Today is the 100-day mark before the London Games Opening Ceremony on July 27, and LOCOG officials indicated that except for a "few glitches, the Olympic rollout has gone fairly smoothly, a showcase of British know-how and efficiency,” according to Henry Chu of the L.A. TIMES. Construction on “several new stadiums is finished or nearly there, an extensive transportation plan is being refined, a massive security operation is underway and tickets have sold like hot cakes.” London's status as an "expensive destination has been amply borne out by the Games' price tag, which started at less than $4 billion but has been marked up several times to the latest figure, a whopping $15 billion.” Critics said that the number “could rise to as much as $21 billion in the end, which, though only half of what China spent on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, is an immense sum in a time of the harshest government cutbacks in a generation.” Chu notes in “many ways, more thought has gone into how to capitalize on the Olympics' high profile, afterglow and infrastructure than any previous Games.” LOCOG’s plans for the Olympic legacy, particularly how new stadiums “will be put to use after all the visitors go home, were key to winning the hosting contest back in 2005.” Some bumps “will probably be inevitable,” but U.K. Trade & Investment Olympic Legacy Managing Dir Alan Collins is “confident that the Games' glow has already begun.” Collins: "It would have to be a pretty major glitch to knock the shine off. We're going to stage a great Olympics" (L.A. TIMES, 4/18). NBC’s Matt Lauer notes the Olympic Stadium and "more than 30 venues throughout the United Kingdom are all but ready," while some temporary structures are "still to come." There are “final tests to be done and final qualifying rounds to be won, final touches to the huge bell that will ring in the Opening Ceremony and some 8,000 torchbearers to rehearse” ("Today," NBC, 4/18).
LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN: LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe said, "One hundred days has got that ring of 'it's here.' It is a big moment. The really important facet of all this is that it's 100 days before we welcome the world. Of course, there has been interest in other Games. But I don't think I've ever witnessed a level of excitement at this level in so many different countries for what we're doing" (GUARDIAN, 4/17). He added, " "It's a big day for us: 100 days to go. I think that we recognise that this is the moment that we really do start getting ready for celebrating and welcoming the world. Not just the 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic competitors that will be with us." In London, Brendan Meyer notes Coe was “confident security would not be a concern and that the balance between too much and too little would be struck” (London INDEPENDENT, 4/18). The GUARDIAN’s Owen Gibson notes LOCOG officials have “hardly put a foot wrong so far -- but the sternest test comes in the final phase.” They have “just 100 days to prepare for the biggest logistical peacetime exercise Britain has seen.” There is “no mad panic to finish the venues on time and while demand for tickets might have created its issues, to have sold so many is also unprecedented.” But it is “obsessive attention to detail in the next 100 days -- from the final ticket sales in early May to the torch relay days later -- that will ensure the chance of a medal is not discarded before the flame is even lit” (GUARDIAN, 4/18). In London, Charlie Cooper writes under the header, “London 2012: It’s Almost Here -- But Are We Ready?” (London INDEPENDENT, 4/18).
DRESS REHEARSAL: In London, Jacquelin Magnay reports the London Police Department's “torch relay protection will comprise five teams of seven officers running alongside and around the torch flame bearer to prevent any chaotic scenes that accompanied the Beijing Olympic torch relay four years ago.” A “full dress rehearsal of the torch relay will be enacted for 80 miles between Leicester and Peterborough" on Friday involving the 14 "cars and trucks in the convoy and up to a further 90 vehicles, such as sponsor vehicles and the BBC accompanying the relay.” LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton “pleaded that the torch relay be allowed to showcase ‘ordinary people who have done extraordinary things for the community’” Deighton: "It would be absolutely terrible to ruin that moment for these people" (London TELEGRAPH, 4/18).
FROM THE TOP ON DOWN: In a special for the TAMPA BAY TIMES, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron writes, “What will London 2012 offer? As the only city to be awarded the Olympics three times, we'll be holding the Games in a great tradition.” He added, “My view is that these Games are about two things: sport and legacy. Sport will be the heart of this great competition. We will see world records broken, memories created and new friendships begun during the Games themselves.” Cameron continues: “When the events are over and the medals handed out, I am determined that these Olympics will deliver a legacy. ... I want these Games to be about more than just welcoming athletes to London for a single summer” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 4/18).
DOING IT BIG IN THE BIG APPLE: In Denver, John Henderson notes the USOC is commemorating the 100-day mark “by using New York as a launch pad to London.” It has turned Times Square into “a scaled-down Olympic Village,” and 100 athletes “will roam the grounds giving autographs and interviews.” They will have “exhibitions in judo, taekwondo, rhythmic gymnastics, boxing and fencing.” Henderson writes this is a “massively important Olympics for the USOC.” Since its “makeover” in ‘10, after Scott Blackmun took over as CEO following “a turbulent 2009 when Jim Scherr was ousted and replaced on an interim basis by Stephanie Street, the businesslike approach has had mixed results” (DENVER POST, 4/18).
