Cook's Tour - at the London Games
The author was born in England and is both a British and Australian passport holder. He will decide at the end of the Games which document he will use to leave the country.
Cook’s Tour – July 25.
It rained. Then it rained some more and the good folk of old London town worried that their spectacular Olympic Games would be a wash out.
And then the sun shone. T-shirts came off, roads melted and the world was grand again.
But as is England’s way, the glorious rays were never going to last forever and, on cue, the forecast is for an opening ceremony showered with fireworks - and a decent dose of H20.
Not that too many people are greatly worried about that.
After the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and Bradley Wiggins’ historic Tour de France victory, the Brits* are feeling good about themselves and the expectation is that these Olympic Games will place an emphatic exclamation mark on the celebrations.
After England’s football team lived up to no great expectations by crashing out of last month’s European Championships, Wiggins’ breakthrough victory was a perfect antidote.
He’s a proper Londoner, too, so his success has given the locals a little bit of a spring in their step as they go about their (bare) chest banging.
The Brits expect medals in the pool, at the velodrome and at just about every event across the spectacular and sprawling Olympic Park and out to the far reaches of the city.
They could even have a golden nugget very early in proceedings when cyclist Mark Cavendish – him of Tour sprint fame - heads for the finish line in Saturday’s road race.
I’m planning to be there, wondering if Cadel Evans and company can spring an upset.
But what to take? The anorak or the sunglasses? Think I’ll take them both.
