British Billy limbers up for the Olympics

  • Published
  • By British Billy
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  It has come to my attention that there will be 12 horses, 10 chickens and 70 sheep at the Olympic opening ceremony in London this coming Friday, July 27. No cats - well, not in an official capacity. I am sure that a few of my feline friends who frequent Stratford in London's East End, home of the Olympic Park, will find their way in without a ticket somehow or other. It's what cats do best.

In spite of our famed British 'sang-froid'*, many of my compatriots are becoming very excited as the great event approaches. Following on from the pageantry of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and journey of the Olympic Torch as it wound its way around the British Isles through the seemingly interminable rain, the Games of the XXXth Olympiad have once again energised our national pride.

London has hosted the Olympic Games twice before, in 1908 and 1948. The IVth Olympic Games were originally awarded to Rome but were reallocated to London when the Italian government realised in 1906 that the recent eruption of Mount Vesuvius was going to cause the Italian state serious financial difficulties. London's formal acceptance came in November of 1906, with a mere 18 months in which to prepare. A new stadium, later named The White City, was built in west London.

The XIIth Games in 1940 were originally awarded to Tokyo and then Helsinki, but were eventually cancelled after the outbreak of World War II. Optimistically, the International Olympic Committee chose London to host the XIIIth Games in 1944, only to see them cancelled again.

With the war finally over in 1945, a postal vote of IOC members again selected London to host the Olympics. Six years of war had left Britain with rationing of food and clothing, and housing was in short supply, such that the 1948 celebrations became known as the 'Austerity Games'.
I have to admit that my tail is twitching most vigorously in anticipation of the Paralympic Games, which this year will run from Aug. 29 until Sept. 9. They had their humble beginnings barely 50 years ago in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, England.

Games for people with disabilities can be traced to World War II and the efforts of one man, an English neurosurgeon called Ludwig Guttmann. Known as the "father of sport for people with disabilities", Dr. Guttmann was a strong advocate of using sports therapy to enhance the quality of life for people who were injured or wounded during World War II. He organised the 1948 International Wheelchair Games to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics. His dream was a worldwide sports competition for people with disabilities to be held every four years as the equivalent of the Olympic Games. Twelve years later, his dream became a reality.

So, this Friday night I plan to be settled upon my usual seat on the sofa, ready to watch coverage of the opening ceremony. While scanning social media, which isn't easy without opposable thumbs, I have discovered that some who are privy to the secrets of the spectacle have described it as "splendidly British and magnificently bonkers."

Not unlike myself, then. I can't wait.

*'Sang-froid' - pronounced 'song fwra' - is a word of French origin and it means 'cold blood'. When a person displays 'sang-froid' in a crisis, they remain very calm when things around them are falling apart. We Brits know how to keep calm and carry on.