Let the Games begin
The budget for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics has been doubled to £81 million, the government has announced. The move has ignited fears that the ceremony could prove an expensive disaster — but there is no guarantee that things will go well even when kept simple.
— The London games in 1908 saw the first Olympic opening ceremony, consisting of a gym display by the Ladies London Polytechnic and a procession by the athletes, bearing the flags of their countries.
— The Finns sulked because they had been told they must march under the Russian flag. The stars and stripes was by accident flown from a stadium flagpole at half-mast. Angered by this, the shot-putter carrying the US flag declined to dip it in honour of the king as he passed the royal box.
— But at least the Games didn’t cost much: the entire budget was £20,000.
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