Team GB’s athletes will make one final push to claim some of the last gold medals of London 2012 as the Olympics enters its final day.
Two British boxers are aiming to take GB’s tally to 30 golds, with hopes in the modern pentathlon, the final event.
It follows another spectacular Saturday night, which saw runner Mo Farah add a second gold to his medal tally and diver Tom Daley win bronze.
After the sport, a spectacular closing ceremony starts from 21:00 BST.
After 16 days of competition at the Olympic Park, plus venues throughout London and other cities, London will hand over to 2016 host city Rio de Janeiro in what promises to be a stunning show involving 3,500 performers in the Olympic Stadium.
Artistic director Kim Gavin said the ceremony would be “the best after-show party of all time”.
Called the Symphony of British Music, the event will showcase “British creativity in the arts” and take people on a musical journey from Elgar to Waterloo Sunset in 30 tracks, Mr Gavin said.
On the Tubes and trains running outside Olympic Park this morning, people were still heading home from the night before.
Inside the gates there’s a whiff of a hangover from another sensational Saturday night, when Mo Farah took the second of his golds in the 5,000m in amazing style, Jamaica broke the 4x100m world record and Tom Daley won bronze in the Aquatic Centre.
Just a trickle of people are coming in to the park on Sunday – early birds for the women’s modern pentathlon. The finals of the men’s water polo and handball take place later on. After the rush of people at the height of the Games, the spectators seem tiny in the vast park.
Rio takes over the Olympic mantle tonight, at the end of the closing ceremony. For now, people are taking everu opportunity to celebrate London 2012 – pulling a fair few Mo-bot moves as they make their way to their seats for the last of the sporting action.
Singer George Michael has already confirmed his participation and the Spice Girls and Tinie Tempah are among acts reported to be performing.
During the ceremony, sailor Ben Ainslie, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, will carry the flag for Team GB.
Team GB chef de mission Andy Hunt said: “In becoming the most decorated sailor in Olympic history, Ben has earned the honour of leading our delegation into the closing ceremony of these extraordinary Games.”
But before the final curtain, 15 gold medals are grabs on the last day, which will see one of the Olympics’ most iconic events, the men’s marathon, take place on the streets of London.
On a sunny Sunday, thousands of people are expected to gather for the free event, which starts at 11:00 BST at The Mall. The race also finishes at The Mall.
Briton is currently third place in the medal table, surpassing the medal achievements of Beijing four years ago, and recorded the biggest haul since the London Olympics of 1908.
And Team GB is guaranteed to add more medals to its haul – 62 medals, including 28 golds – in the boxing, as welterweight Freddie Evans and super-heavyweight Anthony Joshua will contest finals in the afternoon.
World champion Mhairi Spence and world bronze medallist Samantha Murray go for Britain in the women’s modern pentathlon, the last gold medal on offer at the Games.
And there is also British interest in the men’s cross-country mountain biking.
Elsewhere, USA takes on Spain in the final of the men’s basketball at North Greenwich Arena.
In other developments:
- Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that the head of Locog, Lord Coe, will be the UK’s Olympics legacy ambassador
- The PM said funding for Olympic sports will be maintained at £125m a year through until the Games in Rio
- A special gig – headlined by Blur – in London’s Hyde Park to celebrate the end of the Olympic Games starts at 14:30 BST
- Former five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe is giving Games enthusiasts free swimming tips at Tooting Bec Lido
British team leader Andy Hunt said it Team GB had “unquestionably” exceeded expectations.
“What’s come together is a dream. I would say this is our greatest performance, of our greatest team, at the greatest Olympic Games ever,” he told the BBC’s Breakfast programme.
‘Lifted country’
Mr Cameron told the programme the Olympics had been an “extraordinary few weeks” which had “lifted the whole country and there was a “huge opportunity” to build the legacy for the Games.
He said legacy had been built into the DNA of London 2012 from the very beginning and he was “determined to make the most of the economic opportunities on offer from hosting the Games – making sure that we turn these Games into gold for Britain”.
Speaking about Lord Coe’s appointment, he said: “I cannot think of a better person than Seb to be our ambassador to the global market-place and make sure we achieve our ambitious legacy targets.”
The revamped 560-acre (227-hectare) Olympic Park site – to be known as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – is set to reopen in stages starting on the first anniversary of the opening of the Games, on 27 July 2013.
