July 27th. A date that the not only the eyes of Britain will be on London, but the eyes of the world.  On this date it signals the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics and the official beginning of the Olympics. It will, of course, be a wonderful spectacle, which will unite a global audience of hundreds of millions of people in a way nothing else can. People in every nation on Earth will be spectators – certainly tens of millions of Britons will be watching and cheering on our athletes, such as Jessica Ennis and Tom Daley.

The Olympics may be happening in London, but is affecting the whole of the UK, particularly Scotland. Some of the football games will be held at the countries national stadium, Hampden Park. The stadium will host eight Olympic football matches, both for men and women. Also during the games, Britain for the first time ever will have a Great Britain (Team GB) football team. Though this has been a concern for some of football directors in Scotland and Wales because they feel it may be a threat as an independent football nation.

There is an expected 205 nations taking part in around over 300 events. Events include athletics, cycling, diving and many more.

So what can we expect from the British Olympians? In 2008 Beijing, Britain achieved a total of 47 medals, 19 of which were gold. We still came fourth behind China, United States and Russia. Although considering the vast difference in size of these countries to our own, this is a good achievement to be ahead of countries like Germany and Australia.

Costs of holding the games are expected to reach a staggering £11billion which is over the estimated budget of around £2billion that was suggested when the 2012 Olympic Games were won for London.

As the games are on home soil, pressure will mount on British athletes to succeed. It is a pressure some athletes thrive on, others not so well. It is pressure though that the athletes put on themselves, such as Jessica Ennis. “If I want to win gold, I can’t afford to have a average discipline in any of the seven. On the one hand I’ve won two silver medals in the last two world championships, which shows consistency, but on the other I know more than ever it’s going to be tough to win in London”.

In conclusion, the British Olympics is an occasion that is widely anticipated by the world and none more so than Brits. It will bring an ever-lasting legacy and will bring the nation closer in support of our athletes to win the gold.

By Jonathon Rafferty