Greet Britain! Athletes hoist up their colours in Olympic village as the world makes itself at home in London... but patriotic joy hasn't stopped stars moaning about the 'tiny beds'
! l. t0 s, d- {公仔箱論壇- Australians, Slovenes, Belgians and Canadians kick off flag-on-balcony trend
- Athletes tweet pictures of their rooms and facilities - and some praise food
- But Argentinians moan about their small beds and beg for extensions
- Rise of Twitter as 27,000 tweets sent per second - compared to 27 in 2008
By Rob Preece
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- i. D3 _; s3 u' M! r公仔箱論壇The Olympic Village came to life today as athletes from around the world began to make their mark by displaying their national colours on buildings.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 g# l- k$ R5 g
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Most striking of all was the Australian contingent's apartment block, where a series of banners fixed to balconies read 'Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi' in bold green and gold lettering.os.tvboxnow.com1 b$ h9 M2 \1 i' w/ x
( R6 P$ y R1 d# E( cThe message, accompanied by kangaroo cartoons, could be seen by passers-by a mile from the Olympic park in Stratford, east London.2 S' o& \6 c3 R% }
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Proud: Patriotic banners hang from the balconies of Australian athletes' hotel rooms in the Olympic villageos.tvboxnow.com+ Z; @3 M5 K! R0 L' H
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Patriotic: The Australian banners and flags could be clearly seen by passers-by (left) and athletes from Slovenia also showed their national colours
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& J! [$ C# X$ X( D% dtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbBedecked: Athletes from all nations have begun decking the apartment balconies with flagsos.tvboxnow.com/ y2 H6 A4 g r
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$ Y- t7 } l! a( ]os.tvboxnow.comColourful: Among the teams displaying their flags aer Belgium, left, and Canada
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Slovenian athletes were also quick off the blocks to emblazon their building and proudly displayed their national flag from balconies along with a sign reading 'I feel love'.
3 r. `1 V7 R% ]; Otvb now,tvbnow,bttvbLater the Canadian and Belgian teams hung flags from the balconies. Belgium's included one giant banner that was at least 60ft long.
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But despite the joyous spirit of some, there have also been a host of complaints from athletes who have taken to Twitter in droves to discuss their new surroundings.
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& v, f4 M; t3 g4 o; WTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Within hours stars from around the world landing at Heathrow yesterday, gold medal-winning British swimmer Rebecca Adlington posted a picture of her untidy room in the athletes village, adding: 'Only been here a few hours and my room is a mess!!!'
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'Messy': British gold medal-winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington tweeted a picture of her room in the village
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Preparing: Miss Adlington adjusts her shirt as she arrives for a practice session at the Aquatics Centre
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Making a splash: Team GB divers Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield practice in the Aquatics Centreos.tvboxnow.com" X" q$ {: l0 F9 n1 T* e1 o# Y. S
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Picturesque: British diver Sarah Barrow's view from her room
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# Z) V7 b6 Y: O9 ~os.tvboxnow.comWalking tall: The Jamaica olympic team, including Usain Bolt (in blue) arrive today at the sports and athletic track at Birmingham University, where they will train ahead of the Games
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Local colour: Inspired Birmingham builders copy Usain Bolt's trademark celebratory posetvb now,tvbnow,bttvb! A* \; I8 P/ J; `
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Argentinian rower Maria Gabriela Best, who is 6ft 1in tall, said she was forced to request an extension to her bed while her team-mate, Maria Laura Abalo, tweeted: 'The beds are small. I’ve got the feet to the edge.'
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However, the food in the village in Stratford was a lot more popular. It certainly cheered up Clemont, who won gold in Beijing four years ago.
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; t! r4 E4 [3 v8 sOnce he finally arrived at the complex, he tweeted: “Eating at the Olympic Village. Love the variety of food choices. African, Caribbean, Halal cuisine, Indian and Asian and of course McDonalds.”
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Fellow American 400 metre runner Tony McQuay tweeted repeatedly about the 'beautiful village', adding: 'OMG this place just got even better with the food ... I’m in heaven. I wish I could bring this village back to the US.'
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Huge following: Thousands turned out to watch Dame Kelly Holmes run with the torch at Tonbridge Castle, KentTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。1 C, V! A& u! Q" ~' |$ Z5 _7 ]
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Cheers: Dame Kelly Holmes with pupils from her old school Hildenborough School, at Tonbridge Castle
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Passing of generations: Dame Kelly Holmes with Frank Verge, 86, who was a Torchbearer in 1948 Olympics
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Among the athletes who flew in to Heathrow yesterday and travelled to Stratford were members of the Team GB who had apparently been training away from London.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 F# E/ T3 G' J6 h: r
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They included men's football team, who had flown back to Britain after enjoying warm-weather training sessions in Spain.
% O( ?3 R8 x0 V6 wtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe players, including Manchester United star Ryan Giggs, later posed for pictures in the reception area of the Olympic village.
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All smiles: Members of the Great Britain team arrive at Heathrow after apparently training abroad
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8 P/ V; l& h0 t4 ^( D$ H0 ~3 dJourney: British team members prepare to be transferred to the Olympic village after arriving in Londonos.tvboxnow.com7 s8 ?8 y) w9 }- m2 C+ _2 \& u
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Welsh midfielder Craig Bellamy, who celebrated his 33rd birthday last week, joked he doesn’t know anyone outside football, but said he wants to meet Usain Bolt.
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6 J2 O6 x, ?7 Z' N; BGiggs, whose preference is Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, said: ‘I hope this isn’t a one-off. I hope in future there will be more Great Britain teams. TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。% K4 G$ }' h8 @2 j
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'I hope fellow British footballers can experience what I’ve experienced so far this week and, hopefully, will go on to experience in the next few weeks.’
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Double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington was one of the 44 British swimmers checking in for a two-night stay before they go to a holding camp in Edinburgh.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb7 }0 H/ t, l9 k7 u
) W, l p$ @! C+ A* ?2 lThe swimming team had a ‘date night’ on Monday night as they were paired with someone to go to dinner. Adlington got David Carry, who is engaged to her close friend Keri-Anne Payne.
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" {$ Q, y- H3 A' f9 D- G* m! x: jos.tvboxnow.comPayne was matched with fellow open water swimmer David Davies. ‘I’ll be keeping an eye out,’ tweeted Carry.
" b( K6 B7 p/ GLondon 2012 will be the first Olympics to be influenced heavily by Twitter, which has more than 500 million users across the globe.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。( Z& r! Y! v6 w7 {
During the last Games in Beijing four years ago, the site was processing about 27 tweets per second. Today, that figure has leapt to a near-incomprehensible 27,000 per second.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ P) H1 {& J! z1 n! B
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Team GB’s section is called Seaside, in keeping with the holiday-camp feel portrayed by many British athletes as they excitedly tweeted pictures of their homes for the next few weeks.公仔箱論壇9 r: f0 X# Z- [" U4 N
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Fans and tourists have started to arrive in London, too. You can spot them a mile off: those sports enthusiasts in over-sized ponchos with fold-up maps; their battered rucksacks emblazoned with pin badges and embroidered with ‘Athens 2004’ and ‘Barcelona ’92’.
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' D/ L) T# L0 R: ^os.tvboxnow.com2012: OLYMPICS BY NUMBERS
- E. u% a* { g# t% a/ b公仔箱論壇3 The number of times London has held the Olympic Games (1908, 1948 and 2012)TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。; k1 X; [/ y' c/ l+ I) [$ B
30 New bridges built inside the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London
5 U8 u) z, ^, d/ Q3 Q+ m* @ N200 Number of buildings that had to be demolished to accommodate the site
% b0 D/ @& z- @+ D$ H587 Acreage of Olympic Park: _' R3 s" r1 x: s; V
3,000 Square footage of world's biggest McDonald's - just 200 yards from stadium" d. l( R* [0 j8 ~! p3 M
200,000 Total workforce neededTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。( ]- K! ^7 l# ?8 \& \2 A% y
700,000 Total capacity for all venues
+ h8 w/ Q7 ]; ^6 los.tvboxnow.com4billion People expected to watch the Opening Ceremony
1 K, ?8 @2 A t- w. c8 ]9.3billion cost in pounds sterling of staging the Games
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Arriving: Members of the Cuban Olympic weightlifting team file through Heathrow to be transported to the athletes' village公仔箱論壇4 J8 \8 t4 O0 N$ ?
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7 U n) k" \3 U9 E3 @, U9 RGB footballers Tom Cleverley and Ryan Giggs relax in the athletes' village (left) and Dutch beach volleyball players Madelein Meppelink and Marlene van Iersel arrive at Heathrow (right)
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$ k4 X$ @& a3 d3 n7 Q% D+ uTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Medal push: Russian competitors take their luggage through Heathrow on trolleys
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Throng: Russian competitors make their way through Heathrow's arrivals lounge, watched by media and onlookers
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Ready: A Russian sailor receives his accreditation pass for the Gamestvb now,tvbnow,bttvb& z. z7 L" T. \. G4 x* o
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' P2 W6 O9 u1 _tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbStars: The Great Britain men's Olympic football team pose for photographs in the reception area of the athletes' village* z0 s; Q5 o6 E) z, q- Z
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& K+ V4 d; g4 R4 F" u1 pTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Getting ready for the kick-off: The British women's football team also posed for pictures
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Team bonding: Australian Olympic athletes, including (left to right) Henry Frayne, Cate Campbell, Natalie Cook, Sally Pearson, Jessicah Schipper, Mitchell Watt and Craig Mottram, have wasted no time in making themselves at home in London
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The‘Games Makers’, the smiley band of London 2012 volunteers, are out in force as well. Thankfully, their distinctive deep purple and ‘poppy red’uniform includes a cap, waterproof jacket and an umbrella.! N. D5 n' y* p: n: ~3 Q
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‘It can’t rain for the next month, can it?’ said one of the volunteers, a man in his late 50s who was happy to chat as we tried to make our way around the warren that is Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre on Monday.
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‘I’m helping with the transport,’ he added. ‘No, I’m not driving athletes or officials: I don’t like driving manual cars and didn’t really fancy being in all that traffic in central London.’
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