COMMENT - The Games really are getting close (From Cotswold Journal)

COMMENT - The Games really are getting close

9:00am Thursday 28th June 2012 in Letters

IT’S getting closer! The Olympic Torch will reach the Cotswolds and Vale of Evesham on Sunday, and we urge everyone to welcome it to our part of the world.

The reception that the symbolic flame has received elsewhere in Britain has been incredible, and we expect the excitement to be no less intense here.

The meaning of the relay was perhaps best illustrated on Tuesday when Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson battled for 27 painful and exhausting minutes to carry the torch through his home town of Doncaster.

The crowd responded magnificently to his courage. It was a stirring example of the Olympic spirit in action.

There will, of course, be less poignancy here on Sunday.

Nevertheless, it will be an emotional occasion. Our torchbearers help connect us with the Olympics. We are proud that the Games are being held in our country this year, and this is our opportunity to express that pride.

Perhaps more importantly, the torch relay helps bind us together as a community and as a nation.

Make sure you follow the torch this weekend. We will be covering the relay online at eveshamjournal.co.uk and there will be dozens of pictures in your Journal next week.