Cuddly toys and brollies – let the Games begin…

Great Britains Ryan Giggs during a press conference at the Olympic Park, London.

IT’S grey, chilly and drizzly. You haven’t dared leave home without an umbrella for the past two weeks. You can’t even think about driving into London on the M4. Let’s not even mention the word “security”. But it’s here. The Olympic Games, the biggest sporting show on Earth, is here, finally.

With just nine days to go the excitement really is beginning to grow; you can feel it. It’s there in the little pink stickers that have popped up on the Tube map, pointing out where to get off to visit the Olympic venues. Green Park isn’t the stop for Buckingham Palace any more – it’s your gateway to watch the triathlon in Hyde Park or beach volleyball on Horse Guards Parade. Let the Games begin.

Olympic Park has suddenly come alive as it welcomes the first athletes. British divers Tom Daley and Tonia Couch practised at the Aquatics Centre. Double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington was one of the 44 British swimmers checking in for a two-night stay before going to a holding camp in Edinburgh.

The Australian team’s accommodation is proudly decorated in green and gold, with an “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” banner down the side. The German flag is prominent, too.

Team GB’s section is called Seaside, in keeping with the holiday camp feel portrayed by many British athletes as they excitedly tweeted pictures of their homes for the next few weeks. Even hardened professional sportsmen like Craig Bellamy and Ryan Giggs (pictured above) seemed swept away by the experience. Their healthy tanned faces, the results of a training camp in Marbella, looked out of place amid the grey of Olympic Park, but there was no doubting they had fully embraced the Olympic experience.

Team GB’s men and women’s football teams stayed in the village on Sunday night. They could have chosen five-star accommodation instead of single beds with garish London 2012 duvets in tiny, shared rooms but, as men’s coach Stuart Pearce said, it would have been “folly” to miss out.

A performer from the National Youth Theatre in the Olympic Athletes Village at Olympic Park in London

REUTERS

All of them found cuddly toys on their beds – the 2012 mascots Mandeville and Wenlock – as well as goodies that included a branded toothbrush holder and Team GB dressing gown.

“Everything is a little bit different from what we’re used to, but we’re embracing it,” said Bellamy. “There’s a lot more going on, being involved in the Olympics. You have to be a lot more patient. You eat with every other single athlete, but it all adds to your experience.

“We never once thought this was going to happen. I personally never did. I just want to embrace this and enjoy every moment of this. It’s very different. This is something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”

The Olympic Village, with its massive canteen for 5 000 athletes, feels a world away from the exclusive hotels frequented by Premier League teams.

Bellamy, who celebrated his 33rd birthday last week, joked that he didn’t know anyone outside football, but said he wanted to meet Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

Giggs, whose preference is Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, said: “I hope this isn’t a one-off. I hope in future there will be more Great Britain teams. I hope fellow British footballers can experience what I’ve experienced so far this week and, hopefully, will go on to experience in the next few weeks.”

Usain Bolt (C) runs during the men's 200 meters semi-final at the Jamaican Olympic trials in Kingston city, June 30, 2012. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (JAMAICA - Tags: SPORT ATHLETICS OLYMPICS)

REUTERS

It didn’t go quite to plan for everyone, though. Two-time world 400m hurdles champion Kerron Clement, 26, claimed his bus took four hours to reach the village after he landed at Heathrow. The American tweeted: “Not a good first impression London. Athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please.”

A double-decker bus carrying members of the media from Russell Square to Olympic Park got a little lost, 30 minutes into its journey. “Sorry about this,” said the driver, before pulling out a map and doing a quick U-turn.

Fans and tourists have started to arrive in London, too.

You can spot them a mile off: those sports enthusiasts in over-sized ponchos with fold-up maps; their battered rucksacks emblazoned with pin badges and embroidered with “Athens 2004” and “Barcelona ’92”. You have to make sure everyone knows this isn’t your first Olympics, you see.

The “Games Makers”, the smiley band of London 2012 volunteers, are out in force as well. Thankfully, their distinctive deep purple and “poppy red” uniform includes a cap, waterproof jacket and an umbrella.

“It can’t rain for the next month, can it?” said one of the volunteers, a man in his late 50s who was happy to chat as we tried to make our way around the warren that is Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre.

“I’m helping with the transport,” he said. “No, I’m not driving athletes or officials. I don’t like driving manual cars and didn’t really fancy being in all that traffic in central London.”

Welcome to a wonderfully British Olympic Games. Exciting, isn’t it? – Daily Mail