Games chiefs hit back at cynics as excitement mounts

Organisers of the Olympics hit back on Sunday at cynics after weeks of negative headlines, saying criticism over planning mistakes and costs were being outweighed by a surge in public excitement as the gala opening ceremony nears.
Britain's famously caustic media, which have highlighted security and transport problems before the July 27-August 12 Games, also seemed to adopt a more positive stance as thousands turned out to cheer the Olympic torch relay through London.
"I think possibly what we're going through as a nation, as a city is that necessary, pre-curtain-up moment of psychological self-depression before the excitement begins on Friday when the curtain goes up," London Mayor Boris Johnson told the BBC.
"The mood is perceptibly changing. People are starting to get really excited here in London about the arrival of the torch .... The last remaining clouds of dampness and Olympo-scepticism are going to be banished," he later told Sky News. Thousands turned out in London on Saturday as the Olympic torch relay began the final leg of its journey around Britain, and on Sunday the flame was carried to the top of the London Eye ferris wheel opposite Big Ben and the houses of parliament.
In the coming days, the torch will be carried around London's religious, political and royal landmarks, culminating in the lighting of the Olympic cauldron in east London. The run-up to the Games has been dogged by weeks of rain and difficulties in recruiting enough security staff, prompting the government to draft thousands of extra army personnel to make up for the shortfall.
Transport delays also loom over the Games, with border staff planning to strike on July 26 - expected to be one of the busiest days in the history of London's Heathrow airport - over job cuts and pay, and train drivers in central England set to walk out on August 6-8 in a dispute over pension contributions.
London's underground rail network, a 19th-century creation, may struggle to cope with tens of thousands of Olympic tourists. The government and the union representing border staff on Sunday appeared no closer to averting industrial action.
"People are working at breaking point. When passengers are queuing at Heathrow for four hours, they take their anger out on front-line border staff and nobody should have to work in those conditions," said union boss Mark Serwotka.