Review of Week 1 at Olympics 2012 Opening ceremony The week before theDanny Boyle unveiled his Isles of Wonder,

the buildup was dominated by worrying signs. There were reports of creative tensions behind the scenes and those close to the production spoke of such a "high wire act" that even those involved were unsure if Boyle could pull it off. In the end, it was an unalloyed triumph. Even concerns that Boyle's hymn to Britishness would prove too madcap and parochial for the rest of the world were largely unfounded. Even if the international audience didn't get the references to the Jarrow marches, they enjoyed James Bond and Mr Bean. The odd off-message Tory MP aside, the 27m production got better notices than organisers could possibly have hoped for, and got the Games off to a winning start. Tickets Patches of several hundred empty seats visible in many venues became an issue that haunted organisers during the opening days. Ensuring that accredited areas for the so-called "Olympic family" are full during early rounds has been a perennial problem for organisers down the years. It was exacerbated in London by the fact that the public had been trying for months to secure tickets, often in vain, and were understandably furious. The often controversial ticketing process, punctuated by technical problems and complaints over lack of transparency, did not help. The London organising committee (Locog) frantically attempted to avert a potential PR disaster by negotiating with international federations to resell some seats, and by sending in troops and volunteers to fill the gaps. The complaints continued to pour in, but Locog claimed by the end of the week the accredited areas were 80% full. It is clawing back between 3,000 and 4,000 seats a day to resell overnight, but the slowness of the website continues to frustrate. Locog said on Friday that 2.5m people were trying to get their hands on a few thousands tickets, but the ticketing operation has been routinely described as a shambles and embarrassing. On the upside, the venues have been fuller than at any recent Games with occupancy rates of 85% or more, and the atmosphere, even for matches between no hopers in little heralded sports, has been much praised. Transport Along with security, transport was always the issue to most exercise the London 2012 organisers and the capital's politicians. Since the International Olympic Committee first raised transport as a major concern, more than 6bn has been spent upgrading London's creaking infrastructure. There have been grumbles about the Games lanes and some minor delays, but nothing cataclysmic. Even when the Central line went down on the night of the first major opening ceremony dress rehearsal, the system coped. If anything, the doom-laden warnings telling people to plan their journeys, change their working habits and avoid driving have worked too well. Some areas of London have resembled ghost towns and normally packed commuter trains have been empty, leading to complaints from theatres, bars, restaurants and shops. The biggest test yet came on Friday, when the main stadium opened for business and the number of people at the Olympic Park more than doubled from 90,000 to 200,000. There were long queues for the Javelin train at St Pancras after the Central line was suspended again, which led to some frustration, but the system largely coped. A tragic accident in which a cyclist was knocked down and killed by a media bus could not be laid at the door of the organisers. The Olympic Park

Some have found the atmosphere at the Olympic Park a bit too much like organised fun, but the truth is that for every "proud to only accept Visa" annoyance there is a scene to gladden the heart. Families are finding it a thoroughly agreeable to while away the hours, watching sport in the big screen area or simply wandering around the well landscaped area and marvelling at the venuesplace. One recurring niggle is with the catering, particularly as there are stringent rules about how much food and drink can be brought into the park. Some outlets have run out of food and there are have been long queues. Within the venues, the atmosphere has been electric, particularly in the velodrome hothouse and the Aquatics Centre. Glaswegian Michael Jamieson was visibly lifted by the crowd as he won silver in the 200m breaststroke. The Olympic Stadium was packed and buzzing on Friday for the first day of competition. The Olympic Delivery Authority has created an impressive canvas, but it is the enthusiasm of the crowds that has been supplying the vivid colour. Outside the park It was part of Locog's vision that the Olympic spirit would wash across the city, hence the vast temporary venues in picture postcard locations, Greenwich Park, Horse Guards Parade and the Royal Artillery Barracks, and the use of iconic existing venues such as Wimbledon and Wembley. Inside the venues, the policy has been spectacularly vindicated. At the beach volleyball, it is as though a slice of Madison Square Garden-style razzmatazz has been brought to the Mall, while the equestrian events have brought the country set to the city (albeit amid some local disapproval). At Eton Dorney, huge knowledgable crowds in an odd mix of Henley chic and Team GB leisurewear have roared Britian's rowers on. For Bradley Wiggins' time trial triumph, a sunny day, huge crowds in the grip of cycling fever and a picturesque setting combined to create the sort of scene Lord Coe and his organising committee had dreamed of. But oOutside the venues, however, it has been a different story. Dire warnings about transport chaos have meant desolate scenes in central London, with the hoped-for party atmosphere sadly lacking so far. Other Games have followed a similar pattern and organisers are hopeful it will change in the second week, as the crowds start to flow back. Home team Although the medals table confirms the view of Team GB officials that there was no need to panic, the gloom that settled over the nation following Mark Cavendish's failure in the cycling road race didn't truly shift until Helen Glover and Heather Stanning rowed to gold on Wednesday. That settled the nerves, Wiggins followed and Team GB has not looked back since. Although some of the medals hoped for have failed to materialise, others not expected to make the podium, such as Gemma Gibbons in judo, have surpassed expectations, and momentum is starting to build around the women's hockey teams. Whether Britain can match the fourth in the medal table achieved in Beijing will depend to a large extent on the medal haul this weekend in the velodrome, on the rowing lake and in the sailing off the coast of Weymouth. Volunteers The 70,000 volunteers Locog recruited to work for three weeks in often menial roles in return for just a uniform and a travelcard have been one of the undoubted hits so far. Coe has often said they would set the tone for the Games and they have delivered in spades. Tolerant, cheery and often witty, they have kept the wheels oiled and the atmosphere upbeat even when queues or the weather may have led to frustration. If they carry on in this mode, organisers will owe them a huge debt. Security The desperate bid to recruit more security guards after private contractor G4S admitted it couldn't supply its quota of 10,000 of the 23,700 total dominated the week before the Games. Locog had

originally badly underestimated the overall number of guards required, and both it and the government came in for criticism. They responded swiftly by calling in the troops. In what has proved a PR coup for the Ministry of Defence, the 18,000-plus troops running security checkpoints have done so with good humour and tact. If the sight of thousands of soldiers in full fatigues initially felt unsettling, it has quickly come to seem comforting. Whether the soldiers themselves, some of them recently returned from Afghanistan and billetted in temporary accommodation at Tobacco Dock in Wapping, feel the same way behind their cheery good humour is impossible to tell. Doping and cheating Two athletes have been sent home after positive drug tests, but it was a row over an athlete who has never failed one in her short career that sparked global headlines. Veteran US swimming coach John Leonard's contention that 16-year-old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen's first of two gold medal winning performances was "unbelievable" and "suspicious" sparked a furious response. The US team immediately moved to distance themselves from the allegations and Ye, after winning her second gold, said she believed they were motivated by bias. Her supporters said teenage swimmers often posted huge improvements in their times, her detractors that her final 100m was too good to be true. For Ye, the sad truth is that today's athletes must pay for the sins of some of their predecessors. China was also embroiled in the other major controversy of the first week on the badminton court. Eight players were eventually suspended for losing on purpose to give themselves a better draw in the next round. Here, organisers didn't cover themselves in glory as the situation was allowed to drag on through the next day, while the international federation must take its share of the blame for introducing a format that allowed for dead rubbers. Verdict The issues over ticketing aside, things are going better than organisers would have dared hope. They have had one genuinely iconic sporting moment as Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time and at least a couple of British golds that will stand among the most memorable ever. If Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and the rest of the 100m field can produce one of the greatest races of all time, and if one or two of Britain's hopes for track and field gold can come good amid more homegrown medals in cycling, rowing and sailing, then they will hope to build on a start that has been both solid and, in more than a few places, spectacular. If the focus remains on the sport, that means everything is going pretty well. Surveys show that the public, buoyed by British medals, appear largely convinced already.