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Wiff WAFF, as Boris Johnson, Lord Mayor of London, announced to the Olympic hosts in Beijing in 2008, had ‘returned home’.
Table tennis, or ping pong, to use the game’s more common name, may not be the highest profile of the sports in London 2012, but nor is it the only sport created by the British.
With football, sailing, cycling and boxing among 25 other sports invented by the hosts, it seems only fitting that London becomes the first city to stage its third Olympics.
With the British also being noted for being the first to introduce sports into the school curriculum it was also apt that seven aspiring young athletes, hand-selected by famous British Olympians, lit the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony, the organisers fulfilling their promise to inspire future generations.
The quirky ceremony was spectacular at times but divided opinion as precisely as a stopwatch separated the winners from the losers in the swimming pool later the next day.
A specially-commissioned bell was rung by Britain’s first Tour de France winner, Bradley Wiggins, to mark the commencement of the ceremony before the 30th Olympiad of the modern era was declared open by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, having recovered from her helicopter parachute jump with James Bond!
The evening culminated when the torch arrived, after completing its 12,800 mile journey, at the Olympic Stadium in the hands of Sir Steven Redgrave before being passed to the young athletes for the formal lighting of the cauldron.
The coming together of the 204 petals of the cauldron, one for each nation represented, was a peaceful symbol of the start of 17 days of competition where friendship, respect and fair play are expected to come to the fore with a reminder to all Olympians that the competition is not about whether you win but how you compete.
Ironically, someone could have mentioned this to the footballers who officially kicked off the Olympics two days before the opening ceremony. Football has been an occasionally controversial addition to the Olympics. Without even considering the length of the schedule that forced the early matches, while watching the Senegalese snap at the heels and ankles of the British players it made the crowd wonder about the presence of sportsmanship.
At least they helped deflect the criticism of ‘Plastic Brits’ as this time it was the Welsh refusing to sing the national anthem rather than naturalised sportspersons simply not knowing the words!
The crowd, consisting of families spanning several generations, certainly not your archetypal fans, generated a polite and enthusiastic atmosphere, getting behind Team GB as they tried to follow in the footsteps of the ladies who kicked off the tournament with a laboured victory over New Zealand.
In keeping with the quirky nature of the opening, the first world record of the Games was set before the opening ceremony even started by a legally blind South Korean in the archery. Im Dong-Hyun broke his own 72 arrow score of 696 by three points. The 26-year-old refuses contact lenses or glasses to improve his vision (20/200 in the left and 20/100 in the right) as he cannot shoot as well!
With so many events running simultaneously it’s almost impossible to keep track of everything.
The main competitors that I will be watching include Bradley Wiggins, already the holder of three gold Olympic medals from his track days, getting the opportunity in the individual time trial to succeed where Mark Cavendish did not. Will Bradley be the man in this event for whom the bell tolls? The riders start today at 4.15pm, Bahrain time.
I would also recommend, keeping with cycling, looking across London to the ‘Pringle’ where the track cyclists will be competing. The men’s team sprint will be Sir Chris Hoy’s first attempt to overhaul Sir Steve Redgrave’s British record haul of five gold medals. Australia starts as favourites – tomorrow starting at 8.10pm.
Other team sports of interest are at Eton Dorney where the rowers will be in the process of deciding who stands on the podium after several days of heats. The fastest of the boats is the men’s eight in which the powerful German crew are the dominant force.
However, hopes are high for the GB squad that includes Greg Searle who will be having one last hurrah at the age of 40, 20 years after his first Games at Barcelona where he won the coxed pairs. He will be joined in the boat by Constantine Louloudis, one of the youngest competitors - today at 2.30pm.
If you prefer individual sports then track and field will shortly commence. Jessica Ennis, London’s poster girl, is always worth watching for the intensity and determination she brings in striving to overcome the Russian world champion, Tatyana Chernova.
She starts competition on Friday at 12.05pm with the 100m hurdles and high jump. Oscar Pistorius will make Olympic history at 12.35pm on Saturday when he runs in the heats of the 400m, in the process becoming the first amputee to run at the Olympics with able-bodied athletes. Usain Bolt also takes to the track for the 100m heats at 2.30pm.
Spectacular competition is also guaranteed at the North Greenwich Arena where the gymnasts will put personal ambition ahead of the team as the individual disciplines commence this evening at 6.30pm with the women following suit the next day.
In the pool, attention will continue to focus on the rivalry between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, the latter having drawn ‘first blood’ in the 400m individual medlay.
