered the age-old maxim, “Well begun is half done,” once again: the opening ceremony was so successful that even the leaders of Britain’s traditional rivals could not resist admiring the breathtakingly-unique spectacle while taking subtle swipes at things in other areas, i.e., political and economic realms.

The hero of the hour is the chairman of Games Organizer, Lord Coe, a previous Olympic gold medallist himself. Lord Coe proved that the Olympic medallists can achieve success in other areas of life too, perhaps thanks to the cumulative effect of what is in their DNA, the determination to achieve the ultimate goal and the disciplined focus throughout the process.

At the time of writing this column, the number of gold medals won by the British athletes stand at 27 with the total at 60. America and China are leading the medal table with Russia and South Korea trailing behind at 4th and 5th places respectively. The gold rush will continue on Sunday, as there are 15 medals, still to be won.

The immense success of women athletes and those who are from ethnic minorities does help Britain secure its place on the moral high ground, especially at a time when some folks from East European countries still had the courage to perform Nazi salutes and chant monkey-noises at the Black security guards while supporting their native teams in the Olympics: the success of Mo Farah – the winner of two gold medals - who was born in Somalia, is one such case in point.

The organizers are determined not to disappoint the billion-odd global audience during the closing ceremony too, which is due to start at 9 pm British Summer Time. The leaked reports indicate that the closing ceremony is going to revolve around the achievements in British music; Spice Girls and George Michael have already confirmed about their participation, in addition to 3000-odd artists.

We can only hope that the musical theme can co-exist with another great British national element – humour.

Danny Boyle and his team triggered off a universal laugh while letting the Queen ‘parachute down’ from a stationary helicopter at the opening ceremony. At this stage we do not know whether Kim Gavin, Mr Boyle’s successor and the director of the closing ceremony, has an ace up his sleeve to match the brilliance of his predecessor.

Since Her Majesty the Queen cannot ‘parachute down’ to the stadium again, a rope can be thrown down from the same helicopter for her to reverse the initial manoeuvre – and to complement what has already achieved.

Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the planet, has already disproved the myth that ‘lightning’ never strikes twice in the same place – when that place turned out to be an Olympic park. The Queen can emulate the Olympian from a Commonwealth nation by smashing down another commonly-held perception yet again – much to the delight of her subjects.

-Asian Tribune -