COMMENT - Games are when heroes are forged (From Evesham Journal)

COMMENT - Games are when heroes are forged

9:00am Thursday 26th July 2012 in Letters

 AND so it begins. After a build-up that dates back to that memorable day in July 2005 when London’s bid to host the Olympic Games triumphed, the world’s greatest sporting spectacle finally opens tomorrow.

The hopes of a nation have inevitably been raised. These, after all, are our Games.

We have cheered the Torch Relay through our communities, we have watched on our TV screens as the Olympic Stadium took shape in our capital city, and we have followed our athletes as they prepare for their moment of destiny.

Hopes are high that British competitors will improve on the haul of 47 medals they won at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Let’s hope they do. We are a great sporting nation that has largely been deprived of success on the international stage for many years.

This may be our best opportunity in a generation to assuage that yearning for glory.

The recession is making life financially difficult for many of us.

A succession of scandals in public life have left us feeling let down by our leaders in politics and big business. We are desperately in need of towering figures to lift our spirits and restore pride in this great country of ours.

The Games are where such heroes are forged.