Olympics | Foreign Students

London 2012 Olympic Torch Unveiled

Submitted by Foreign Students on Thu 09/06/11

The design for the London 2012 Olympic torch which will be carried throughout the UK next year has been unveiled. The golden cone will travel 8,000 miles over 70 days next summer, before arriving in London for the opening ceremony on 27th July.

The torch was designed by east London designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby and has been built to allow the flames to burn out through the 8,000 tiny holes for onlookers to see. These holes also represent the 8,000 people who will be carrying the torch and add the functional purpose of making the torch light enough for children to carry.

Style and Function

Indeed, this matching of style, symbolism and practicality was something at the forefront of the designers' minds:

"We felt it should be something that's really beautiful and simple, but it had to feel like a functional object, a piece of sporting equipment like a baton"

Olympic Fever Starting to Grow

Submitted by Foreign Students on Thu 17/03/11

Olympic excitement is growing by the day in Britain as a range of events have taken place over the last few weeks.

It all kicked off last week when the first of a series of giant Olympic symbols was unveiled in London. A set of Olympic Rings 20 metres wide and 9 metres tall were revealed at St Pancras International train station by Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

Next to come was a countdown clock in Trafalgar Square which marked 500 days to go until the start of the 2012 Olympics. The four tonne timer looks very impressive (as you can see above), but unfortunately (and in a very British way) it stopped working just one day after being unveiled. It’s back up and running now though so is all is fine again!

Finally, tickets for the Games went on sale around the world yesterday. For 42 days you can apply for tickets to up to 20 events, and although there are 6.6 million tickets available, demand is expected to be huge. Don’t worry though, it is not a first come first serve system, but instead everyone who has applied for tickets by the 26th April deadline will be drawn at random to decide who actually gets the tickets.

The Very Best of the London Olympics 2012

Submitted by Foreign Students on Thu 24/02/11

Excitement in the UK is building as the countdown to the London 2012 Olympics is gathering pace. Last night the full schedule for the world’s biggest sporting event was released, and from March 15th anyone can start applying for tickets.

Here are a few of the expected highlights:

Oscar Pistorius Charged with Murder

Submitted by Foreign Students on Thu 14/02/13

Shocking news is emerging from South Africa after it has been revealed that Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has shot and killed his girlfriend- Reeva Steenkamp. Early reports suggested that he mistook her for a burglar at his home in Pretoria- possibly after a Valentine's Day surprise went wrong. However, police have since revealed that such reports hadn't come from them and that they were "surprised" to hear them being circulated.

Local media reported that police are holding the 26-year-old in custody as part of a murder investigation and he is expected to appear in court on Friday afternoon. A police statement said a 30-year-old woman was "fatally wounded" after being shot with a 9mm pistol in the head and upper body. Police were called in the early hours of the morning to find paramedics already at the scene, but were unable to save the woman who died at the scene.

Further reports from neighbours have suggested that shouting had been heard from the house earlier in the evening and that police had been called on previous occasions after reports of "a domestic nature".

Reeva Steenkamp is a well known model in South Africa and had been dating Pistorius since November last year.

London 2012 Ends in Style

Submitted by Foreign Students on Mon 10/09/12

A spectacular closing ceremony marked the end of the Paralympics last night and officially ended the glorious Olympic summer of London 2012. The athletes were joined by Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z in a packed Olympic Stadium as they all came together to celebrate the most successful Paralympics ever.

Team GB ended up with a staggering 120 medals, narrowly missing out on second spot in the overall table, behind Russia by just two gold medals. However, it was not just Britain's success that has made this the greatest Games ever, but the overwhelming support for every event in the last two weeks. Almost every session was sold out, and over 2.7 million Paralympic tickets were sold - beating targets by 200,000 and predicted sales by £10m.

Closing Ceremony

After such a stunning summer, the final closing ceremony had a lot to live up to, and it didn't disappoint (so long as you don't mind Coldplay). It was presented as a ‘festival of flame' and fire played a major part in it. Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z all played sets, with1,200 disabled and able bodied performers creating stunning visuals around them.