Day one... and Britain's got Olympic fever (even losing our first Gold can't diminish the euphoria)

By PATRICK COLLINS

Crossing the line: Cavendish (second from right) despite support from British teammates including Bradley Wiggins, could not match the pace of the leading pack and finished 29th

On a golden afternoon in high summer, more than a million people gathered on the streets of London to watch a bike race.
The British riders, who were expected to triumph, finished far down the field, but nobody complained, nobody demanded explanations. For they had played their part in the Olympics. And that was enough.
Close by the finish line, in a grandstand on The Mall, the great and the good surveyed the scene. Jeremy Hunt, Ed Miliband, the Princess Royal, they had all turned out to support the British favourite Mark Cavendish, perhaps to bathe in his anticipated glory.

Disappointment: Cavendish finished in 29th place after hours of racing, left, while his girlfriend Peta Todd, right, pictured with their young daughter Delilah, let her emotions show

Buzz: Cyclists make their way past crowds at Queen Victoria Monument and Buckingham Palace in central London

Yet they too seemed sanguine about the result, because they knew that something extraordinary is happening. A £9.5 billion gamble may be about to pay off. Britain has fallen in love with the Games.
The astonishing evidence could be found in the pocket of another of those grandstand guests. Lord Patten, the chairman of the BBC, was carrying some of the most remarkable audience figures in the history of British television. No fewer than 27 million people had watched Friday evening’s Opening Ceremony. More amazing, 20 million were still watching at midnight. Small wonder there was a distinct smugness in his Lordship’s smile.
Even the wilder optimists were unprepared for such statistics. Britain is a country sunk in double-dip recession, with unemployment savagely biting, family spending power slashed and economic forecasts growing more sombre by the month. Yet the 19 days of Olympic competition are set to shatter attendance records in the 34 venues across the UK.

Hope: Around a million people lined the roads to watch Bradley Wiggins, front, and teammates go for gold in the Men's Road Cycling race at the 2012 Summer Olympics


Strain: Bradley Wiggins, just a few days after becoming the first Britain to win the Tour De France, rides on the front of the Men's Road Race Road

Support: Spectators cheer and takes pictures as the pack ride past during the Men's Road Cycling race at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Flying the flag: One young fan showed her support by painting her face in the colours of the Union Jack, while another carried the colours of the Isle of Man, from where Cavendish hails

Even a month ago, the notion that impoverished Britain might soon be contemplating the feel-good factor would have seemed a tasteless joke. Yet the mood is euphoric, the interest unprecedented.
It is as if the country had been searching for something that would lift the spirits; something at which we could excel by cleverness, resourcefulness, originality. Well, the search is over. We are entertaining 10,490 athletes in 26 sports, and we are revelling in the experience.
And that mood was set by that exhilarating ceremony. Of the ten Olympic openings I have covered, this was the only one that has made me eager to watch it again.

Fight to the finish: Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov dashed Britain's hopes of an early gold medal by powering to victory over favourite Mark Cavendish

The director, Danny Boyle, had set out with the agreeable ambition of making us feel better about ourselves, painting the nation in its finest, quirkiest colours. He brought it off quite brilliantly.
The secrets of the evening had been preserved to an extraordinary degree. Media organisations had placed discretion before revelation. The Twitterati had behaved with rare responsibility, while the young performers had taken to heart Boyle’s strictures on silence.
Just last week, a 12-year-old boy from Dockhead in South London returned from the latest of a series of rehearsals. ‘How’s it coming along?’ asked his father. ‘Can’t say a word, Dad,’ said the lad. ‘Not even to you.’
And it was a secret worth keeping. By turns witty, elegant, poignant and reflective, Boyle’s control was assured, unwavering. There was never a hint of the bombast or chest-thumping which had characterised previous Olympic ceremonies, not a trace of boasting.
Instead, he set out to portray the British at their most appealing; slightly self-deprecating, occasionally sentimental, strangely vulnerable and pleasingly puzzled by their ability to produce down the decades a profusion of talent akin to genius.

Royal approval: Before the race Mark Cavendish had briefly chatted with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall

He succeeded. And it would greatly assist the new mood of national wellbeing if what the marketing people insist on calling ‘Team GB’ were equally successful.
Huge expectations have been placed upon young athletes, some of whom would struggle to be recognised in their own communities. Yet the hope and expectation is that this will not be a Games conducted in the shadow of a medals table.
The loudest cheers in The Mall yesterday were, quite naturally, for the Britons. But there was a courteous appreciation of the victor, Alexandr Vinokurov from Kazakhstan, just as each competing nation received generous ovations as they circled the Olympic Stadium on Friday evening.
It is as if the British are desperately anxious to be seen at their best, to embody the impression – often tarnished but never quite erased – that this remains the natural home of sportsmanship and fair play.


National pride: Flag-waving spectators at the Olympic Park in East London yesterday

Stunning: Fireworks at the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium, watched by more than a million people around the globe

Spectacular: Fireworks explode over the roof of the stadium during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games

Around 27¿million British viewers watched Friday evening¿s amazing Opening Ceremony

Explosive scenes: Fireworks light the sky over Tower Bridge in London during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games

Line of fire: The spectacular fireworks finale lights up the sky above and around the Olympic Stadium

And so the nation, beguiled by the dazzling success of the Torch Relay and now entranced by the style and spectacle of that opening, has taken the collective decision that the London Olympics are a rather good thing, greatly to be encouraged.
As such, it has decided to make the very most of them, to act as generous hosts, to inhale deeply of that famously addictive Olympic spirit.
Times remain tough, economic redemption a distant dream. Yet we appear determined that the Games will bring out the best we have to offer. And some may even have been stirred by that phrase of Sebastian Coe; it was a bold claim, susceptible to cynicism yet seeming to capture the mood of the nation.
‘This is our time,’ said Coe. ‘And one day we will tell our children and grandchildren that when our time came, we did it right.’ The line was delivered soon after midnight on Friday. And across the land, 20 million murmured Amen.



source: dailymail