The opening ceremony at the London Olympics went off smoothly Friday evening.Yahoo labeled the Queen's reaction to British athletes walking by "embarrassing,"however.They thought she had a bored expression. Sir Paul McCartney performed at the end of the program,singing Beatles songs "The End" and "Hey Jude."His voice was flexible at 70 years of age.
An impressive simulation of the Industrial Revolution featured smoke stacks belching acrid smoke.
There wasn't a famous torchbearer to light the cauldron at Olympic Stadium.Instead,a group of 16 young athletes,future Olympians,carried torches to a ring of copper leaves.They lit the leaves,which were then mechanically raised to form the Olympic cauldron.
Former Olympian Muhammad Ali,the boxer,was there to touch the Olympic flag,still able to stand despite his Parkinson's disease.He had lit the cauldron at the 1996 games in Atlanta,shaking from the illness even then.
The games begin in earnest today,Saturday.The soccer tournament actually began on Thursday,before the opening ceremony.The U.S. women's team beat France 4-2.The U.S. men's soccer team failed to qualify for the London games.
Update:Saturday saw continued good weather for the London Olympics.In the cycling road race,Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov won the gold as he wrested the lead from Colombia's Rigoberto Uran near the end of the race,which passed Buckingham Palace.Vinokourov,38,became quite emotional,with many tears for his victory as he embraced his friends.He wasn't the favorite,having retired from the sport at one point.
The Russian women defeated China in beach volleyball.
The U.S. women's soccer team silenced Colombia 3-0 in Glasgow,Scotland.They qualified for the quarter finals,but have a match with North Korea first to finish up group play.
In tennis,American Serena Williams bested Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-3,6-1 to advance to the second round.The match was held at Wimbledon,with U.S. first lady Michelle Obama attending and applauding Williams.
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