London on
The Shortlist for the 2012 Olympics
The London Eye
18 May 2004
Today at the London Eye big wheel on the river Thames there
is a
party to thank those who have supported London’s Bid to host the 2012
Games here. Ian McKellen was invited to give speech of welcome:
Who here was born in London? Which means the majority
here are visiting today or like me have chosen to live in the greatest city
in the world. London has always welcomed outsiders, foreigners, immigrants,
country-bumpkins - whatever we call ourselves. And temporary visitors too.
200 years ago a poet visiting from up north stood over
there on Westminster Bridge and wrote his sonnet in praise of London:
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning: silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky,
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
Not any more it isn’t! These days London’s heart
beats noisily and pounds with the throb of dealing in the nation’s business,
its politics, culture, arts and more. And today all our hearts must be
thumping with joy and relief that London is definitely on the shortlist, has
been awarded the Rings and is en route to host the Olympic games once more
after 64 years. About time too!
In 1948 I watched the UK Olympics at home on television -
the first Games ever to be televised. In 2012, the image of the host city
will speed round the world faster than Denise Lewis even, so that in a sense
everybody wherever they care about sport and excellence can join in the
excitement. In UK of course we would be particularly involved most of all
in London if we win the bid. So in congratulating the team of professionals
and volunteers and advisors who have succeeded so far, it’s a good time to
imagine what might be. How London will swell not just with pride but
literally grow, reviving east London, providing lasting sports facilities -
such things that ought to be done anyway but mightn’t happen unless the
Games end up coming here.
It’s more than just hoping, it’s about feeling good about
London and what it already offers all its residents and visitors. The
Olympics and Paralympics would encourage us not to wallow in past glories
but to live in the present as the torch is lit, as the starting gun cracks
or as the flags are raised and to imagine the future - not dream about it
but actually build it. Who better than to ask us to toast London than the
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone?
"Upon Westminster Bridge" written by
William Wordsworth, 3 September 1802
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