Was London 2012 A Truly Memorable Olympics?

With the 2012 Summer Olympic Games ending this Sunday (8/12), people may begin to wonder if this Olympic Games have been better than previous ones. The London 2012 Olympic Games have brought both joy and even some tears for athletes, fans, and the millions of people throughout the world. Whether athletes have received medals or not, they have represented their countries respectfully, and have made some of the worlds’ major problems somewhat disappear for the past three weeks. The Olympics has always been one of the most anticipated sporting events the world over an,d although we have to wait another four years for the next summer games, the London Olympics will never be forgotten.

The London 2012 Olympic Games began on July 27^th as the opening ceremony attracted an estimated global television audience of 900 million people. Director of the ceremony, Danny Boyle, took audiences on a beautifully chaotic journey through many iconic moments in British history and culture, which made for an awe-inspiring beginning to this highly anticipated and legendary sporting event. Even the slogan that the London organizing committee came up with, ‘Inspire a Generation,’ has definitely captured the meaning and represented the 2012 Summer Olympics Games well. Chairman Lord Coe explained the slogan as, “the heartbeat, the very DNA of this organization, and a rallying cry for the athletes to come to the UK to perform at their very best and inspire the world.” Athletes, not just from the United States but every country that performs in the games, have represented their home nations extremely well, and now have become role-models to the younger generations who have been following the Olympic Games.

The only downfall to this 2012 Olympics that every previous Olympic Games did not have to worry about is social media. Since information and news can be obtained instantly thanks to Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites, people are able to find out the results of any of the events of the games without even watching them. This can be seen as both a pro and con to fans of the Olympics. For those who are too busy to sit down and wait for their favorite event to come on the television, Twitter and sports websites like ‘ESPN’ and ‘London 2012 Olympics’ update their sites as soon as an event has ended. However, there are still people who enjoy watching the Olympics, who would rather find out the results by actually viewing the events. It also has not helped that the United States has to wait about three hours till we can see the events that were live in the UK on television! Unfortunately, if someone goes on the computer and opens their homepage, whether it is ‘CNN,’ ‘AOL’ or any other news site, he or she will see the results of the different events that already occurred. Although social media is able to inform the public with breaking news, especially news about the Olympics, it can sometimes be more enjoyable to watch the games and find out the results on your own.

The final games end on Sunday, along with the Closing Ceremony, and London has hosted the Olympics extremely well and everyone that worked and volunteered to make this spectacle come to life should take a bow. The Closing Ceremony will begin with the athletes marching, one last time, around the stadium. However, they will not be marching by the countries they represent, but rather together. This tradition was begun at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games, and it is a way of bringing the athletes of the world together as one nation. The Closing Ceremony of this year’s Olympic Games will be titled, ‘A Symphony of British Music,’ as it will celebrate the fact that music has been one Britain’s strongest cultural exports over the last 50 years. Artistic Director, Kim Gavin and his team asked more than 4,100 performers to be a part of what will be an amazing concert. The Spice Girls, Jesse J, George Michael and many other British musicians and artists will be performing at the Closing Ceremony. Along with the singing, dancing, and celebrating of what has been an incredible three weeks, the Olympic Flame will finally be extinguished to symbolize the end of the Olympics. As the flame goes out, and the Olympics come to a close, people may say that the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games were a magical and remarkable spectacle that will never be forgotten… and they won’t be wrong.

-Shannon Murphy