Olympics:Katie Taylor has been chosen to carry the Irish tricolour into the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony for the London Games on Friday. Taylor, Ireland's best hope for a medal at the Games, was selected ahead of fellow boxer Paddy Barnes.
A four-time world champion, Taylor is probably the best gold bet in any division of the men’s and women’s ranks.
The opening ceremony, which will cost in excess of €30 million for the three hour show, will start at 9pm on Friday but thousands of spectators got a sneak preview during a dress rehearsal last night.
The ceremony’s artistic director Danny Boyle reportedly addressed the audience and called on them to “save the surprise” ahead of Friday’s showpiece by not posting any images on social networks. The hashtag “#savethesurprise” was also emblazoned on giant screens inside the Olympic Stadium, according to people at the event, before trending globally on twitter.
Movie director Boyle and his creative team have done their best to keep details of the opening ceremony secret and it seemed that most spectators at last night’s rehearsal followed their wishes by not revealing any of the shows big surprises.