Olympic Flag handover
30th July 2008
24 th August 2008 is the day the Beijing Olympic Games draws to a close and the moment when the Olympic flag will be passed from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London meaning the world’s focus will move to London as host city. The ceremonies officially mark the start of London 2012 Olympiad. The BBC will cover the event live and there will be official events around the UK.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) have issued an invitation to local authorities across England and Wales to join in by ‘Flying the Flag’ – a specially commissioned London 2012 flag that will be raised during the handover ceremonies. SLDC has obtained three flags that it intends to fly in Grasmere, Kendal and Ulverston. The focus of the South Lakeland flag handover will be at Grasmere Sports. 2008 will be the 158 th Grasmere Sports since continuous records began but it has been established for 800 years. Cumberland and Westmorland style wrestling, a fell runners event and modern mountain sports such as Mountain Biking will feature, as well as demonstrations from judo, fencing and boxing to mark the event.
Cumbria County Council and local dignitaries plan to raise their flag at the top of Scafell and, weather permitting, hope to get some aerial images of the event filmed by the RAFMountain rescue helicopter.
Each of the other district councils are also planning similar celebrations. The London 2012 flags will be flown for the duration of the 2012 handover ceremonies: - London 2012 on 24th August, the Paralympics on 17th September and the launch of the Cultural Olympiad on 26th September. Further information on the Flag Handover events can be obtained from your local District Council.