500 Days To Go, the Olympic Countdown Began Last Night!

Fun and games last night in Trafalgar Square where we all assembled to watch the unveiling of the official Omega countdown clock to the Olympics. As of today we are 500 days away from the lighting of the flame in London's Olympic Stadium and if you happen to be passing Nelson's Column take a quick peek at the latest addition to one of London's most famous landmarks.

Jess Ennis came down to help out in the proceedings, as did Olympic gold medallist rowers Andy Hodge and Peter Reed, and Olympic gold medallist sailor Andrew Simpson. Boris Johnson, naturally, added (er) glamour to the night whilst Seb Coe, Mr London 2012 (and Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984, for that matter) was on hand to say all the right things, resplendent in what can only be described as a Herr Flick style leather coat.

Afterwards it was all back to the National Gallery where champagne was sampled in the company of Mark Foster, weight lifter Zoe Smith and the aforementioned stars. Zoe's got her lottery money back again after her governing body proclaimed she wasn't fit enough (smart work, guys, telling a 16-year-old she's not fit and a bit on the big side, especially as she'd just won a Commonwealth bronze medal), and Fossy was keen to remind me of the day we raced each other over 50 metres for Esquire magazine. Er, he won! 

On a more serious note Britain's athletes will wake this morning and realise that, with 500 days to go, the London Olympics are now just around the corner. They may be just a little more spring in their step today!