Roll on Rio! Brazil handed Olympic baton as London bids farewell to the Greatest Show on Earth after spectacular closing ceremony
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PUBLISHED:19:56 GMT, 12 August 2012 UPDATED:00:52 GMT, 13 August 2012
Seb Coe hailed the London 2012 Olympics a big success on Sunday and said thank you during the nation's final farewell to the Games.
Speaking with great pride during the closing ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, he said: 'On the first day of these Games I said we were determined to do it right. I said that these Games would see the best of us.
'On this last day I can conclude with these words: "When our time came - Britain we did it right. Thank you!"


The London 2012 chairman chaussures louboutin Florence Welch puts her best, himself a two-time Olympic 1500m champion, recognised the athletes for their world-beating performances, but spoke movingly of how Britain had backed the Games.
Lord Coe said: 'Today sees the closing of a wonderful Games in a wonderful city.
'We lit the flame and lit up the world.'
The success can be traced back to thepeople who built the stadiums and the Olympic Park from where was speaking that was once a disused and deprived district through to the organisers and the sports stars who put on a great show.
He told the packed crowd: "And thank you to the people of this country. The British people got behind London's bid and they got behind London's Games. Our opening ceremony proclaimed that these would be a Games for everyone. At our closing ceremony, we can say that these were a Games by everyone.
'London 2012 has played host to some incredible sport. To awe inspiring feats chaussures louboutin, that are the result of incredible dedication and skill by the world's great sports men and women.
'To all the Olympians who came to London to compete - thank you. Those of us who came to watch witnessed moments of heroism and heartbreak that will live long in the memory.
'You have our admiration and our congratulations.'

Thousands of volunteers now have the right to carry the phrase `I made London 2012' with them as a badge of honour, according to Lord Coe.
London 2012 has had the backing of the International Olympic Committee 'every step of the way air jordan Closed-End Funds Closing Table - Market,' he noted.
It has all been part of 'two glorious weeks' which he believes can carry the Olympic spirit on and inspire a generation.
After London welcomed all 204 of the competing nations to the capital for what was undoubtedly one of the greatest Olympic Games in history, athletes, fans and celebrities assembled at the closing ceremony.
Ifthe spectacular official opening ceremony of the Games - organised by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle - was anything to go by, the close to the Games promises to be a show and a half.
London hosted an Olympics which saw Team GB win an unbelievable 29 gold medals, dwarfing the 19 won four years prior in Beijing, and those lucky enough to have tickets have filled the Olympic Park in Stratford to bid their farewell.
To celebrate the hosting of a hugely successful Olympiad franklin marshall, fans were treated to a feast for the eyes and ears, amongst the spectacles are internationally renowned girl band the Spice Girls.
A mock scene of the host city was set up in the middle of the stage - far removed from the countryside scene in Boyle's opener - and Big Ben chimed a countdown before the show got started.
Emeli Sande opened proceedings before a medley of musical performances - from the likes of Madness, the Pet Shop Boys, One Direction and Ray Davies - kicked the party off for the 80,000 strong audience.
Actor Timothy Spall appeared as Winston Churchill, and delivered an address to the crowd.
After the thunderous opener, the athletes came out in their droves, with Team GB flag-bearer Ben Ainslie leading out the vastly successful British athletes as Manchester band Elbow performed their anthemic songs Open Arms and One Day Like This.


After the athletes paraded, waving their flags, the men's marathon medal ceremony was undertaken in front of the audience - including Prince Harry, Lord Sebastian Coe and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Then there was more music for the crowd to get their teeth into. John Lennon's Imagine was played before George Michael took to the stage. After Michael was finished christian louboutin pas cher, the Kaiser Chiefs performed as lead singer Ricky Wilson was carried to the stage in a convoy of scooters.
After an homage to musician David Bowie and to the successes of British fashion across the years Real Estate News J.P. ...onds - Developments - WSJ, Russell Brand performed a rendition of The Beatles's hit I Am The Walrus before Fatboy Slim hit the stage with Jessie J and Tinie Tempah.
The centrepiece of the evening came when a fleet of black cabs drove into the centre of the arena and the Spice Girls emerged. All five original members - Mel B, Mel C, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham - wowed the crowd.
As soon as the iconic girl band had finished Liam Gallagher belted out a version of Oasis classic Wonderwall with new band Beady Eye.
Rock legend Brian May played one of his iconic guitar solos before turning the tempo up when he performed Queen's We Will Rock You with Jessie J.
Meanwhile, UK Sport's leader hailed Britain's record-breaking Olympic medal haul as 'incredible' after the team finished in third place in the table.
Great Britain finished ahead of Russia for the first time ever with a total of 65 medals, including 29 golds, the best result since 1908.


UK Sport chair Sue Campbell said: 'For a nation the size of Great Britain to finish in third place at the Olympic games is incredible and without doubt one of the greatest sporting achievements in this country's history.
'We now have an elite sport system that is the envy of the world and I firmly believe it will continue to deliver at the highest level for many years to come thanks to the support of National Lottery and Government funding, which I am delighted to say is now secured for the Rio cycle.'
IOC president Jacques Rogge said: 'London was a dream for a sports lover, and I had stressed since the awarding of the Games in Singapore that we need home gold medals and that is so important for the mood of the general public.
'We had to wait two days but then it accelerated it has been fantastic.
'We are saying exactly the same for our Brazilian friends for Rio.'







He talked about it like he was lucky, like anyone could have done it if they were willing to risk the physical punishment, but that single phase betrayed a unique talent: the speed of thought to change his defensive line when he saw the overlap, the agility to contort his body into a prostrate missile, the strength to keep his arms wrapped around a nuclear oak tree. 
Sam Warburton was the lightest forward on the field that day facing the most powerful runner. His tackle on Manu Tuilagi louboutin, five metres from the try-line, ranks as one of the best I have ever seen. Nobody has so effectively chopped off Tuilagi's power at the source before. The Wales captain lassoed his claws around the Samoan's ankles and brought him down with three metres to spare.  

Asked about it afterwards, Warburton said: 'I saw we only had Cuthbert on the blindside and I saw Manu get the ball. I went as low as I could to get away from his fend and hold on to him for my dear life. Close your eyes and dive at his ankles. You've got to be willing to fly in head first and break your nose.' 
Warburton's agility around the breakdown is starting to make Richie McCaw look like a clumsy bear. Against England, he made Chris Robshaw look like Mr Blobby. 
Robshaw is a diligent, passionate, impressive figure with many strengths to his game, but he is not an out-and-out openside ?? at best a six-and-a-half ?? and he was never going to compete. 
Warburton, by contrast, was a born seven. He was rucking before he could crawl. His performance against England looks even better on second viewing. If the tackle defied physics, the rest of his game defied all logic. 

The Wales captain had done no contact in training since the Ireland victory, in which he played only a stuttering part, 20 days earlier. He had spent most of the time since in the 'red room' ?? Wales' rehabilitation gym at the Vale ?? trying to resuscitate his dead leg in time for Scotland (a deadline he missed) and then England. 
He admitted afterwards that the captain's run ?? the 20-minute team jog at the stadium on the day before the game ?? was the only session in which he had been fully involved before the England match. On the Thursday he had at least started the session with the team but dropped out before the heavy contact started. 
How you emotionally and psychologically brace yourself for the physical torture of an Anglo-Welsh Triple Crown showdown in those circumstances is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. 
Warburton had also never faced England in a Six Nations match before, let alone led his side out in such circumstances into the Twickenham cauldron ?? and for once jordan pas cher, thank goodness, the old stadium produced an atmosphere worthy of the label ?? yet he seemed only spurred on by the occasion. 

Warburton has also achieved that unique status between aura and approachability. He feels like one of the gang to his team-mates and yet has the unmistakable aura of the leader. He is also a thoroughly decent bloke. You can tell a lot about a guy by the way he reacts to a dictaphone being shoved in his face when he would much rather be celebrating with his team-mates. 
And where McCaw will always be the master of the dark arts of the breakdown, whose greatest gift is the consistent ability to breach, break or bend the laws of the game without being punished for it, Warburton rarely breaks the law. 
It seems he doesn't really have to. He is so quick to get to the breakdown, so capable of reading the movement of the tackle to anticipate where he needs to be, so alert to the movement of team-mates and opponents, that his gift is to be at the right place at the right time. And all of Wales should be grateful for that.