I happen to think the person who will light the torch and the person who SHOULD light the torch are one and the same.
Since Sebastian Coe, one of the people who’ll decide, was a miler himself, and…
Since nobody better exemplifies what’s best in British amateur athletics…
It HAS to be Dr. Roger Bannister, the first man ever to run a 4 minute mile.
Any other likely candidates come to mind? Or anybody you think is more worthy?
Couldn’t agree more. I can’t think of a single achievement in sports that held more world-wide interest than the 4 minute mile.
Bannister’s still alive? Cool!
But I thought it was going to be someone who’d been told they would never walk again. Just hearsay, apparently.
Dr. Bannister is 83 years old, and a retired neurologist. So, for him, the 4 minute mile was NOT the high point of his life.
If he’s in decent health, I’d hope he’d be the torch lighter.
If not Bannister, then Daley Thompson would be a suitable representative to light the torch, what with being a gold medal decathlete.
As long as it’s not Beckham in a pimped-up tracksuit, I don’t mind, really.
Steve Redgrave (also in that video) seems a likely choice. But I quite like the idea of Bannister.
Bannister was my thought before I opened the thread.
Granted I’m an American and by definition somewhat unaware of the rest of the world, but I really can’t think of another British athlete, except Beckham.
I recognize the name Daley Thompson, but I wouldn’t have pegged him as British.
Tony Jacklin, the golfer, would be a good choice IMHO.
How about someone totally out of left field? David Bond is the only living British Gold medallist from the 1948 games (the last time they were held in Britain).
Although Bannister is a worthy suggestion, I feel strongly that we should have an English icon, who has been a success for over 40 years (and generated lots of dosh for the country.)
Plus it was all foreseen.
I refer of course to this episode, where Doctor Who saves the day - and carries the torch.
Bannister didn’t have any Olympic success at all. He came in fourth in the only event in which he participated. It needs to be a successful Olympian.
I think Bannister is a great choice. If they go with a dark horse, how about Derek Redmond?
ETA: Or Eddie the Eagle?! Or does the IOC not allow him within 100km of an Olympic host city during the Olympics?
That would actually go well with the whole James Bond theme the Queen wants.
The first name that came to my mind was Daley Thompson, although Bannister would be a good choice as well (although the lack of Olympic medals doesn’t help his case). Thompson is one of few Olympic athletes from the early/mid-1980s whose achievements can’t be tainted by “Well, the best athletes weren’t there in (choose: 1980, 1984)” as he won both of those years’ decathlons.
If they want one with a royal connection, how about Captain Mark Phillips? (He won a gold in 1972, and he’s the biological father of two of The Queen’s grandchildren, although he may not be on “the best of terms” with the Royals.)
I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up going “old school” and choosing some anonymous person(s) to light it. Having a former (or current, for 2000) Olympian do it is relatively new; was it ever done before Rafer Johnson in 1984? (Even four years earlier, the Lake Placid torch lighter was just one of the no-name torchbearers selected by his fellow runners, if I remember correctly.)
JK Rowling and LD James!
It’s be Steve Redgrave - five gold medals at five consecutive Olympics is hard to argue against.
For those interested in keeping up with Roger Bannister, Sports Illustrated ran this interesting piece last summer.
Some say that, as a young boy, he built a street luge that broke the sound barrier, and that he broke said sound barrier riding his homemade luge UP a steep hill
All we know is, he’s called The Stig
I thought of Daley Thompson and Bannister in that order. I bet it will end up being a footballer, though. Britain is still the land of the pikey (more so now that I’m gone). Is Jack Charlton still breathing?
I don’t mind seeing David Beckham in the stadium, running with the torch, but please GOD let them choose someone else to actually light the cauldron! He’s too Hollywood these days.
Some other possibilities - Princess Anne (competed at the '76 games) or her daughter, Zara Phillips (qualified for TWO different Olympics but couldn’t compete in either because her horse was injured) or the previously mentioned Capt. Mark Phillips, though I don’t know how cordial they all are, post-divorce. Again though, having any of those 3 actually light the cauldron will smack of nepotism and they probably just won’t go there. I think they should keep it down to ONE royal torch-carrier plus the Queen declaring the Games “open”.
How about Tom Daley, the very young and cute diver that’s widely considered a medal contender this summer. He’s got a certain Justin-Beiberness about him that might pull some ratings. I doubt they’ll have someone who hasn’t actually medalled light the cauldron, but I bet they’ll spotlight that kid somehow, if they get the chance.
I like the idea of JK Rowling either carrying the torch or acting as a flagbearer.
Louis Smith was kind of a “surprise” medalist at the last Olympics, and as far as I know, the only British gymnast to medal in an individual event, though it was only a bronze. Also a nice-looking kid. I haven’t heard whether he’s definitely qualified for the 2012 Olympics though I suspect that he did or will be.
Oh, I’ve got it - Kelly Holmes! Why did I not think of her first? She won TWO gold medals in Athens, and has not done anything too embarrassing since retirement. Actually she’s Dame Kelly Holmes these days. Yep. She’s my pick.