British take to the streets for the handover party
Il Divo perform after the screening of the official handover of the Beijing Olympic Games to London in front of Buckingham Palace in London on Sunday. Photo/REUTERS
What you need to know:
- Queen Elizabeth congratulated Britain’s athletes and looked forward to the London Games in 2012.
- Britain’s greatest Olympics performance for a century has thrilled the nation and reignited interest in the 2012 Games
Sunday, London - Flying high after their best Olympic performance in a century, Britain will celebrate the handover of the Olympic flag from Beijing on Sunday with a street party outside the gold-tipped gates of Buckingham Palace.
Some 40,000 partygoers are expected on the capital’s streets for an event coinciding with the closing ceremony in China to mark the start of the countdown to the London Olympics in 2012.
The event will centre on The Mall, the ceremonial route used for royal processions, state visits and national celebrations.
Britain won 19 gold medals at the Olympics in Beijing and came fourth in the medals table. At the Athens Games in 2004, British athletes won nine golds.
Queen Elizabeth congratulated Britain’s athletes and looked forward to the London Games in 2012.
“The golden triumphs of the present British team can only serve as further inspiration to those who will be working hard over the next four years to make the London Games a shining example of Olympic success,” she said in a statement.
Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organising committee and a former 1,500m Olympic gold winner, said the eyes of the world would now turn to London.
“I hope the atmosphere on the Mall and across the entire UK will be electric,” he said. “It is a very proud moment for us.”
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and London Mayor Boris Johnson will be in Beijing. Johnson will be handed the Olympic flag on behalf of London in a live television link-up while American swimmer star Michael Phelps will take centre stage in London.
Phelps, who won a record eight golds in Beijing, said he was sure London would rise to the occasion.
“I know it’s going to be absolutely amazing,” he told Sky television. “I look forward to coming back here and swimming four years from now.”
Britain’s greatest Olympics performance for a century has thrilled the nation and reignited interest in the 2012 Games after grumbling about how much they will cost to stage.
Newspapers have devoted countless pages to coverage of Britain’s beaming medal winners, under headlines like “Great Haul of China” and “Midas Britons strike gold”.
The Royal Air Force’s aerobatics team, the Red Arrows, was due to stage an 800mph (1,300kph) flypast over the Buckingham Palace, leaving a trail of red, white and blue smoke.
