Friday 27 July 2012

Who should light the flame?

Tonight is the night.

Ok the Games started on Wednesday with the women's football but today is the day that the eyes of the world turn to London for the Games of the 30th Olympiad.

There is much discussion about the key component of the night, the person who will light the Olympic Cauldron.

There is talk of 5 times gold medalist Sir Steven Redgrave, or double decathlon gold Daley Thompson, there has even been a cry for Bradley Wiggins to do so, but as he is competing the next day I don't think it will be.

However, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest someone else.

David Bond.

You may ask who, but he is the last survivor of a unique group of six men. The six men who between then won Gold medals for Great Britain in 1948.

There was Dickie Burnell and Bert Bushnell in the men's double sculls, Ran Laurie and Jack Wilson in the Coxless pairs, and with Stewart Morris, Bond sailed to the gold in the swallow class.

When Bushnell died in 2010 he was thought to be the last survivor of that group of six. But Bond emerged from the private live as still being around.

I'd like to see him lighting the torch to represent the last London Games but along side him a representative of the new generation, like the youngest member of Team GB Rebecca Tunney.

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