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16-Mar:
 THIS
IS THE HOUR…
Feeling a bit guilty, as I was going to the Opening Ceremony on my own,
leaving my hosts to see it on TV (the price of AUS$ 450 per head was
slightly too much for a family of four), I walked from Flinders Street,
along with hundreds of others in the direction of the Cricket Ground.
I have to say I was slightly worried, as the clouds had been threatening
all afternoon, and knowing my talent to make the skies open in tons of
water (yes, it did rain the day of my arrival), I dreaded the first drop
of rain that could have ruined the whole evening. But no, thank GOD, the
weather behaved itself, despite my presence. Pfui.
A large press room, tea/coffee at will, an Armada of volunteers ready to
answer all your queries, ice-creams, heavy cameras everywhere, the last
preparations before the Hour H was waiting for us, and I was very
surprised to find that I had been allocated a place at the table with the
other “real” journalists, the best seats of the house, really, near the
officials.
And that phrase, everywhere around the stadium, “United by the moment”.
And the sound of the helicopters above our head. And the 80,000, maybe
90,000 spectators chanting the names of all the previous towns that
organised the Games. And the superb fireworks all over the city, relayed
by two giant screens each side of the venue.
A succession of numbers, my favourite being some amazing mix between
ballet and roaring motorcycles, just superb, a symphony of black and white
that possessed a real charm. And the nice surprise, Dame Tiri Te Kanawa
singing Happy Birthday to the Queen in view of her up and coming 80th…
And of course, the moment that we all waited for, the presentation of the
athletes, starting with England for Europe, and finishing with the All
Mighty Australian team, saluted with a noise that will resonate for a very
long time in my memory. Breathtaking…. And the stadium slowly filling up
with the athletes of 71 nations….
Lights, fireworks, emotions, exoticism, patriotism, ferventness, colours,
that little glow in the athletes eyes, the pure and simple joy of
belonging…
And those words that finished the night :
Inside your heart and soul
You reach so high
To reach your goal
And here we stay
With everything
You gave it all
Till there is nothing left
With a lifetimes preparation
It’s no time to be afraid
Put our differences behind us
While we are shining like a sun
See what we’ve all become
Together we are one.
Welcome to the 18th Commonwealth Games.
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 "Yeah!
"The adrenaline rush before we entered the stadium was something I'd
never experienced before. We were all jumping around, shouting,
mingling with the other sports in Team England.
"The magnitude of this event just hits you when you enter the
stadium. 90,000 people, what an atmosphere.
"The noise when Australia came out was deafening. The boys said
Manchester was loud, but that only held 50,000.
"We're all so excited to get going tomorrow. That's when we'll all
have to have our serious heads on again."
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