Who Will Light the Torch in London During Opening?

[bijanc]

Will it be Daley Thompson or Derek Redmond who lights the stadium flame at the end of the torch relay? My $'s w/ Redmond.

[Conor Dary]

Didn't we have an endless thread on this topic?

[marknhj]

Didn't we have an endless thread on this topic?

Yes. In summary: the American anti-metric reactionaries want Bannister; the Brits went for Olympic greats under the age of 80 who can walk and know what 2.35m means e.g. Daley or Redgrave

[Daisy]

I've never seen Redmond's name thrown in the hat before.

Another possible is Holmes. So three viable candidates.

And does 2.35m have some significance? Your prediction for the winning height?

[marknhj]

I've never seen Redmond's name thrown in the hat before.
Another possible is Holmes. So three viable candidates.
And does 2.35m have some significance? Your prediction for the winning height?

Redmond is an odd (and bad) idea. Holmes definitely a contender.
2.35m means Marlow will have to get a calculator out to post the conversion!
(the HJ winning height will be a function of the weather - pissing down: ~2.32 - 2.35m; decent weather: ~2.36 - 2.40m. No idea what the progressions are)

[Pego]

My prediction is Princess Ann. Just a clueless, old guy on the sidelines shooting his mouth off .

[bijanc]

Sorry Conor- wasn't aware of an existing thread.

[jeremyp]

Bradley Wiggins pushing Roger Bannister in a wheel chair?

[marknhj]

Bradley Wiggins pushing Roger Bannister in a wheel chair?

Initially a brilliant idea until one does a bit of risk analysis:
Worst case - Bannister drops the torch on his lap and goes up in flames like a Seoul Dove of Peace. Next day, WADA announces Wiggins has been busted for ingesting every PED it's possible to take after receiving a tip-off from Austin, TX.

[gh]

Didn't we have an endless thread on this topic?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43691&hilit=bannister


to sum up, this trog still thinks that Bannister is the choice, but has no problem with Thompson.

I just can't wrap my head around a rower, no matter how many titles Sir Steve won.

[CMVYV]

At the risk of presenting the obvious, but a two time winner in the men's Olympic 1500 ('80 & '84) by Sebastian Coe has pretty good credentials.

The fact that he's CEO of the Olympic Organizing Comm is really irrelevant.

These are the OLYMPIC GAMES ... Roger Bannister never earned a medal in the Olympics.

There's probably other very prominent English Olympians that I am not aware of.

I think the honor should include only previous Olympians.

[Daisy]

At the risk of presenting the obvious, but a two time winner in the men's Olympic 1500 ('80 & '84) by Sebastian Coe has pretty good credentials.

If I remember correctly (from the previous thread gh linked to above) Coe ruled himself out, so his name did not become a topic of the conversation. Obviously he is as good a candidate as Thompson, Holmes or Redgrave with respect to Olympic credentials. And more so with regard to service to the Olympic movement. And pego is correct that Princess Ann also has both athletic and service credentials.

Pego, are you imagining her riding in on a horse? I guess that might work if they have a rural England mock up on the infield.

[Randy Treadway]

Does it have to be a Summer Olympian? Eagle the Eagle is one of the best known Brits internationally.

The other obvious possibility is to get the Queen herself out there, and let her light it. She could wear one of her really huge hats, if she doesn't catch it on fire.

[Daisy]

Eagle the Eagle is one of the best known Brits internationally

Really? Unbelievable. I had forgotten about him completely. I seem to remember him as being an embarrassment?

[Randy Treadway]

Eagle the Eagle is one of the best known Brits internationally

Really? Unbelievable. I had forgotten about him completely. I seem to remember him as being an embarrassment?

Okay, okay... so Mr. Bean is slightly better known than Eddie.

[Daisy]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised from a country (USA) that loves the 'Benny Hill' and 'Are you being served' reruns.

[aaronk]

Ringo Starr!!

[lonewolf]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised from a country (USA) that loves the 'Benny Hill' and 'Are you being served' reruns.

Even though I can hardly understand a word they are saying, I love those British comedies... especially the "Keeping up appearances " or whatever it was called.... but, England has a reputation for being rainy and I always wondered why the sun always seemed to be shining..

[MightyBurner]

An RAF pilot should shoot a flare from a Eurofighter Typhoon. It has everything, jingoism, pageantry, acrobatics.

[mump boy]

My money is on Tom Daley

[fromage]

Hands up all the posters somewhat bored this topic for the second time.

Why the heck should the flame holder be a track and field athlete.? BTW, for any of the posters who cannot understand the choice of any sportsman other than a track runner, we got a boxer in 1996 lighting the flame, a guy who felt driven to throw away the Olympic gold medal awarded to him.

[Vault-emort]

Dunno if it will happen, but I still reckon a final lap of the stadium relay featuring something like:

Mary Peters (NIR athletics)
Gerraint Thomas (WAL cycling)
David Wilkie (SCO swimming)
Steve Redgrave (ENG rowing)

passing the torch to some unknown young 10yo duo to light the flame would tick pretty much all the boxes.

[Randy Treadway]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised from a country (USA) that loves the 'Benny Hill' and 'Are you being served' reruns.

They were popular for a short time, but I haven't seen them for about 20 years now. The other person was right though- it's hard to understand them sometimes. Why can't they learn how to speak English? LOL The best British comedies were those that poked fun at their own country's aristocratic leanings- Are You Being Served and Keeping Up Appearances being examples, at least the stereotypes of those leanings.

Back to torch lighting. The obvious politically correct choice would be a paralympic athlete in a wheel chair. Or better yet, the quadruple whammy for politically correctness. A female minority lesbian in a wheelchair. Add in Muslim and it's such a hands down choice they couldn't possibly avoid it.

I do like the Eurofighter Typhoon idea though. Say, a British Army sniper has the world record for distance, in Afghanistan in 2010. More than 1.5 miles away. Maybe he could light the flame from the top of Buckingham Palace or some similar London TV camera-friendly place. Was that Barcelona where the guy shot an arrow halfway across the stadium to light the flame? The TV producers loved that- a flaming arrow flying through the sky.

[jjimbojames]

A lesbian Muslim? Er...

[Powell]

Katie Price, assisted by Mump and Flump

[Daisy]

Why the heck should the flame holder be a track and field athlete?

I'm guessing we're all a little biased.

[ldnbloke]

If it's athletics (T&F) I would prefer Kelly Holmes over Daley Thompson. Daley will probably want it more so he could be the centre of attention, bless...
Both are liked by the media and the public. Sally Gunnell is not a media (read BBC) darling, Jonathan Edwards works (unfortunately) as a BBC commentator, Christie is a no no, Ovett is still considered too working class, and Tessa Sanderson and Fatima Whitbread (though the latter hasn't got an Oly gold) not high enough profile.
Redgrave is massively overhyped in the UK, but it wouldn't surprise me if he is chosen to do it either on his own or wish fellow rower Matthew Pinsent.
The famous cyclists, bar one are still active as well as the swimmers, divers etc... The team sports (the olympic important ones: handball, basketball, volleyballl, waterpolo) are not a british thing and they're not gonna choose the couple of famous boxers who had olympic success.

[ldnbloke]

My money is on Tom Daley

I'd prefer Peter Waterfield (the other diver who also won silver in Athens) - much easier on the eyes and ears.

[rhymans]

Logically it should be Daley Thompson. Like GH I can't picture a rower lighting the flame, particularly as Redgrave (however good he was) was never an individual gold medalist. A nice touch touch would be to select Ovett, but it probably won't happen.

[Randy Treadway]

...Ovett is still considered too working class

I presume you mean from a marketing standpoint, but not quite sure from the British perspective how the general British public views somebody deemed 'working class'.
Is it something like Tonya Harding in the U.S.- unsophisticated, roustabout, trailer trash (actually lives in a trailer, blue collar)... that sort of thing? The kind of person who would be yelling nose to nose with their ex- on the Jerry Springer show?
That kind of person is usually viewed with disdain in America.

Or is it something different in the UK- he didn't get into the House of Lords like Coe? Normally (from the other side of the pond) one would assume that's because Coe had political aspirations and Ovett didn't, but maybe Coe had family connections or something.
So is Ovett working class because he was born into the wrong family, or is it just his personality?

[ldnbloke]

No, working class means unprivileged background but many people who make good living and career when they grow up still do not display pretentious snobbery attributes ala Ovett, which means the public will like him but not the pseudo royalty of Powers that be as he has not conformed to whatever.
What Americans call trailer trash, is characterised as underclass or pond life in the UK.
Kelly Holmes has an inspirational story as well, but she was always super liked by the public and the media. I cried when she won the 800 m in Athens as I had suffered alongside all the other fans for years with her untimely injuries.

[gh]

...BTW, for any of the posters who cannot understand the choice of any sportsman other than a track runner, we got a boxer in 1996 lighting the flame,...

You're right! In order to complete the cycle I change my vote to Henry Cooper!

[mump boy]

My preference would Dorothy Tyler and Tom Daley together

[Randy Treadway]

...BTW, for any of the posters who cannot understand the choice of any sportsman other than a track runner, we got a boxer in 1996 lighting the flame,...

You're right! In order to complete the cycle I change my vote to Henry Cooper!

In 1964 the cauldron was lit by a runner who just happened to be born in Hiroshima the day the bomb was dropped there.
In 1976, it was a couple of teenagers- one English speaking and one French speaking- symbolizing the 'unity' of Canada.

Both were total political correctness choices, trumping athletic heritage. From what I hear, the athletic heritage tradition for cauldron-lighters didn't really begin until 1952 when Paavo Nurmi lit the flame in Helsinki.

[Gold Fever]

It's gotta be Steve Redgrave, sorry SIR Steve Redgrave the British rower that won five GOLDs in five straight Olympics