The Olympic flame was handed over from Greece to London yesterday afternoon at 4pm at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896.

Princess Anne – a member of the International Olympic Committee and former Olympic athlete – will lead the British delegation, which will also include David Beckham, Boris Johnson, and Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Olympics organising committee.

Princess Anne will receive the flame from Spyros Capralos, the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, along with five young Britons chosen for their commitment to sport and Olympic values. Greek president Karolos Papoulias will break off from the euro crisis rocking his country to attend the ceremony.

‘Simón Bolívar Orchestra – Live from Stirling’ will take place in the heart of Raploch, against the backdrop of Stirling Castle, and will broadcast on BBC Four, BBC Radio Scotland and at 22 Live Sites across the UK.

This unique concert will be the official start of the London 2012 Festival across the UK and will be one of the largest outdoor classical music events ever held in Scotland.

Special guest appearance

Led by conductor Gustavo Dudamel, almost 300 musicians will perform to an audience of thousands drawn from the local community, across the UK and the world. The concert will also feature a special guest appearance by the children of Big Noise, a programme which aims to transform the lives of young people.

Ruth Mackenzie, London 2012 Festival Director, said: ‘Sistema Scotland (the charity behind Big Noise) sums up beautifully the values of the London 2012 Festival – world class excellence combining the talent of local young people with their hero Gustavo Dudamel and his amazing orchestra from Venezula.’

The London 2012 Festival will be a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration running from 21 June – 9 September, bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.

Installed on the front of the iconic City Hall, the Rings will officially be unveiled at a launch event on Saturday 19 May and will become a focal point for celebrations.

‘Iconic symbol’

London 2012 Organising Committee Chair Seb Coe said: ‘The Olympic Rings are an iconic symbol, inspiring athletes and uniting people around the world. To athletes they represent the culmination of thousands of hours of training and reaching the highest level in sport. These Rings will excite and inspire residents and visitors to Belfast.’

Giant sets of Olympic Rings are being installed at iconic sites across the UK to excite and inspire people ahead of the Games. Last month saw sets of Rings unveiled in both Cardiff and Birmingham

Free outdoor event

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Niall Ó Donnghaile, said: ‘This is a wonderful opportunity for people here to be part of the excitement and spectacle of the London 2012 Olympic Games and it is great that we can to bring the symbol of the Olympic Games into the heart of Belfast.’

The Olympic Torch Relay arrives in Belfast on Wednesday 6 June, with a free outdoor event to mark the occasion taking place at the City Hall that evening.

Pictured in October 2011, Professor Nigel Dunnett stands in the Parklands area in the south of the Olympic Park.

After two years of trials and research, more than ten football fields’ worth of nectar-rich wildflower have now been planted, helping to provide the colourful setting for the Games. London 2012 Organising Committee Chair Seb Coe said: ‘After completing our successful series of London Prepares test events we are preparing the Olympic Park to host millions of spectators this summer.

‘The wildflower meadows timed to flower around the Stadium in July are just one example of the painstakingly detailed and innovative work of the team of experts that have created the Olympic Park that will be enjoyed by spectators during the Games and for generations to come.’

‘A ribbon of gold’

The riverbank meadows have been especially designed to flower late by international wildflower expert Professor Nigel Dunnett from the University of Sheffield, and will bloom gold just in time for the Olympic Opening Ceremony on 27 July. Professor Nigel Dunnett said: ‘After years of preparation and two practice runs we have sown the final meadows that will run like a ribbon of gold around the Olympic Stadium.

‘In just a few weeks visitors to the Olympic Park and TV viewers will see areas of flat mud transformed into waist-high wildflower meadows buzzing with bees and butterflies.’

Colourful peak

The majority of the planting of 4,000 trees, 300,000 wetland plants and more than 150,000 perennial plants and bushes in the Olympic Park was completed in the autumn by the Olympic Delivery Authority. Throughout the winter and spring a dedicated team of specialist gardeners and horticulturists worked to ensure that the Park reaches its colourful peak this summer, wrapping trees to protect them from the cold and cutting back thousands of early-flowering plants.

After the Games the Olympic Park meadows will gradually become self-sustaining and become a new park for people and wildlife for generations to come.

Torch bearer: Spyridon Gianniotis carries the Olympic flame in one hand and an olive branch in the other

For London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and his colleagues it was a crucial moment, the start of a relay that they hope will sharpen the excitement and anticipation for an event that is now close enough to touch.

After spending eight days in Greece the torch will be flown to the UK next Friday, and begin its relay around the UK the following morning at Land’s End, in the hands of three-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie.

“This is huge, it’s the rallying call for the athletes,” said Lord Coe. “This is a really serious day for us, and probably not a day that, if we’re being honest, we thought we would necessarily see when we started bidding in 2002.

“I do think when it starts the UK journey at Land’s End it is going to be massive. I have seen it with other Games, and heard it from people who will carry the torch. It is an inspirational moment.”

Coe and his colleagues are banking on the flame accelerating the build-up to the Games, but the omens were not entirely auspicious at the lighting ceremony in the ancient stadium in Olympia.

One of the kids from the camp holding up medals

Natasha Danvers signing Team Olympic shirts for the kids at the camp

Olympic bronze medalist Natasha Danvers last week gave a group of kids at one of the Team Olympic camps (Raynham Park) the surprise of their lives, as she came along to one of their weekly sessions bronze medals in Tow.

She spoke with the kids and signed autographs aswell as took pictures. It’s rare world class athletes take days off especially in the run up to such a massive event. So many thanks to Natasha, fingers crossed she makes it onto the podemium again come London 2012.

In less than 12 months, LOCOG has delivered 42 test events in 28 venues, allowing hundreds of thousands of spectators to enjoy world-class sport in Olympic and Paralympic venues.

Over 8,000 athletes have competed across 183 days of competition, spanning all Olympic sports and disciplines and six Paralympic sports.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: ‘We set out to run events which would test the venues, the sporting field of play and our workforce, whilst at the same time allowing members of the public to enjoy world class sport in an Olympic setting.

‘We have done just this and all these events, without exception, have gone well. Of course there will be some lessons learned from each event, but we have not had to make any major changes to any of our venues or our plans. We are in great shape and on course to stage the world’s greatest sporting event.’

Championship and world records broken

The most recent London Prepares series events saw a British victory for the women’s hockey team at the Riverbank Arena, whilst Hungary took victory in the Visa Water Polo International. Elsewhere, the Olympic Stadium hosted the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Visa Outdoor Athletics Championships where Charlie Purdue, a student at St Mary’s, set a new BUCS championship record of 15.15.12 in the 5000m.

Despite some challenging weather, the Eton Manor Wheelchair Tennis International was also a success, with Robin Ammerlaan and Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands clinching the men’s and women’s Singles titles respectively.

The London Boccia Invitational 2012 saw Great Britain win three gold medals with Greece winning gold in the BC3 Mixed Individual event and Republic of Korea taking gold in the BC1-2 Mixed Team event.

British athletes Richard Whitehead, Hannah Cockroft and Paul Blake made history at the Visa London Disability Athletics Challenge, supported by UK Sport, clocking new world records in the T42 200m, T34 100m and T36 1500m respectively.

At The Royal Artillery Barracks, Paralympic archers Dani Brown and John Stubbs claimed silver in the women’s and men’s Compound in the London Para Archery International Tournament, while Britain’s John Cavanagh took bronze in the Compound W1 event.

In a traditional ceremony organised by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC), the Flame was lit at the Temple of Hera, next to the historic ruins of the home of the ancient Olympic Games. The High Priestess used a parabolic mirror to capture the sun’s rays to create the Flame. It was then carried into the Ancient Olympic Stadium.

Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: ‘The Olympic Flame lit in Olympia will connect the ancient Games and the modern Games. Cities, towns and villages across Greece and Britain will be connected together and to the London 2012 Olympic Games forever.’

First London 2012 Torchbearer

British-born Greek 10km swimming world champion Spyros Gianniotis had the honour of starting the Olympic Flame’s journey across Greece. He carried the Flame from the Ancient Stadium, via Pierre de Coubertin’s Grove, before handing the Flame on to 19-year-old London Borough of Newham resident Alexandros (Alex) Loukos.

Alex said: ‘It is an unbelievable honour to be a Torchbearer in the Olympic Torch Relay, especially carrying the Flame in Olympia and representing the city of London.’

Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony

The Olympic Flame will now be taken on an eight-day relay around Greece before arriving at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on the evening of Thursday 17 May for the Handover Ceremony. It will travel to the UK on 18 May, and start its 70-day journey around the UK the next day.

U12′s
1st – Micah Pannack – Knights Youth Club
2nd – Kai Davis-Francis – Westmintser House Youth Club
3rd – Archie Hill – Westmintser House Youth Club

U14′s
1st – Callum Martin / Westminster House Youth Club
2nd – Alies Bell – Team Olympics
3rd – Parsa Agatollah – Earls Court Youth Club

U16′s
3rd – Aaron Hammond – Underground Youth Club

U19′S
1st – Josh Nashed – Team Olympics
2nd – David Adesenya – Team Olympics
3rd – Elliott George – Earls Court Youth Club