 | Will The Red
Arrows
fly at the Olympic Games in 2012?  There
has been a
considerable
amount of debate online about whether or not The Royal Air
Force Aerobatic team, commonly know as the Red Arrows, will be flying
at the launch of the Olympic Games in 2012. Speculation
appears to have started when one of the more popular British tabloid
newspapers announced that the team had been banned, as they
were, "too British" and, "too militaristic", and hence might upset
foreign visitors.
As a result, there have been online petitions calling for the Red
Arrows to be included in the opening ceremony, Facebook groups have
been set up and there have been articles in blogs worldwide
about it.
However, the truth, according to the Ministry of Defence and the
Olympic Games organisers, is rather different.
The Red Arrows' official website
says, under a page headed "Don't believe everything you read in the
newspapers"
"There has been
a lot of speculation recently both in the media and online regarding
whether we have been banned from displaying at the 2012 Olympics, and
we are getting an increasingly large amount of enquiries from people
wondering whether or not to sign online petitions. We are
very happy to tell you that the story is complete rubbish! It’s far too early
for either us or the organising committee of London 2012 to discuss any
participation by the Red Arrows in the celebrations. We plan our
display season one year in advance and so we’re currently
busy trying to organise our 2008 display season. We would like to thank
everyone for their support – but hope that the truth behind
this story will put everyone’s concerns to rest."
In addition, the Olympic Games' organisers have
stated on their website,
"London
2012 has responded to reports
that the Red Arrows have been banned from the Opening Ceremony of the
Games, describing the rumours as 'utter
nonsense'.
The
London 2012 Organising Committee will decide what to include in all
celebrations and they will be a showcase of the best the UK has to
offer. But with five years to go, decisions are yet to be made on what
the celebrations will look like. The Red Arrows have in fact
been used before in connection to London and the Games. They did a
spectacular fly over of Trafalgar Square in London to
celebrate winning the bid in July 2005, and also flew over the
Mall when the Athens Torch Relay was in London in 2004."
However, I think the Organising Committee and the Red Arrows
are both
appreciative of all the support they've indirectly been given by this
spurious newspaper story!
For more information on the Red Arrows, visit the Red Arrows Homepage.
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