London 2012 Olympics: Spectacular opening ceremony kicks off greatest show on earth

 
1/42

Danny Boyle's opening ceremony provided a spectacular curtainraiser to the Olympics - with David Beckham taking the torch on a speedboat along the Thames and the Queen featuring in a James Bond spoof.

Seven talented young athletes played a key role in the lighting of the cauldron after being nominated by Olympic greats.

The teenagers, who have all shown promise in their disciplines, ran around the track together after being passed the flame by Sir Steve Redgrave.

The group, was joined by the seven Olympic heroes - including Sir Steve - for the final lighting of the cauldron with 260 of Britain`s greatest sportsmen and women.

Beamed to a worldwide TV audience of one billion, the three-hour show proved an instant hit with some hailing the Slumdog millionnaire director a "genius".

After a video showing the Queen and James Bond star Daniel Craig entering the Olympic Stadium, Mr Bean actor Rowen Atkinson took centre stage.

The ceremony then focused on British music, playing famous UK acts including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Who.

Rapper Dizzee Rascal then performed live before the Olympic athletes entered the stadium.

But possibly the biggest cheer of the evening came when giant screens showed David Beckham at the helm of a speedboat bringing the torch from Tower Bridge to the stadium along the Thames.

Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins opened the Opening Ceremony of London 2012.

Wearing the tour's yellow jersey, the British cyclist started Danny Boyle's £27million spectacular in the Olympic Stadium.

The show began with a pastoral scene, with live sheep and geese moving freely around Boyle's "green and pleasant land".

The show then depicted the industrial revolution, with huge smoke stacks emerging from the ground.

Dancers in Victorian top hats and tails circled the stadium.

Boyle chose to give the National Health Service centre stage for one portion of the show.

Hundreds of actors dressed as nurses and doctors swarmed the stage before Harry Potter author J.K Rowling gave a reading.

The athletes' parade followed the show, with Greece leading out the procession of 205 nations.

Team GB completed the parade, a team of 260 athletes led out by flagbearer Sir Chris Hoy.

Dressed in gold-trimmed uniforms, they entered the stadium to huge cheers - and a rendition of David Bowie's Heroes.

Saudi Arabia's team included three female athletes - the first it has sent to a Games while the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, led the Jamaicans out.

The Arctic Monkeys performed to the assembled athletes before the formal opening.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in