22nd July, 2012
London Mayor Boris Johnson insisted Sunday the city was ready to host the 2012 Olympics despite a national plunge into self-depression before the excitement begins.
Johnson said Britain was feeling the necessary nerves before a big performance, as the clock ticks down to Friday’s opening ceremony.
He said the venues were safe and the transport system was bearing up despite a week dominated in Britain by fears over travel chaos and gaps in security.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge is in London and “he thinks that our city is as well-prepared as any city has ever been in the history of the Games,” Johnson told BBC television.
“So far the traffic system and transport networks generally are holding up well.
“Possibly what we’re going though at the moment as a nation, as a city, is that necessary, pre-curtain-up moment of psychological self-depression before the excitement begins on Friday when the curtain goes up.
“It is only natural that people should be tense, that they should be expectant. And, of course, there are loads of things that we need to get right.”