In a city that knows how to do ceremony — from hoary rituals formalized in the Middle Ages to celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee last month partly through the Twitter feed @BritishMonarchy — an atmosphere of whimsy and party won out over pomp and circumstance during an Olympic opening ceremony that allowed an economically beleaguered Britain to pat itself on the back.
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Starting from his conviction that Britain "rebooted human existence" with the Industrial Revolution, director Danny Boyle called the entertainment piece of the nearly four-hour ceremony Friday night a "celebration of the creativity, exuberance and, above all, the generosity of the British people."
It was in the spirit of such generosity that the organizers chose not a single renowned Olympian to light the cauldron that will burn until Aug. 12 but seven young athletes who embody the London Games' idealistic motto and hope to "inspire a generation."
With 260 British Olympic medalists joining them, the seven young athletes touched torches to copper petals that rose to form a cauldron at the center of the stadium floor. It will be moved to another position before the track and field events begin Friday.
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