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| bird's eye view of the Olympic park |
August 2011, the world saw an ugly face of
otherwise regarded as 'sophisticated' Britishers. England was burning, London
was no exception, the riots had spread wide open. With less than a year to go,
the question aroused about whether or not the British forces were capable of
pulling off a safe Olympics, but 11 months into the riots, the picture has
changed.
Britain
in 2012 has shed the image of the riots , they have presented themselves as a
Sports-friendly nation, playing host to numerous sporting events this year, range
of sports including the likes of Cricket, Tennis, Football, Formula 1 and Golf.
Here's a quick look at the major tournaments which took place on the British
soil this year.
Cricketing Summer:
The summer saw West Indies and
Australia touring England for their respective bilateral series against England,
the hosts coming out victorious in both the series.
EPL:
The EPL ended in May with the most
dramatic finale one would have ever imagined, Manchester City coming from
behind to clinch the title.
Wimbledon:
This year's Wimbledon saw the dominance
of experience and class, with winners in All the categories in their 30's
(except for Frederik Nielsen, men's doubles winner who is 28). Paes missed out on a mixed doubles title with
Elena Vesnina in the hard fought final, but the highlight of the tournament was
undoubtedly Federer, winning his 17th major and 7th Wimbledon.
Formula1:
The British Grand Prix was held on 8th of July. Mark Webber driving
his Redbull to the finish lines took the podium alongside Fernando Alonso(2nd)
and Sebastian Vettal(3rd).
The
pleasing thing about all these tournaments was that the stands were almost filled
to capacity in each of the events. Empty seats were hard to spot and it will
remain so if we go by the demands for the Olympics' tickets. The most
impressing thing i found was the number of people queuing up to see the men's
singles final at Wimbledon, withstanding heavy rains to get chance to see the
match from the Henman Hill which seemed filled with spectators already! So, are
the Brits most enthusiastic sports fans around? A tough question but when you
look at English Football fans, the Barmy Army and the atmosphere during
Wimbledon, it makes you think so.
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| fans watching the final from Henman hill despite heavy rains |
Olympics
are set to take place later this month with Paralympics will follow . And
Glasgow Common Wealth games to be held in 2014, it won't be wrong to see
Britain as a global sporting hub. With the multi sporting events as big as
Olympics and Commonwealth games, the sporting infrastructure improves
significantly. The infrastructure will not only be used during the games but
also by the generations of athletes to follow. The games will end in a
fortnight but the legacy stays forever.
The
Olympics, surrounded by some controversies regarding the sponsors and the terror
threats has also been making some positive news, if we go by the officials,
this Olympics is set to be the greenest games ever. It is said that many venues
including the main arena have been constructed using recycled steel. London 2012 is
on target to reduce this footprint by 100,000 tonnes of CO2—the equivalent of
taking 65,000 cars off the road for a year.
As they say, the Britishers know how
to present themselves, they will put their best foot forward that's for sure. Let's
gear up to witness a competitive Olympics, some of the biggest sporting
rivalries, records being tumbled and new champions being born. Sports will take
the centre stage in the show the Queen has set up for us.
Britain is ready, Venues are ready, Athletes are ready, are you?
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