Let the Games begin!

By: HELGE SCHUTZ in LONDON

THE biggest show on earth, the Olympic Games, will get underway tonight when more than one billion people are expected to view the opening ceremony on television.

A total of 62 000 spectators will pack the Olympic Stadium to watch 10 000 performers and the estimated 16 000 athletes from more than 200 countries who will be streaming in and marching around the track for the opening ceremony.
Although details of the the opening ceremony are still a closely guarded secret, it is already common knowledge that the stadium has been transformed into a British rural idyll.
An estimated 100 000 people, consisting mostly of London 2012 volunteer, competition winners and others connected to the Games, have already seen the opening ceremony in two dress rehearsals earlier this week but they were not allowed to talk about what they saw.
The Namibian team is also nearly at full strength with most of the athletes having arrived.
Boxers Mujandjae Kasuto and Jonas Matheus arrived from Cuba on Wednesday, while shottist Gaby Ahrens and cyclist Marc Bassingthwaite arrived from Windhoek. 400m athlete Tjipekapora Herunga and her coach Letu Hamhola arrived from Europe, where she has been competing on the IAAF circuit.
The only outstanding athletes now are marathon runners Helalia Johannes and Beata Naigambo, who will both arrive in London on Tuesday.
The Olympic Games competition has already started with the first women’s football matches taking place on Wednesday.
Brazil got off to a good start with a 5-0 victory against Cameroon, while the USA, who won gold in Beijing 2008, had to come from behind to beat France 4-2.
World champions Japan beat Canada 2-1, while the host nation Britain got off to a 1-0 victory against New Zealand. South Africa’s Banyana Banyana had a disappointing start, losing 4-1 to Sweden. Sweden already opened their scoring after only seven minutes and by halftime they were leading 3-0.
South Africa opened their account through a long-range lob by Portia Modise in the second half, but Sweden soon extended their lead again to finish comfortable winners.
On Saturday morning, one of the most highly anticipated events, the Cycling Road Race will take place, starting in front of Buckingham Palace at 10h00.

NAMIBIAN INTEREST

Namibia will also be represented by Dan Craven, who finished 12th in the Olympic Test Event last year, on the same course. The Test Event however was over 160km while Saturday’s race will be over 250km, but Craven has trained extensively, working on his endurance over the past month, and will be at his peak.
The big favourite for the race will be Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who won the Test Event last year and who also won three sprinting stages at the Tour de France.
Namibian boxers Mujandjae Kasuto and Jonas Matheus will also be in action on Saturday when the boxing tournament starts at Excel, a huge complex of indoor halls in eastern London.
Matheus will be in action in the 56kg bantamweight category, while Kasuto will be fighting in the 75kg middleweight category. At the time of writing the draw had not yet been made.
Numerous other sporting events will start on Saturday, ranging from archery at Lords Cricket Ground, basketball at the North Greenwich Arena, beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade, and tennis at Wimbledon.
The swimming also gets underway at the Aquatic Centre on Saturday, with the whole world waiting to see if American Michael Phelps can match his incredible eight gold medals that he won at the Beijing Olympics. Saturday will see one of the great rivalries of the Games when Phelps takes on team mate Ryan Lochte in the 400m Individual Medley.

---