London 2012 Olympics - Reviewed

Published by Elaine Arthur on 13 August 2012

London Olympics 2012: Even the most hardened of naysayers will struggle to argue that this summer’s marquee event was nothing other than a resounding success. The athletes were incredible, the venues phenomenal and the crowds so passionate they could have stepped straight from the pages of an Erika Leonard novel. From Danny Boyle’s breathtaking opening ceremony to Liu Xiang’s double hurdle heartbreak and everything in between the Games has been spellbinding.

To limit our favourite moments to just five does not do justice to the last 3 weeks have all been privileged to be a part of but here are our top 5 (admittedly very British biased) Olympic 2012 moments.

The Opening Ceremony
A complete one off and a moment in time. Danny Boyle captured the essence of Britain in his 4 hour extravaganza that featured everything from Harry Potter to our very own Arctic Monkeys. This truly was a once in a lifetime show and set the standard for the incredible events that were to follow. Even managing to rope in the Queen for a James Bond spoof which showed Liz parachuting from a helicopter into the stadium. Absolutely breathtaking.
Best Moment: Too many to mention but the tribute the NHS was pure genius.

Wiggins Wins The Time Trial
We are still baffled as to how Bradley Wiggins even managed to get back in the saddle after his Tour de France heroics just a few short weeks ago – never mind take home the gold medal! In doing so he became the most decorated Olympian in British history. A phenomenal achievement anyway but considering he cycled over 3000 kilometres in 21 days just prior to the start of the Games just makes it all the more special. All this and we haven’t even mentioned he’s got the coolest haircut at the Games.
Best Moment: Post-race Wiggins cycled out to meet fans who weren’t lucky enough to have tickets to see the finish or the medal presentation.

Bolt Retains 100m Sprint Title
The undisputed fastest man on the planet made mincemeat of a very strong field in the 100m and in doing so silenced critics who had dared doubt his ability in the build up to London 2012. As ever – Bolt was slow out of the blocks but as he approached halfway his electric turn of foot left his training partners Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake standing and saw the Jamaican win with quite a bit in hand. The way he hosed up in consecutive events 200m and the 4×100m relay left us thinking could there be even more to come from this incredible athlete?
Best Moment: Bolt wagging his finger to the world as he crossed the line to say – “Did you really doubt me?”

Jessica Ennis – Britain’s Golden Girl
How could we not mention our very own Jess? Now confirmed as the best all-round athlete in the world she withstood 3 days of gruelling track and field events to scoop the greatest achievement of her career. In the last 800m event Jess had no right to take 1st place from her position approaching the bend but she dug deep and found another gear which propelled her towards the line and Olympic history.
Best Moment: Jess welling up as she stood on the podium collecting her medal. We all cried with you Jess!

Mo’s Deadly Double
The UK’s finest ever distance runner lived up to his billing at this Games and became the 1st ever British Olympian to hold both the 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals. Seemingly toying with his opponents, Mo casualy dropped on and off the pace conserving energy for the final lap in which he blew his rivals out of the water. It was the perfect icing on the most spectacular of cakes that have been the 2012 Games.
Best Moment: Mo having enough energy left for a few sit ups post race as well as his now world famous ‘Mobot’ celebration.

Over to you Brazil, see you all in Rio x

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