Who's got the matches?

The Olympic Torch has finally arrived from Athens and burns bright on British soil. A contingency including Beckham, the Princess Royal and Wiff Waff (Boris Johnson) have made us proud tonight. Its arrival has prompted tweets suggesting Beckham will not be the one to light the Olympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony. I never thought he would – I mean, he's not exactly an Olympic athlete, is he? A great ambassador and an Olympic money earner, that’s for sure. To quote Obama: ‘It’s a rare man who can be that tough on the field and also have his own line of underwear.’

So it’s been suggested Sir Steve Redgrave must be the one to light the cauldron. Or will it be someone more senior, such as the legendary Roger Bannister, the first man to run the mile in under 4 minutes. He ran at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games but didn’t win a medal. I’m trying to think of a female athlete to add to the mix – Sally Gunnell or Kelly Holmes perhaps? Someone suggested the Queen, but I think she’s in the Beckham category. Sorry m’aam.

My money is also on sailor Ben Ainslie to carry the Team GB flag into the stadium at the Opening Ceremony – although I hear he has a back injury and is to be the first person to carry the Olympic Torch in the UK. So perhaps Sir Chris Hoy will be the one to lift the Union Jack?

Whatever happens, I feel very proud this evening to have marked the Olympic Torch’s arrival on British soil. Good luck to all those who are running with the flame over the coming weeks (8,000 people in total). I hope to get a glimpse at Stoke Mandeville when it passes through.

The great ticket scramble continues...

The London 2012 ticket saga continues this weekend. As someone who failed to get tickets in both rounds, but whose application didn’t go through in the second round, I have also missed out on the ‘golden’ window that began on Friday and ends at 6pm today (Saturday 12th May). During this period, further athletics and ceremonies tickets (around 928,000 seats as reported in Evening Standard, although news reports differ) were made available to a lucky 20,000 people. I should have been one of them. I have had endless problems with the Ticketmaster website. I feel so bitterly disappointed, but I have to be pleased for those who did achieve success yesterday…sort of!

I now have a chance to take a pick of what’s left of the tickets over the next 5 days. I can only apply for one event and up to four tickets. Not all events are for sale every day, so again, a game of tactics. Do you apply for a sport you’re not as keen on that may have more availability, or do you hold off until the last day if you like rowing the best? It’s a minefield of disappointment waiting to happen, as there is only a one in four chance for people like me to buy tickets.

I’m remaining optimistic, but I can’t help feeling that the tickets should have been available in the beginning. And with more and more being advertised in marketing promotions (yes, I admit, I am a hypocrite and am desperately entering these competitions!), I feel even harder done by. Ok, will stop moaning now.

I just have to feel blessed I was able to have my chance on the other side of the world. So far, London 2012 cannot match up to Sydney 2000 in this respect, but then, the internet is king now and with these being hailed as the ‘social media’ games, how can we expect life to go back to being as simple as turning up at a kiosk and buying tickets in person?