Let the Games begin...

Posted by sarah at Fri, 08/08/2008 - 1:33pm in

Olympic fever swept the Mandate offices this lunch time with the explosive start to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.   The Games burst into life with a breathtaking display of fireworks, music (er, anyone else confused by the choice of bagpipes) and dancing.

In the lead up to the Games the Chinese made clear their intent to host the "best ever" Games and today's opening certainly lived up to hype.  The Chinese sure know how to throw a party - today's festivities were complete with a military band, dancing puppets, a 16 tonne globe and 20,000 fireworks.

The Mandate office cheered on Team GB as they entered the Birds Nest led by five time Olympian Mark Foster.  A sweepstake was shortly in full swing and the supremo of Enging Running, Ben Cummings, is the lucky owner of the USA.   I on the other hand will be supporting Namibia for the next 17 days.

The Olympics will undoubtedly dominate screens across the country for the next 17 days with the BBC showing a staggering 2,750 hours of Olympic highlights and if that isn't enough you can see all the action from live sites across the country.

We will all be watching with baited breath as the UK takes the baton from Beijing as the next host of the Games with Mayor of London, Boris Johnson receiving the Olympic flag - no pressure, just 1 billion people worldwide watching the handover!

The excitement of the opening ceremony only serves to remind us that we are next and all eyes will soon fall on London. 1,482 days and counting.....

Tagged with: Beijing, Sport