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i Editor's Letter: Olympics are just two weeks away

 

Stefano Hatfield
Saturday 14 July 2012 00:18 BST
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OK, here's the thing. The London 2012 Olympic Games, the biggest sporting and cultural event anywhere in the world this year, is two weeks away. In a fortnight we will be arguing over Danny Boyle's pastoral Opening Ceremony, admiring (I fervently hope) the grace of Sir Steve Redgrave, our greatest-ever Olympian, who must surely light the Olympic cauldron, and discovering – as my colleague John Walsh wrote in yesterday's i – that the clean and jerk of a Greek super-heavyweight lifter is entrancingly addictive.

Yes, whatever Theresa May says, the G4S security arrangements are a shambles, but they have two weeks to fix them. As Mary Dejevsky wrote yesterday, wouldn't you rather have the Army go through your bag than an A-level student with a week's training? Yes, the M4 into London isn't working properly, there are interminable queues at Heathrow, congestion in central London is appalling and you can't buy decent chips that aren't French fries. But, honestly, is there anything new to see here?

I am not dismissing the problems of many small businesses in and around the capital, nor am I blind to the ominous Orwellian overtones of the supine behaviour of Locog and the IOC towards its sponsors and their craven disregard of common sense in their pursuit of "protecting" the rings and other Games symbols. i will continue to cover these stories.

BUT… am I alone in being heartily sick of the endless carping? As John said, the Games are about discovering you cared about things you had never thought of. So, come on, tweet or email me at i@independent.co.uk and enthuse over athletes or events you are excited to see. We'll publish the best. And, young people of Britain, if your parents are being miserable, tell them to take a (high) jump.

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