Thursday 28 July 2011

Solid gold

"It's only 12 inches high, it's made of solid gold, and it means England are the world champions."

I was handed something pretty special at lunchtime, on a day when London was full of pageant and hope and new beginnings.

The 2012 Olympics are one year away exactly, and today the world gasped as it saw the striking design of the official medal - a 'pick up sticks' thing with the hectic 2012 logo smeared over it - it looks pretty stylish. The BBC have put together a nice page showing all the medal designs since the start of the modern Olympics. What's even more striking than the design itself is the size of the bloody thing - like a fat yellow dinner plate.

Amongst all this bling I was reminded of Kenneth Wolstenholme's words at the 1966 World Cup final, also in London, as the Queen handed Bobby Moore the Jules Rimet trophy.

But at lunchtime, amid slightly less ceremony, a guy with a black haircut handed me my own little trophy - a plastic envelope with an old book of mine inside, and on one page a new sticker, featuring a foil hologram of a fern.

And, whilst it might not be shiny, might not make any headlines, and certainly isn't about London..."it's 2 inches square, it's made of cheap paper...

...and it means New Zealand is our new home."

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