A pleasant afternoon at the boxing

The venue, which is a conference/exhibition centre in its spare time

Today I visited ExCel, the largest competition venue in the Olympics, for the preliminary rounds of the light flyweight and light welterweight boxing competitions. This was the first London 2012 event I have attended for which I have splashed out on tickets (the road cycling and live sites being free entry) and I wasn't disappointed. The venue had a vibrant, family atmosphere and the organisation of transport and security was better than expected. £50 for category C tickets may be a bit over-priced as I was sat in far from the best seat in the house, but enjoying 11 bouts of boxing between fighters from parts of the world as far flung as the Philippines, Ecuador, Uzbekistan and Hungary meant entertainment was definitely not lacking.

The ring where medals will be won and lost

Boxing at the Olympics is an interesting one as it is played with amateur rules, making it somewhat different to the professional fights that we have seen the likes of David Haye, Wladimir Klitschko and Manny Pacquiao compete in in front of huge television audiences over recent years. In professional boxing, the aim of any big match is ultimately a knockout, meaning a tournament held over a brief two-week period as it is the Olympics would be impossible to stage due to the brutality and recovery time needed after fights. In amateur men's boxing, fighters wear protective headgear and bouts consist of three three-minute rounds. It is therefore highly unlikely for any knockouts or technical knockouts so the emphasis is on connecting with clean punches to rake in the most points from the five-strong panel of judges. This also allows the boxers to compete in multiple fights in quick succession.

Just in case you forget what event you're at, it's written on the walls!

The light flyweight action, the lightest of all eleven categories with boxers weighing in at under 48kg provided some fast-paced excitement. Highlights included the explosive Filipino Mark Barriga defeating the clumsy-looking Italian Manuel Cappai 17-7 and the referee stopping the contest after just two minutes 24 seconds of the first round to award victory to Indian Devendro Singh Laishram who was giving Honduran opponent Bayron Molina Figueroa the beating of a lifetime. Laishram could well be one to watch at the tail end of the tournament next week. The biggest excitement of the day came in the third bout of the afternoon when Frenchman Jeremy Beccu took on the Kazakhstani Birzhan Zhakypov. A tensely fought encounter was poised nicely with Beccu leading 11-10 after the first two rounds. The 21-year-old from Auchel then seemed to perform the best in the final round, and was half-celebrating when the final bell rang. However, the judges thought differently and the game went to Zhakypov 18-17, leaving Beccu furious. He later said, 'I knew I had to also fight against the judges. It's really unfair. Nobody can convince me otherwise.'

Excel is hosting table tennis, wrestling, judo, weightlifting and fencing as well

The drama continued into the light welterweight category where the crowd became even more lively, particularly during the fight between American Jamel Herring and another Kazakhstani Daniyar Yeleussinov. The anti-American feeling in the British crowd, presumably amplified by the fact Great Britain are still in search of a first gold, meant that Yeleussinov received rapturous support from the crowd at the Excel, and he was roared towards a 19-9 success, comfortably overcoming Herring with some powerful precision punches. It was a shame that I didn't get to observe any British fighters in action as judging by the support for Yeleussinov and the massive cheer reserved for the announcement of a British judge, there would have been a cacophony inside the arena. Tomorrow sees Brits Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua competing in the last 16 rounds of the bantam and super-heavyweight categories respectively. Whoever is lucky enough to have tickets should make the most of what is bound to be a riotous viewing experience.

James is off to the archery at Lord's Cricket Ground tomorrow morning so except some bow and arrow related words to appear on The Search for Excellence by late afternoon! Don't forget to follow on Twitter @TSFE2012 for the duration of the tournament and beyond...

All photos by James Phillips himself. Who needs photographers?

Take the gold...Too much to ask of Idowu?

Phillips Idowu is desperate to claim gold in the Olympic Stadium next week

You may have noticed the 'Adidas #takethestage' adverts which seem to be all over London billboards at the moment. If you haven't, they essentially showcase various Team GB stars such as Louis Smith, Jessica Ennis and Tom Cleverley (an interesting choice...) with slogans like 'take the crown' and 'take the pressure'. Amidst the throng of athletes faces on display, the one that has attracted my attention the most is that of eccentric triple jumper Phillips Idowu which bears the slogan 'take the gold'. This has got to be one of the biggest asks of all.


The enigmatic Idowu has been in the headlines throughout the run up to London 2012, as he is apparently at loggerheads with UK athletics coach Charles van Commenee and a furore has erupted over his fitness. The 33-year-old is due to compete in his fourth Olympic Games in London, with the qualifying round a week tomorrow and the final two days later on Thursday 9th August. Yet what shape he will be in on the day has been a hot talking point amongst athletics fans over recent weeks. Having initially picked up a mysterious injury in a Diamond League meeting in Oregon on June 1st, the Nigerian-British athlete has since missed four competitions, including the Aviva Grand Prix at Crystal Palace earlier in July, seen as the major warm up event for the athletics at the Olympics.

Idowu failed to fly out to Portugal for the warm weather training camp with the rest of the track and field contingent of Team GB, preferring to stay in Britain for medical treatment. After pulling out from the Crystal Palace event, the Beijing 2008 silver medallist announced that the injury problem was a trapped nerve running between his left knee and left hip. This was after previously denying any injury problem at all, a direct contradiction with the stance of van Commenee who had publicly stated that Idowu was injured. The two have failed to see eye to eye since the Dutch coach publicly blasted the athlete for his use of Twitter, then refused to back down and apologise. There have been other unprofessional communication problems relating to the man from Hackney, as the BOA somewhat embarrassingly demanded to see his medical records publicly. After initially acting offended Idowu and his cohort complied and the BOA then somewhat backtracked and pledged their support to the man who is in the twilight of an exuberant career.


Highlights of Idowu's CV include winning gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, being crowned World champion in 2009 and setting a personal best on the way to gold at the 2010 world indoor championships in Barcelona. But low points have included flopping at Athens 2004 with three no jumps and being on the end of a backlash after refusing to travel  to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi for dubious reasons, something which he insisted he didn't regret several months later. For him to cap such an enigmatic career by improving on his 2008 silver is a huge ask after missing two months of competition. However, Idowu remains third favourite for the gold medal behind the USA duo of Christian Taylor and Will Claye, who have Jonathan Edwards' world record in their sights. Idowu will be hoping the Americans have an off day in the final. If and when he enters the Olympic Stadium next week, he will put up to 15 times his own bodyweight through his injured leg on every impact, no mean feat for any athlete, even at their peak. For the triple jumper to perform at London 2012 he will need to ensure that his mind is in the right place at the right time. Idowu is undoubtedly extremely talented, and though the build up to his hometown games has been far from ideal, if the man of many hair colours can live up to the billing and 'take the gold' he will write his name into history. I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way.

Silly Merchandise Special

One of the more amusing, or to those of a cynical disposition, infuriating, aspects of London 2012 is the vast amount of merchandise which springs up left, right and centre - particularly in the tourism-fuelled souvenir shops that dominate the centre of the capital.

Today I set out in search of silly merchandise, both official and unofficial, and here are my findings: some of the best pointless and unnecessary items your good money can buy.

This rather tacky looking and excruciatingly inaccurate replica of the Olympic torch is available in central London, if that's your thing.

While this teabag company are trying to capitalise on the popularity of sprinting to sell tea but I can't for the life of me decipher what the link between the two is!

Think your car needs to get into the Olympic spirit? Well Tesco are stocking these super-fashionable Union Jack wing mirror covers. Trendy.

These ultra-useful rubber ducks have somehow managed to gain official merchandise status. The purple ones are tennis-specific, but unfortunately all the other sports haven't been granted rubber-duck-worthy status!

Similarly revelling in their official mascot status, Mandeville and Wenlock, these two weird non-existent creatures are available in soft toy form. As you can see from the second picture, you can buy this extra cute (?!) giant cuddly toy, which is almost as big as the man at the bottom of the picture.

Mandeville and Wenlock are more than just cuddly toys though! They even star on these ultra-effective magnetic bookmarks and super-stylish photoclips. Who needs photo frames eh? 

Bored of your egg cups? These Olympic special egg cups will give you all the energy of Sir Chris Hoy and Jessica Ennis combined every time you use them for your egg and soldiers in the morning. Possibly.

Concorde stopped flying nine years ago, but those savvy chaps at the Olympic merchandise headquarters decided to make an Olympic special replica of the non-existent Olympic special concorde. Genius.

These are official Panasonic Olympic headphones and earphones. Sounds like they could be quite cool, but beyond the packaging they don't appear to have anything whatsoever to do with the Olympics at all. Not even a visible logo in sight.

Outside the realm of official products, these t-shirts scream unofficial about as loudly as the music which blared out during the Opening Ceremony. Last time I checked I'm pretty sure the tournament wasn't called England '12.

Continuing in the world of unofficialdom, this special condom, featuring the Olympic flame, is almost guaranteed to ensure you get lucky. Surely worth every penny!

And it looks like the hilarious merchandise will continue beyond the end of the tournament with this Olympic guinea pig calendar being produced for 2013. So what are you waiting for? Go out and buy some of this stuff! 

The Search for Excellence will return tomorrow, probably with something a bit more serious. Don't forget to follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012

All photographs by James Phillips

Disappointment for the Manx Missile but Brits still in party mode

At least Cavendish wasn't bringing up the rear like these four

After last night's Opening Ceremony of epic proportions, directed to perfection by the ingenious Danny Boyle and leaving the vast majority of cynics enamoured with the Olympic Games, the sport began in earnest on this sunny London Saturday. I headed to Richmond Park to catch some of the road cycling, which is arguably the premier non-ticketed event of the Games, with the chance to get up close to Mark Cavendish and co, albeit for only a few seconds. Unfortunately for Cavendish and Team GB things didn't exactly go to plan as Kazahkstani Alexandr Vinokourov claimed the Gold, leaving the 'Manx Missile' all the way back in 29th place after Team GB's tactics went awry and the leading pack proved impassable.

Nobody told the guy at the back that you can't enter the race in a car

It has proved an underwhelming day for the host nation who are yet to win a medal, but Cavendish and co will be feeling hard done by after their tactics were simply too predictable and their reliance on other nations compliance found out. Everybody knew that the British 'dream team', consisting of Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, runner-up Chris Froome, national champion Ian Stannard and the well-respected veteran David Millar in support of Cavendish, would try to get the world champion to the front of the pack by the time the peloton reached Buckingham Palace and then let him show off his sprinting prowess. The larger numbers of cyclists who pushed forward earlier on however, ensured that Cavendish never got his chance.

The fans were out in force to cheer on Cavendish and pals

Tipped as our best chance for an early gold medal, it is a bitter blow to Great Britain particularly because of the boost Wiggins' Tour de France win had brought to the table so closeto the start of the games. Added pressure will now be placed on other big names such as Tom Daley, Jessica Ennis, Victoria Pendleton, Mo Farah and Rebecca Adlington over the coming fortnight to bring home the goods. The team shouldn't be too down-heartened though as at every Olympic Games there tends to be a few surprise medallists and new heroes establishing themselves on the world stage. Wiggins will go again on Wednesday where he hopes to claim gold in the road cycling time trial, an altogether different kettle of fish, as each rider sets off 90 seconds apart and races against the clock rather than a peloton.

It wasn't only humans who turned up to see some Olympic action

Another reason to be positive is the fantastic support shown for the Olympics by the British public so far. After the Opening Ceremony attracted more viewers than any other programme so far this millennium (I myself witnessed it on the big screen in Victoria Park where thousands had turned out to show their support), the Olympic fever showed no sign of dying down today as an estimated one million people lined the streets of Surrey and London to watch and cheer as the cyclists sped past. At Richmond Park the atmosphere was jovial and full of excitement as the cyclists came through for the second time in the day (they initially travelled through in the opposite direction shortly after the start of the race at 10am) and there was a consistent crowd, three or four people deep, on either side of the road. In the bushes of the park, stags' antlers could be seen poking above the leaves as the wildlife kept out of the way of an unusual influx of humans. It's not every day a load of Union Flag waving, cheering Brits turn out to watch probably less than a minute of sporting action, but the spirit of the Olympics means that for the people of London, it almost seems rude not to.


The Search for Excellence will return tomorrow for more Olympic action. Don't forget to follow @TSFE2012 for James's thoughts in brief throughout the games.




 All photographs by Helen Crane

The Friday Feeling #1

This is the Friday Feeling. The first installation of a hat-trick of features which will appear on The Search for Excellence every Friday (you guessed it) during the Olympics. Expect some astute observations, irreverent opinions and priceless nuggets of information...possibly.

A huge advertisement hoarding by the Olympic Park 

TODAY


So the day has finally arrived. The Olympics are due to officially launch this evening with Danny Boyle's much-anticipated Opening Ceremony. Although in reality the tournament is already underway as earlier this morning legally blind ( I know?!) South Korean Im Dong Hyun recorded the first world record of the tournament with the best score in the men's Archery individual ranking round at Lord's Cricket Ground, with his country also triumphing in the team ranking round and setting another world record along the way with a score of 2087 (Team GB came 8th out of 12 scoring 1994 ). The women's archers are also in action this afternoon and of course, the first round of the football tournament has already taken place, although none of the games took place in London. But tonight, approximately four billion people are expected to tune in for the much anticipated ceremony where a bunch of people will prance around a stadium for a couple of hours before somebody lights a fire. It's all very exciting. But what does everyone else think?


THE MOOD


How else to judge the mood of the public than with the instant opinion generator that is known as Twitter.It's a pretty mixed bag of thoughts judging by the following:


It must be noted that this first girl is a 16-year-old Australian who is a self-confessed One Direction fan.

already sick of the Olympics and they haven't even started! #olympics #london2012
— maddie cameron (@maddie_cameron) July 27, 2012

This girl from Surrey is certainly getting into it...

Olympic fever has officially set in, beyond excited... #teamGB #backtheteam #london2012
— Emily Spencer (@elspencer1) July 27, 2012

As is this fellow from Dover...

8hours and 12minutes to go :D #OpeningCeremony #London2012 amazing times!!
— Richard James-King (@RichardKing_RJK) July 27, 2012

This man from Cornwall is clearly not at all interested.

Are the #london2012 Olympics over yet?
— Nicky (@cashinol) July 27, 2012

Whereas this woman from Kent is clearly over the moon! Not exactly sure what 'me my pants' is meant to mean though.

I think I could almost me my pants I'm that excited about the Olympics. Cannot wait for the opening ceremony tonight #Olympics #London2012
— Tracy Crampton (@tracy_crampton) July 27, 2012

Judging by the 60,000 who turned up in Hyde Park for the torch relay and the huge numbers expected to be watching tonight, it does seem that the overall mood is of excitement and anticipation. So what could possibly go wrong?!


THE BLUNDERS


Well already there has been a couple of high profile cock-ups. The worst being the mix-up of the North Korean and South Korean flags on the big screens at Hampden Park ahead of North Korea's women's football match with Colombia. Such an amateur mistake, with the two flags hardly being similar (see picture below) is inexcusable at an event as high-profile as the Olympics and the North Koreans are not exactly the sort to take it lightly. In fact it is believed that the women storming off the pitch in protest was as much due to their fear of getting into trouble with North Korean authorities as it was down to their being genuinely offended. This was followed up yesterday with the official match program at the Team GB vs Senegal men's football game listing Welsh midfielder Joe Allen as being English. While this is a less serious offence, it would certainly have irked many Welshman, including those within the Welsh FA who were hardly receptive to the idea of their Welsh footballers competing under the guise of Team GB. Yet another blunder has occurred at the Westfield shopping centre, next to the Olympic Park, where 'Welcome' has been written in many different languages but the Arabic version was written backwards rendering it illegible. The irony is that Westfield is in the borough of Newham, which happens to be the UK's most multi-lingual region. Oh dear.

Quite a difference...The North Korea flag is on the left

THE QUESTION


The big one today has to be, who is going to have the privilege of becoming the final torchbearer and light the flame in the cauldron at the Olympic Stadium tonight? In recent weeks it has looked like a two-horse race between Sir Steve Redgrave, the legendary Olympian who won a gold medal rowing at every Olympics from 1984 to 2000, and Sir Roger Bannister, the now 83-year-old who ran the first sub four-minute mile back in 1954. However, this morning the odds on Daniel Craig, the current James Bond actor who is set to be involved in the Opening Ceremony tonight, have dropped rapidly to 3/1 at the time of writing. David Beckham, controversially omitted from Team GB's football squad remains in the running as does the Queen, whose odds have also dropped overnight and are now at 6/1. Whoever does step up tonight is certainly going to be winning some people a fair bit of money.

The Queen and Daniel Craig, two of the contenders to light the torch

THE VILLAIN


Whoever was behind the Korean flag blunder could be a contender for this accolade, as could Phillips Idowu, the triple jumper who seems bizarrely adverse to complying with the BOA and the rest of Team GB. But head and shoulders above the rest is Voula Papachristou. The Greek triple jumper has been expelled from the Olympics by the Greek Olympic Committee after making a racist joke on Twitter. Following reports of mosquitoes in her home country carrying the West Nile virus, the 23-year-old tweeted, 'With so many Africans in Greece, at least the West Nile Mosquitoes will eat home made food!' She later apologised but the damage had been done and the Greek authorities said her tweet was 'contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement.' The tweet was clearly tasteless, offensive and unnecessary so it is not surprising that the Greeks have now banned all their athletes from tweeting opinions during the Olympics. Is it really that hard not to say something stupid? Apparently so.

Papachristou will not be gracing the sandpits of London this year

THE SUPERHERO


Who else but Bradley Wiggins, who has handed Team GB a huge boost going into London 2012, by conquering the Tour de France last weekend. The first ever Brit to win the famed road cycling tournament, he has his eyes set on gold in the Time Trial next Wednesday. Before that he will be competing in the Road Race tomorrow, although he will be focused on helping his Team Sky and Team GB team-mate Mark Cavendish to gold, even if the two don't always see eye-to-eye. If Cavendish, the sprint-specialist from the Isle of Man and mod-loving Wiggins bring home the medals then 2012 will surely go down as the very greatest year for British Cycling. A golden era may well be upon us.

Wiggins, right, will be assisting Cavendish, in tomorrow's Road Race

From today The Search for Excellence will be posting articles daily for the duration of London 2012! Come back tomorrow for some Road Cycling fun and don't forget to follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012

A Potted History of the Olympic Games

A Greek amphora showing Olympic Games action

We all know that the Olympics has an incredible legacy and is famed around the world as the pinnacle of sporting achievements. Having said this, there is much to the Games that the average man on the street wouldn't have a clue about. So if you want to be able to impress your mates with some fascinating facts from the history of the Olympic Games then read on...

Carrying the calf

During the Ancient Olympic Games, which began way back in 776 B.C, there was a famous six-time Wrestling champion who went by the name of Milo. Originating from the Magna Graecian city of Croton in the south of Italy, Milo was renowned across the ancient world for his extreme strength. He was reputed to have trained by carrying a calf every day. As the calf grew older and bigger, Milo's strength would increase. It is even believed that he carried a fully grown bull, although that seems slightly far fetched. Regardless, he was clearly not the sort of Olympian it would be wise to mess with.

Ancient Greek Milo carried one of these each day

Banning the Games... sort of

So why exactly did the Olympic games cease to exist before the revitalisation in 1896? Well the responsibility lied with a Roman Emperor named Theodosius the Great. The last Olympic Games were played in Olympia in the year 393, two years after Theodosius had issued an edict to close all Pagan temples. This suppression of the pagan/Ancient Greek faith led to the decline of Ancient Greek traditions, which included the Olympics. Or did it? Just one of several 'Olympic Games' which continued away from Olympia was held at Antioch, modern Turkey. This continued until the year 521 when the illiterate Byzantine Emperor Justin I brought it to an end. Some people just don't like having fun do they?

Bringing it back

As with a lot of sports tournaments (I'm thinking Jules Rimet with the World Cup and Gabriel Hanot with the Champions League here) a Frenchman seemed to be the man with the plan to get things going. Pierre de Coubertin, a Parisian born on New Year's Day 1863, thought that the French soldiers lacked enough vigour when they were overrun by Germans in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. As he grew up, Coubertin studied the education systems in Germany, Great Britain and the USA and determined that sport was the missing ingredient for his nation. After forming a sports union in 1890, he pitched his idea to revive the Olympic Games two years later. He was shot down though, as the speech he delivered failed to rouse his fellow members of the sports union. But this was a determined man, and two years later he invited 79 delegates from 9 countries to an auditorium to convince them to bring back the Olympic Games. This time he didn't fail, and within four years Athens was hosting the first of the modern Olympic Games.

The water carrier

The first modern Olympics had just 245 entrants, over 200 of which were Greek, yet it was still the biggest international sporting event of all time up to that point. One of the biggest innovations was the staging of the first marathon. The idea belonged to yet another innovative Frenchman, this time the philologist and founder of modern semantics, Michel Breal. Breal was inspired by the ancient messenger Phidippides who, in 490 BC, had run over 140 miles from the town of Marathon to Athens to report on the Battle of Marathon. He suggested the idea to Coubertin and the first marathon event was set to go ahead. It took place on April 10th 1896 and much to the Greek public's delight, as none of their compatriots had yet won a track and field event, was won by Spyridon Louis, a water-carrier from Marousi. Louis stopped off en route for a glass of cognac which was given to him by his future father-in-law and was joined on the final stretch by two Greek princes, Constantine and George. The water-carrier instantly achieved national hero status, yet bizarrely was wrongly imprisoned for falsifying military documents in 1926 before being acquitted after a year behind bars. You win some, you lose some.

Like many Greeks before him, Louis was a water carrier

Coming to a screen near you

The Olympics continued to expand with each edition held every four years, and by 1936 there were nearly 4000 athletes from 49 different nations competing. The Berlin Games are best remembered for the heroic Jesse Owens proving Adolf Hitler's theory of Aryan supremacy wrong by claiming four gold medals. Plenty has been written about that, but a lesser known aspect of the 1936 Games is that it was the first ever sporting event to be televised. The German firms Telefunken and Furseh screened over 72 hours of live footage which was broadcast in 'Public Television Offices' ,special viewing booths in Berlin and Potsdam. This set the precedent for the live sports coverage which is enjoyed by millions today, with this Olympics being the most extensively-televised tournament to date, broadcast over 24 BBC HD channels in the UK and even available in 3D.

Discarding the gold?

In the 1960 Rome Olympics, an 18-year-old American boxer named Cassius Clay claimed the gold medal in the light-heavyweight category. The icon later known as Muhammad Ali defeated the commentator-friendly Zbigniew Pietrzyskowski of Poland to top the podium and rise to the summit of amateur boxing. 15 years later, a story emerged in a biography of Ali, which was written by the boxer assisted by a writer called Richard Durham. The biography claimed that the world champion was so disgusted by racism when he was turned away from a whites-only restaurant in his hometown of Louisville that he threw his gold medal into the Ohio river. However, he seemed to discredit the story by answering at a press conference that 'he couldn't remember what he did with [the medal]'. His wife Lonnie claims he only ever talks about the subject when asked but always says that he did throw it in the river, or ignores the question, never denying it. Ali, who now suffers from Parkinson's disease, was awarded another medal to replace the first one at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The story surrounding the original medal seems as murky as the Ohio river water itself.

The dirty truth

Some people may consider Olympic athletes to be a pure-bred, clean and celibate bunch, but that couldn't be further from the truth. At least according to American target shooter Josh Lakatos. The 1996 silver medallist claims that after his tournament finished and his team left halfway through the Sydney Games in 2000, his house turned into an Olympic village 'brothel'. With all his team-mates gone, Lakatos claimed one room to himself and left the others open to all-comers. The next morning he claims that ' the entire women's 4x100 relay team of some Scandinavian-looking country walks out of the house, followed by boys from our side. And I'm just going "Holy crap, we'd watched these girls run the night before!".' The house became known as 'Shooter's House' and Lakatos oversaw many Olympians coming and going from his house throughout the rest of the games. 'I've never seen so much debauchery in my life', he later exclaimed. It appears there is much more going on behind the Olympic scenes than the public have any idea about. As three-time Gold medallist swimmer Ryan Lochte puts it, 'My last Olympics, I had a girlfriend. Big mistake. Now I'm single, so London should be really good. I'm excited.'

Shooter Lakatos spilled the beans on Olympic Village antics

Whatever happens on the tracks, pitches and rings of London 2012, it is certain that many more stories of intrigue will write themselves outside of the sporting arena too.

Don't forget to follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012 and return to the blog on Friday 27th July where the first 'Friday Feeling'  feature will appear. 

Chasing the Torch

Marlon Devonish with the torch at Crystal Palace

Welcome to 'The Search For Excellence', the London 2012 blog which will be taking you through the sports mania of the Olympics over the next three weeks. The name of this blog is taken from a fantastic quote by Australian triple-gold winning swimmer Dawn Fraser, who once said, 'The Olympics remain the most compelling search for excellence that exists in sport, and maybe in life itself.' This statement captures the essence of the excitement which is being felt around London at the moment, for sports fans and non-sports fans alike.

The torch leaves Crystal Palace park

Today I witnessed some of the Olympic fever which has been storming the country first hand with the Torch Relay on it's 66th leg, passing through Deptford and later Crystal Palace and Croydon in South London. Thousands of people were lining the street as a host of torchbearers including celebrities, charity workers and other do-gooders passed the Olympic Flame from torch to torch, along a route which must have been painstakingly devised to include all 33 London Boroughs during the final week after already visiting most of the country. But what is this ceremonial and time-consuming activity all about?

Devonish flashes a grin at Crystal Palace

Dating back to the ancient Olympic games held in Greece from 800 B.C to the 4th Century A.D the flame represented the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by the mythical heroic figure Prometheus (not to be confused the spaceship from the recent movie). However, it wasn't initially included as part of the modern Olympics when they launched back in 1896, instead it took 32 years before the Dutch brought it back for the Amsterdam Olympics. While the flame was present for the ancient Olympics and the the 1928 and 1932 modern editions, the relay idea was only introduced for the infamous 1936 Olympics which were held in Berlin, which was under Nazi control. Since then, the torch has been lit by a concave mirror in Olympia, the home of the ancient Olympics and transported by relay to the host city where it is lit in the Olympic Stadium at the opening ceremony of each tournament ( the legendary Sir Steve Redgrave is currently the favourite to light the flame this Friday). In the years since then the flame has gone under the sea near the Great Barrier Reef, travelled in Concorde, on a camel and was even bizarrely transmitted by radio signal and laser beam in 1976. 

The torch hits Croydon in the sunshine

But as the torch relay tradition has evolved, it has clearly become a powerful way of bringing the community together and drawing attention to the undeniable behemoth of sporting prowess that the Olympic games really is. I saw this first hand today when I arose at an unearthly hour to see Doreen Lawrence, the mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence carrying the flame in Deptford. Lawrence has campaigned relentlessly since her son was killed in a racially-aggravated attack in 1993 and has achieved much with the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and her work with Stop Hate UK. The 59-year-old  had suffered for many years as her son's murderers were only convicted in January of this year. Deservedly, there was a swelling of positive emotion as Lawrence carried the torch before passing it to 16-year-old Young Mayor of Lewisham, Kieran Lang and despite the early time, a large crowd was present. 

Devonish is in there somewhere, honest

A couple of hours later and I caught up with the torch again as it reached Crystal Palace Athletics stadium where it was handed to 2004 gold medal winner Marlon Devonish. The 36-year-old sprinter, who won gold alongside Darren Campbell in the 4x100m relay at the Athens tournament ran into the stadium where he was greeted by incredible numbers who were there to cheer him on as he ran along the athletics track before stopping to let fans and the media mob him for photographs and interviews. The venue, which recently hosted the Aviva London Grand Prix (where Team GB's Perri Shakes-Drayton and Mo Farah excelled) proved to be the perfect location to whet the appetite for track and field as many Londoners revelled in the sunshine. Devonish seemed in a great mood before passing the torch on as it continued South towards Croydon.

The inspirational Doreen Lawrence

It was there, in Croydon, where I again caught up with the flame, by now in scorching sunlight and with even more spectators than at the previous locations. Unfortunately it proved impossible to see Sir Patrick Stewart, the highly-respected actor, most famous for his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek but the local heroes who bore the flame before him had the support of the crowd and the atmosphere was crackling as it truly dawns on people that the biggest sporting event to hit Britain since World Cup 1966 arrives in only four days time. The torch's journey then escaped my reach as it headed to Battersea dog's home with Michael Owen and to Wimbledon with Andy Murray. Yet while the Torch Relay is simply a warm up for the big event, the power it has to draw people from their homes and offices to unite in celebration of the collective achievements of the people of Britain is truly inspirational. Whether it is Sir Steve Redgrave, David Beckham, Roger Bannister or somebody else who lights the final flame on Friday evening, they will be marking the end of a fascinating journey and the start of something a whole lot bigger. Bring it on.



Check the blog on Wednesday 25th July for 'A potted history of the Olympic Games'.
And don't forget to follow James throughout the Olympics on Twitter @TSFE2012 

Photography by Helen Crane except for the Doreen Lawrence shot which was by the writer.

Launching on Monday 23rd July

Bear with me as before you know it we will be talking about all things Olympics from road cycling to boxing, via stewarding, football, archery and race walking. This blog will be updated regularly until Monday 13th August (the day after the Olympics finish), and there should be at least 18 articles to keep you all entertained in that time.

Follow @TSFE2012 for my London 2012 thoughts in brief throughout.

I hope you enjoy it.

Photograph: Helen Crane