The moment the mayor of London appeared during the closing ceremony on Sunday night it put questions into everyone's minds. Boris Johnson shuffled onstage, his middle button undone, a hand in his pocket. He waved, pointed, pumped his fist and grinned: a naughty schoolboy out with the grown-ups.
How well London will carry that flag is a question its representatives have found themselves asked repeatedly over the last two weeks.
What can they do to follow this no-expenses-spared Olympics, with its spectacular arenas, clockwork organization and attention to detail? The first problem for London is simply one of cash. Estimates for the cost of the Beijing Games, apart from the Beijing organizing committee’s operating budget, start at $40 billion. And that does not account for the difference in labor costs, which are considerably lower in China than they will be in London.
One of the defining elements in Beijing has been the legions of young volunteers. Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the London Olympic committee, said he could not hope to duplicate their numbers. “One of the great strengths of China is the ability to mobilize so many resources and people,” he said. “We will give the individuals bigger roles and more independence. That is a model that works best for the British.”
While the show put on by the hosts Sunday night was not an epic narrative like the opening ceremony, it was still spectacular, huge and, except for the athletes’ entry, meticulously choreographed. Then the British appeared, with a dance skit including a London bus and members of three dance companies. Clearly, they were playing far from home, with limited resources. Even so, it looked chaotic and under-rehearsed.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com
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