Ten things you didn't know about the 2012 London Olympics

• Indians at the Opening Ceremony

London Aquatic Centre shaped like a stingray

When the curtains go up on the greatest show on earth this Friday, Assam born dancer Sonali Acharjee will be amongst the 15,000 who will enthrall the estimated world audience of 4 billion. Sonali is a Guinness World Record holder for having staged and danced in a 25 hours and 25 minutes non-stop Rabindra Dance marathon in Hyderabad earlier this year. Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle is co-ordinating and designing the opening ceremony which will be called The Isles of Wonder. It will include a medley which features a Punjabi song composed by A.R. Rahman showcasing India’s influence in the UK, as well as an Ilaiyaraja number from Tamil film Ram Lakshman.

• Swimming inside a stingray

The Spanish uniform straight out of Ronald McDonald’s wardrobe

The Aquatics Centre for the London 2012 Olympics has been built in the shape of a stingray. It was designed in 2004 by architect Zaha Hadid who has won the Pritzker Prize. Incidentally, it was a stingray which had led to the accidental demise of ‘Croc hunter’ Steve Irwin. According to Greek mythology, the mighty Hercules had lost a finger to a stingray bite.

• What are the odds?

Britain is one place where betting is legal and one has often spotted bookmakers as shirt sponsors of English football clubs such as Wigan Athletic, Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers. Fair enough, the Olympic Games will features all kinds of bets being placed, on both on-field and off-the-field happenings. One bookmaking company is reportedly offering odds of 2012-1 for anyone spotting the Loch Ness Monster in the River Thames during the Olympic Games. Tongue-in-cheek? Along the same lines, there have been bets place on spotting a flying saucer over the Olympic Stadium. The more safer bets have been laid on Michael Phelps conquering the pools again and Russian duo Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina mopping up most of the gymnastics medals.

• Survival

English rock band Muse have composed the official song of the London Olympics. Formed in 1994, the band has released 5 studio albums till date; the last of which (The Resistance) earned them their first ever Grammy (Best Rock Album) in 2011. Called ‘Survival‘, the song is the first single from their album The 2nd Law which will release in September. Survival, says lead vocalist Matthew Bellamy, tends to arouse ‘a sense of conviction and a determination to win’.

• For whom the bells toll

The Big Ben will chime more than 40 times between 8:12 and 8:15 am on Friday to signal the beginning of the Olympic Games. A truly historic occasion since it is believed to be the first time in 60 years that the chiming of the Big Ben will depart from its normal schedule. The last such instance was the funeral of King George VI in 1952. Thousands across Britain are expected to ring a bell during these 3 minutes to mark the start of the Games.

• Cards of steel

Among the various official merchandise for the London Games made available, a certain pack of playing cards are on offer for a mere £2,000. Just in case you were wondering why, the cards are made from stainless steel. Now that is what you call being heavy-handed.

• Dressed to overkill

From the furore over USA’s Ralph Lauren-designed uniforms being made in China to the classy Italian uniforms by Giorgio Armani, the fashion quotient at the Games has been grabbing a lot of eyeballs. But 2 countries have got the raw end of the deal. Spain might be world and European football champions, but their loud uniforms make them look like evil cousins of Ronald McDonald. While, some Americans might find solace in the fact that Russia’s outfit, with hot maroon swirly lines, are making people dizzy in the non-romantic sense.

• New on the block

The London 2012 Games marks the introduction of women’s boxing among the 39 competitive disciplines across 26 sports. The women will be battling it out across 3 separate weight classes. Five-time world champion MC Mary Kom will be India’s trump card.The 30^th edition of the Olympics also marks the first time since 1924 that Mixed Doubles has been included in tennis. Needless to say,after all the controversy, Leander Paes and Sania Mirza are India’s shot at a medal in that event.

• The Men Without a Country

There will be 4 athletes participating under the banner of Independent Olympic Athletes. Three of them are from the former Netherlands Antilles. Although the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved in 2010, their National Olympic Committee decided to continue functioning till at least the London Games. The other participant is Marathon runner Guor Marial of South Sudan. The newly-formed African country is yet to have an NOC of its own.

• Out of a Rainbow

The mascots for the London Games are Wenlock and Mandeville. They are 2 drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton. The former was named after Much Wenlock, a Shropshire village where a pre-cursor to the modern day Olympics Games were first held in 1850. Mandeville was named after the Stoke Mandeville Games – the first time that a Parallel Olympics, or Paralympics, were organised for injured soldiers in the Buckinghamshire village. This incidentally was organized during the second London Olympics in the summer of 1948.