Opening Ceremony – Day 1, Fri July 27: The show will focus on British history and culture, but spotting overseas royalty, celebrities and heads of state – the latest count expects about 150 – is part of the fun at the most coveted session of the Olympic Games.
Rafael Nadal – Day 2, July 28: The world No 1 loves the Olympic tennis tournament, not just for his Beijing victory, but for the comraderie in the athletes’ village. Most of the biggest names in tennis will appear as the Olympics continues to gain greater credence in the sport. The early round matches are a prime opportunity to see some quality match ups at a reasonable price.
Ian Thorpe – Day 2, July 28: The man with size 17 feet, 'Thorpedo’ has announced his comeback for the London Olympics. The Australian is going to concentrate on the 100m and 200m freestyle relay events, but he could make a return to his longest event, the 400m freestyle on July 28.
Michael Phelps – Day 5, July 31: The greatest swimmer in a generation will not attempt to repeat his 2012 haul of eight golds, but he will still be a formidible force. His schedule may not be confimed until just before the Games, but he is likely to drop the gruelling 400m individual medley. His pet event is the 200m butterfly, the final of which is on July 31. Phelps said London may be his last Olympics.
Nastia Liukin – Day 7, Aug 2 The US gymnast and defending all-round Olympic champion will be up against a new generation of gymnasts after announcing a few months ago she was continuing in the sport. Liukin, the daughter of the former Soviet Olympic gymnasts Valeri Liukin and Anna Kotchneva knows all about tough competition though, with her US rival Shawn Johnson also back in serious training.
Usain Bolt – Day 9, Aug 4: This will be the low-cost option of seeing the fastest man on Earth, when he competes in the first round of the 100m in the early session. But for the must-see experience of watching Bolt take on the other sub-10 second speedsters like Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, the men’s 100m semi-finals and finals will be held during the evening of day 10.
Kenenisa Bekele – Day 10 Aug 5: The Ethiopian world record holder for the 5000m and 10,000m will race in the longer distance on Aug 5 and the 5000m on Aug 11.
Yelena Isinbayeva – Day 11, Aug 6: The Russian pole vaulter was the first woman to break the 5m barrier and is going for her third consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Caster Semenya – Day 14, August 9: The South African has been cleared to continue competing at international level despite lingering controversy about her gender and any benefit she may have over her competitors. The 80,000 strong crowd may have divided feelings about her participation and Semenya’s performance will be under intense scrutiny. The semi-finals for the 800m will be held on Aug 9 and the final on Aug 11.
Matthew Mitcham – Day 16, Aug 11: The effervescent Australian diver is the defending Olympic champion in the 10m platform and is one of the few openly gay athletes. He will be up against the Chinese technical masters of the sport.
Kobe Bryant and LeBron James – Day 17, Aug 12: International superstars Bryant of the LA Lakers and Miami Heat’s James are the headline names in the US 'Dream Team’ basketball squad preparing to defend their gold medal. The draw for the preliminary rounds will not be determined for some time but the gold medal match, on Aug 12, is highly likely to feature them.
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