LONDON – With the Opening Ceremony now less than two hours away (mercifully), Canadians are getting ready to mark the opening of the Games in many ways.
Only a third of the 277 Canadian athletes preparing to compete for the red and white Maple Leaf, were planning to march into the stadium behind flag bearer Simon Whitfield which may seem like a small number given the patriotic pride generally associated with the show.
For many, however, it just isn’t practical.
Any athlete who is competing on Saturday’s opening day of competition was almost sure to pass because of the length of a ceremony that figured to drag past midnight local time. Others, like the canoe-kayak team and last year’s flag bearer, Adam van Koeverden, are still at training camps far from London.
That didn’t stop AVK and his teammates from getting into the spirit of the show, however, as he showed in this tweeted picture from the team’s training base at a castle in the countryside of France.
We’re settled in our seats here in the Olympic Stadium, just under two hours before the show is to begin and are tempted to take a sneak peak at the specifics of the show handed out in a detailed program for the media. The media guide comes with a strict embargo, but is designed to allow the world’s press to get a head start on their work.
I think I’ll let it unfold before my eyes rather than reading about it in a book. Much like a billion or so people around the world.
