London?s Olympic celebration touches down in Ottawa

Britain has planted its Olympic flag in Canada.

The raising of the 2012 London Olympic flag outside the British High Commission in Ottawa Monday marks a year when Britain hopes to use the event to promote its place in the world. It?s now 200 days till the Games begin.

?What we hope in London this time is not only to have a huge and successful sporting occasion, but to leave an environmental and industrial, tourist legacy behind. So the Games are about sport and about friendship, but also about legacy,? said British High Commissioner Andrew Pocock, who was joined by Canadian kayak Olympian Kristin Gauthier for the flag-raising ceremony.

More related to this story

China poured resources into the last summer Olympics, Beijing 2008, to mark a milestone in its rise to superpower status. The elaborate ceremonies and newly-christened facilities were not just a point of pride, but the country?s global coming-out party.

And though Mr. Pocock says the point is not to compete with Beijing?s 2008 show, the country ? once the centre of a mighty empire ? will be keen not to pale in comparison.

?It is a once in a generation opportunity for the United Kingdom to put on a display of what it can do industrially, what it can do in terms of sport and security, and to showcase the fact that it is still an enormously competitive place as well as a very pleasant place to visit and to work in.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Front/~3/F2V9UaKIaCA/

ronan diane sawyer clay matthews kenny chesney matt kemp rumpelstiltskin rumpelstiltskin