Brace yourselves for the next London 2012 Olympic milestone

[richard]

It may not have escaped your attention that there is an Olympics on shortly. If by some chance it had passed you by, welcome out from under the duvet, and be warned, there'll be slim chance of avoiding it in the months ahead.

After six years of argument, anxiety and inflating budgets, Olympic year is upon us, and between now and July 27 Games organisers will not miss a trick as they try to whip up excitement in a population that has other things to worry about. Like paying the bills.

It started with David Cameron’s New Year’s message, in which he strapped his government’s prospects to the success of the Games, reasoning privately that come August it may be the best, perhaps the only, means of lifting spirits and his political prospects.

But vibrant crowds and a welcoming, cheerful population will do wonders for more than the Coalition. Anyone who was in Sydney for the 2000 Games will tell you the smiling volunteers and general good cheer helped disguise genuine transport problems in the opening days. So for the London organising committee (Locog) there are practical reasons for stoking the public mood.

Ticket sales have gone well but a whopping 1.2m remain unsold, largely for football matches of limited appeal. Shifting those when they go on sale in April will be easier if a feel-good factor can be manufactured in the coming months.

A well-disposed nation will also help absorb the practical problems and inconveniences that are guaranteed to arise in Olympic year.

For those not involved there will be disruption and hassle when the Olympic family pitches its tents and turns London into a state-within-a-state.

With media scrutiny intensifying even relatively minor issues could become major public-relations problems, as the embarrassing unsynchronised ticketing screw-up of the last 24 hours has proved.

Major issues, such as the knife-edge state of London’s transport infrastructure and the ever-present security shadow, have the potential to genuinely derail planning and public perception.

Add a grim economic climate grim that might make the £9.3bn cost start to look a tad indulgent, and no wonder Locog and the government want as much goodwill in the air as possible.

So brace yourselves for a barrage of hype in the coming months. On Monday, for example, it will be 200 days until the Opening Ceremony, a landmark that itself falls just 18 days before the six-months-to-go moment on January 27.

In February it’s 200 days to the Paralympics, in March the IOC arrive for their final inspection visit, and in April it will be 100 days to go. By then you will probably be marking the days off on your own calendar into May, when the Olympic torch will arrive in the UK

It’s at this point that genuine excitement should start to build. The flame will pass the length and breadth of Britain, trailing real anticipation in its wake.

Until then, happy 200 days to go.


Source
By Paul Kelso
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph