Publications

- September 1, 2009: Vol. 3, Number 9

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And the Winner Is…

by Richard Fleming

There were cheers all round when Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), announced in Singapore on 6 July 2005 that the XXX Olympiad would be held in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The 2012 Paralympic Games will follow some weeks later. The decision marked the first time that a city will host the Olympic Games for the third time; London previously hosted the Games in 1908 and 1948. “London is an Olympic winner,” said Rogge at the press conference that followed the announcement.

The parties went on until late in the night, but the celebrations were brought to a premature and tragic end the next morning when the 7/7 suicide bombers struck in the heart of London, killing 52 people in four attacks and injuring many hundreds more.

It was not the start of the run-in to the London Olympics that its organisers had hoped for. Instead, it was an immediate and salutary reminder of how attra

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