Giant Olympic rings unveiled in Glasgow
The 10m wide 5m tall stainless steel sculpture has been installed in George Square in the city centre and will form a backdrop for a series of Olympic celebrations in Glasgow this summer.
A giant set of Olympic rings was unveiled in Glasgow today as the city became the latest around the UK to to be decorated with the iconic symbol of the Games.
The 10m wide 5m tall stainless steel sculpture has been installed in George Square in the city centre and will form a backdrop for a series of Olympic celebrations in Glasgow this summer.
The rings were unveiled by ten primary school pupils from the city in a ceremony attended by Glasgow City Council leader Councillor Gordon Matheson and Sir Craig Reedie, the former chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA) and representative of both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).
Glasgow will be a focal point for celebrations during the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer and will stage an evening festival in George Square when the Olympic Torch reaches the city on Friday 8 June as part of the ten week Olympic Torch Relay through Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The city has already been gearing up for its role as a host for eight of the Olympic football tournament matches and has been decorated with nearly 6km of bunting and 700 specially made banners and flags to give it the Olympic look and feel.
The Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore said:
“The reception to the Olympics has been incredible so far and is growing day by day as we get closer to the start of the Games. It is going to be a great event for the whole of the UK and Glasgow as it hosts Olympic football as well as training camps for athletes from around the world. The torch route is going to take the spirit of the games through the communities of Scotland and I am looking forward to the flame arriving here next week.”
George Square is the latest of several eye-catching sites where giant sets of Olympic rings have been installed. The first was at St Pancras railway station in London in March 2010 and has been followed by others at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, in flowers at Kew Gardens, at Birmingham airport and on the River Thames in London and outside the city halls in Cardiff and Belfast. More will be unveiled in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Coventry, Surrey and Weymouth in the coming weeks.