The greatest show on earth

It's 27 June at the main Olympic Park, which straddles the London Boroughs of Hackney and stratford. Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) cuts the ribbon to the main press centre. Within minutes the media begin to arrive with their luggage rollers, cameras and enforced military-grade pelican cases each containing tens of thousands of pounds of recording gear. the main press centre has capacity for about 5,000 accredited journalists, but overall more than 20,000 journalists from around the globe have been accredited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), LOCOG and each country's national Olympic Committee (nOC).