London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony Highlights

The London 2012 Olympic Games ended in style on 12 August with a celebration of music, sporting achievement and Olympic fellowship at the Olympic Stadium.

The Closing Ceremony marked the end of an amazing chapter in London's life. The show itself opened with a set featuring iconic London landmarks including:

•     The London Eye

•     St Paul’s Cathedral

•     The Gherkin

•     Battersea Power Station

•     Tower Bridge

•     Royal Albert Hall

•     And last and but not least Big Ben (out of which appeared Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill!)

This section was accompanied by artists from top West End show, Stomp.

British Music Mash-up

We were then treated to a journey through British music with a focus on artists from the last 50 years including The Kinks, George Michael, The Spice Girls, Queen, Tinie Tempah, Jessie J, Kaiser Chiefs, Liam Gallagher, Take That and The Who. You can explore the rich tradition of British pop music at the British Music Experience or revel in Queen’s music at We Will Rock You!

Fashion Rocks!
The ceremony also celebrated fashion with appearance of top models including Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. You can find many top British designers in London along with some of the world best shopping districts. Fashionistas should also head to the V&A and Fashion and Textile Museum.

Looking to the Future

There was an injection of comedy with Eric Idle's rendition of 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'. You can enjoy this and other Monty Python classics in popular musical, Spamalot.

The Olympic flag was passed to Rio de Janeiro ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games and London's Olympic Cauldron extinguished in a dance sequence starring Darcey Bussell. You can discover more about the cauldron at the current Thomas Heatherwick exhibition.

The athletes thoroughly enjoyed the show and Team GB were celebrating their success. You can join them for the Our Greatest Team victory parade in London on 10 September.

Now eyes turn to the London 2012 Paralympic Games from 29 August until 9 September, which promise to be another impressive display of sporting prowess and courage. Beyond that we can look forward to the legacy of London 2012.


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Synchronised Swimming to make splash

The world's top Synchronised Swimming athletes take to the pool in the Duets tomorrow, and there are hopes that the sport will see a surge in popularity as it reaches a worldwide audience.

Great Britain's Synchronised Swimming team practises
Jenna Randall and Olivia Federici practise during a training session at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park.

Great Britain's Jenna Randall, who is paired with Olivia Federici, said the sudden exposure at the Olympic Games will be a welcome boost.

The 23-year-old said: 'It's great for our sport to have that because Synchronised Swimming hasn't been popular in Great Britain until we had the London 2012 Games here.

'Hopefully with this Olympics we'll have more children joining in and wanting to take part in Synchronised Swimming. So it's a great journey for our sport to have that support and people watching.'

She and 22-year-old Federici are part of Britain's eight-strong squad, including Randall's sister Asha, who will begin the Team competition on Thursday.

The Host Nation pair are not daunted by the prospect of competing in front of a big crowd.

Federici said: 'It's going to be positive knowing that everyone's behind you, everyone wants you to do well. Hopefully it will give us an extra boost.'

Randall and Federici competed together in a Duet at Beijing 2008 and came 14th, and last year were ranked ninth in the World Championships.

Key challengers for medals could be Russia, the USA, Canada and Japan, who have all done well at previous Olympic Games.

Danes through after Doubles thriller

Denmark's Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen recorded a thrilling men's Doubles semi-final victory over Republic of Korea's Chung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae to advance to the final on the morning of Day 8.

After a high-quality exhibition, it was the third-seeded Danes who prevailed after coming from behind to win 17-21 21-18 22-20 against the third seeds in 83 minutes.

They will now have the chance to claim only Europe's second Olympic Badminton gold when they take on China's top seeds Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.

The Chinese pair kept their country on course for a possible clean sweep of golds in the tournament with a 21-9 21-19 defeat of Malaysia's Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong.

source london2012.com