Getting Ready for the London 2012 Summer Olympics

The London Olympic Games are only three weeks away and there is much excitement in the British capital. But The World’s Alex Gallafent tells anchor Marco Werman that there are also concerns about security and, of course, that English summer weather.

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Marco Werman: Hi, I’m Marco Werman. This is The World. The opening ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Games is exactly three weeks from today and the city of London is abuzz with Olympic anticipation. The World’s Alex Gallafent will be in London during the games and he joins me now for a preview. Alex, the Olympic torch relay is winding through Britain. The venues are mostly ready. Olympics fans must be getting pretty stoked right now. What are you most looking forward to as a “fly on the wall” observer?

Alex Gallafent: Well, you know, I know London pretty well, so I think one of the things I’m most excited about is seeing how iconic elements of the London landscape are being re-purposed for the games, so I’m seeing archery at Lord’s Cricket Grounds for instance, but you know another thing I’m really excited about is to see the film director, Danny Boyle’s version of the English mythological countryside in the opening ceremony, which we’re promised is going to include hundreds of farm animals.

Werman: Oh my gosh, that sounds wonderful.

Gallafent: That’s Danny Boyle, he’ll do it, he’ll pull it off.

Werman: Now, I gather there are some concerns about these games now three weeks away.

Gallafent: There are some concerns. Yesterday there was a scare that seems to have made people a bit jumpy, a scare that closed major roads, the scrambling of armed police units and emergency services, and all it was, was a man smoking an electronic cigarette on a bus. This happened near Birmingham, the U.K.’s second largest city. Another man on the bus saw vapor from this device. You know, electronic cigarettes are used by smokers to help them quit the habit, and he called the police, he was worried.

Werman: So kind of high anxiety. That was a misunderstanding though, but there are reasons for people to be concerned about security, right?

Gallafent: Right, don’t forget, the very first day after the games were awarded to London in July 2005, Islamic militants bombed London’s transport system. Those attacks killed 56 people. Now, British Security Services have expressed confidence that the games will go ahead without a major security incident, but they are working with the FBI and the CIA, among others, to ensure that.

Werman: Now what about that other constant worry in London, the weather?

Gallafent: Well, it’s been a miserable summer so far in the U.K. The covers have been on at the Wimbledon tennis championships. My brother was telling me that he’s only been able to sit outside with a book once in the past couple of months, so when I get that, I fear I, along with everybody else in London will be competing in a sort of informal, synchronized umbrellas event.

Werman: Okay, don’t bump into anyone. Now, finally Alex, the last time London hosted the Olympics was in 1948 and you spotted something which I’d like you to share with us. It’s a newspaper article from The Guardian from July 22, 1948.

Gallafent: Right, well remember that in 1948 the U.K. was still in the middle of post-war rationing. There just wasn’t a lot of food to go around, and so you get this little article called “Olympic Diet,” and it goes like this. This is a quote, “The main American Olympic Games team, numbering nearly 300, who arrived at their camp yesterday, brought with them 5,000 sirloin steaks weighing approximately 2,812 pounds, thousands of chops, 15,000 bars of chocolate, 2,500 pounds of ham, and 2,000 pounds of spiced ham. They asked for and received a dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding,” so there you go, hungry Americans.

Werman: You know, given all the post-war rationing in England, I hope the Americans shared.

Gallafent: Well, you’d like to think so wouldn’t you?

Werman: The World’s Alex Gallafent. Enjoy the Olympics when you get there and let the excitement begin.

Gallafent: Thanks Marco, I can’t wait.

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