28/07/2012 BBC Weekend News

The first full day of competition gets underway here at the Olympic

Park in London and around the UK. Tens of thousands of people gather

in the streets to cheer on the cyclists in the men's road race.

But the first disappointment for Team GB and Mark Cavendish who

misses out on a medal. After complaints about empty seats

at some venues, the Olympic organisers promise to investigate.

Good evening Mr Bond. Good evening, Your Majesty.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, we hear from the man in charge of last

night's ceremony, Danny Boyle, on what it was like directing the

Queen. We'll be assessing the first full

day of the games. In today's other news:

The Syrian city of Aleppo has come under heavy bombardment in what

rebels say is the start of an army assault to force them out.

And families are forced to flee the city as activists claim over 30

people have been killed in today's Good evening and welcome to the BBC

News from the Olympic Park where tens of thousands of fans have been

turning up for the first full day of the Games. Twelve gold medals

have already been handed out, but Britain's hopes of an early medal

in the men's cycling road race were dashed this afternoon when Mark

Cavendish failed to finish in the top three. Our Sports Editor, David

Bond, has the story. The Mall has seen plenty of national pageants,

but nothing quite like this. After last night's opening ceremony, the

party moved to the heart of London. With thousands lining the streets,

it was time to see if Team GB's athletes could live up to

expectations. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

British cycling is the driving force behind the country's Olympic

ambitions. This dream team, still fresh from Bradley Wiggins tour

Tour de France victory had Olympic gold in their sights. Wiggins was

getting all the attention, but today was all about whether Mark

Cavendish could give the VIPs gathered on the starting line the

perfect launchpad for the London Games.

Organisers had promised to use the city's iconic landmarks as a

backdrop for the sport, but as the field streamed past Buckingham

Palace, the question was, would Cavendish and his killer sprint

finish still be in contention when the race returned six hours and and

156 miles later? The answer was no. And while leafy Surrey might look

pretty, nine laps of brutal Box Hill soon took their toll on

Britain's riders. Faced with a break away group, Tour de France

runner-up, Chris Froome tried to give chase, but fell away. Even

Wiggins couldn't keep up the pace. And as the leaders hit the home

straight, Cavendish and his team- mates were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, the gold medal went to Kazakhstan.

This wasn't the opening that Team GB wanted. Mark Cavendish and the

cycling team were supposed to kick start an Olympic gold rush.

It is a hard day today. I think, yeah, it is a shame we couldn't

hold it together for Mark. But that's bike racing.

Britain's cyclists are programmed for victory. So it is easy to

understand why Cavendish was so upset in the face of defeat.

I have four of the strongest guys who were controlling all day. I am

so, so proud of them. It is just a shame we couldn't finish it off.

Was Tour de France tiredness a factor? Stop asking stupid

questions. Do you know about cycling? Such was the expectation

on Team GB that difficult questions will continue to be asked if the

Team GB's hopes were also dashed in the pool. Swimmer Hannah Miley came

fifth in the women's 400 metre individual medley just a couple of

hours ago. Meanwhile, in the men's race America's Michael Phelps

failed to win his 17th Olympic medal as fellow countryman Ryan

Reports on the action from the pool. The First Lady was was pool side to

see a showdown between two Americans vying to be the number

one man of international swimming. The maestro. The greatest swimmer

in history. He has 14 Olympic medals. MP. Michael Phelps champion

of this event in Athens and Beijing. The challenger, Ryan Lochte, the

world champion. But here he was now in lane eight

at the bottom of the screen, struggling to maintain that aura of

invincibility. He was always trailing Ryan Lochte in lane three.

As the race wore on, Michael Phelps was no longer contesting victory,

just a medal of any colour was looking beyond him. The winner was

clear. Gold for Ryan Lochte. Nothing for Michael Phelps back in

fourth. Ryan Lochte has shown that Michael

Phelps' days of domination in the Olympic pool are over. In Beijing

Michael Phelps was unbeatable and in London, he lost in his first

event. The British supporters had come in

large numbers hoping that Hannah Miley could win that first Team GB

medal, but she found herself in a race won in a new world record time.

COMMENTATOR: Extraordinary. Hannah Miley finished fifth.

I am gutted I didn't get a medal. I can't have given it anything more.

That was everything I had. I will be able to sit down and look over

it and it is one place better than what I did in Beijing.

Tomorrow, it is a turn of this woman, Rebecca Adlington who won

two golds in Beijing will try to hold on to her 400 meters freestyle

Many of the key Olympic venues sprang into action for the first

time today, but there was concern among many fans about the number of

empty seats at some events. The Olympic organisers, LOCOG, have

promised to investigate. Our Sports Andy Swiss, reports. The first

golden moment of the London Olympics.

At Woolwich Barracks at 11.20am, China's athlete won in the air

rifle. Including Britain's much touted rowers. The pick. Pick of

the bunch these two. Inspired it seems, by the number of fans.

Nothing can prepare us from the word go to the beep at the finish,

just the support. It was brilliant. Not everyone got such support.

There were swathes of empty seats at swimming heats and many more at

other venues too, at Horse Guards Parade on the first day of the

beach volleyball and at the gymnastics. After many fans were

disappointed in the ticketing ballot, organisers say they are

looking into the situation. LOCOG are doing a full

investigation into what happened. We think it was accredited seats

that belonged to sponsors, but if they are not going to turn up, we

want those tickets to be avoilable for members of the -- available for

members of the public. Those who did watch the gymnastics

saw something special, inspired by Lewis Smith, the British men

qualified for their first Olympic final in 88 years.

Else why joy for the hosts was mingled with disappointment. At

lost in the first round of the men's doubles.

At Cardiff, the women's football team qualified for the quarter-

finals by beating Cameroon. Some success then, not just quite enough

supporters. After the first day, the medals

table looks like this. China leads with four golds. Two in the pool.

They are followed by Italy. And the United States are third with that

gold gold for Ryan Lochte in the men's 400 meter individual medley.

Our Sports Editor, David Bond, is at Olympic Park for us now. David,

what's your assessment of the first day's of competition? Fiona, after

that spectacular opening ceremony from Danny Boyle last night which

everyone's seems to have reflected was a success and triumphth, today

was about getting off to the right start with the sport and all eyes

turned to the mall and to Mark Cavendish and the cycling road race

and I was down there and you couldn't help but feel the air of

sort of dejection and disappointment from everyone who

had come down to see what was hopefully going to be the first

British gold medal and to underline the level of expectation from

everyone down there, you know, the Prime Minister Prime Minister,

David Cameron, was there as was Boris Johnson, Sebastian Coe and

Prince Charles, they turned out to see that triumphant moment and the

minute it didn't deliver, you know, actually it became very, very

disappointing. Now, of course, looking further ahead, there are

clearly more opportunities this weekend, but I've said before, that

this weekend was all about building momentum with the sport and getting

off to the right start and if Britain don't manage to come up

with the gold tomorrow then some more difficult questions will be

asked. Many people are unhappy about the

number of empty seats at some of the venues? Well, that's right. If

you look at the way the ticketing has been handled by the London

organising committee, it is easy to understand why people are looking

at the empty seats on the television and thinking, "This

can't be right." LOCOG promised an investigation. It does look like

the seats were accredited areas which means about 5% of the total

8.8 million tickets which were available, but clearly, they will

be keen to try and make sure that some of the kicts, if they are not

-- tickets, if they are not not being used make their way to the

public. Our other main story tonight and in

Syria the city of Aleppo has come under heavy bombardment in what

rebels say is the start of an army assault to force them out. Over 30

people have been killed in the fighting today according to

activists. A steady stream of vehicles carrying families is

leaving the city as Mike Wooldridge Parts of Syria's city are at war

now. We saw delashes in one air -- clashes in one area and running

battles were fought as Government troops tried to force the rebels

out. This footage can't be independently verified, but one

reporter in the area said that the battle rage all day, describing it

as "hell. There were fighting and casualties in a number of areas.

Many are believed to have been wounded. Others killed. Rebels,

civilians and Government troops. This video filmed by the rebels,

appears to show the aftermath of an attack on an army convoy, with a

number of soldiers killed. And a military vehicle destroyed.

Again, it can't be verified, but both sides are locked in a fight to

the death for control of this vital city.

Syrian troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships have been

massing for days. But on Saturday, they made their move. Targeting

districts the rebels had taken over. Fighter planes flew low across

parts of Aleppo. Many appeared to be equipped for an attack. As the

Syrian president uses his might to regain control. The worst fighting

seems to have been in this area. There were pitched battles and

casualties along with rebel strongholds elsewhere in in what is

Syria's largest city. This is just the start of an offensive which

could last weeks. The only thing that is guaranteed is there will be

more violence and more people will The Coronation Street actor

Geoffrey Hughes has died after suffering from prostate cancer. The

68-year-old played Eddie Yeats in the ITV soap and was also known for

his roles as Twiggy in the Royle Family and Onslow in Keeping Up

Appearances. The actor's family said he died "peacefully in his

sleep" last night. Back to our main story and today's Olympic sporting

action followed last night's dramatic opening ceremony which was

watched by 27 million people in the UK alone and many more worldwide.

For many the highlight was the unexpected role played by the Queen.

The man who devised last night's ceremony, Danny Boyle, has been

talking about what it was like to direct her majesty. Jon Kay reports.

Still dancing the morning after, but for the cast it was time to say

goodbye and take home their ceremony souvenirs. And you are

going to have that forever? I am. I'm thinking I might turn it over

and plant a tree in it. This performer was keeping fake

grass from the English countryside scene. I will never get this again.

We have a patch this size that needs filling. What in the garden?

Yes. The grass may have gone already,

but the flame still burns. It will now have to be moved though so the

athletics can start. It was a very British night.

A frenetic journey through our social history and popular culture.

But in a show full of surprises, there was one stand out shock.

Good evening, Mr Bond. Good evening, Your Majesty.

On Her Majesty's very Secret Service. Filmed behind Palace doors

four months ago. She is a good actor. She is good at it. She is

good at it and her and Daniel got on very well. Her and James Bond

got on very well. That was all tickety boo.

Today this most unlikely of Bond girls was touring the Olympic Park

and getting rave reviews for her acting. You were brilliant.

It wasn't a celebrity who lit the cauldron.

But seven promising young British athletes. Today, we showed two of

them their big moment for the first time.

When we lit it, I was just like "we done that. This is us. It is going

up because of us. "I don't think it was until we lit it that we

realised what we were doing. I was like "don't get this wrong." At

that moment we lit it, it was like "wow, we did that.". So much

emotion went into that. Well 24 hours and one billion

television viewers later, the international verdict is in and

most reviewers liked the opening ceremony, praising its energy and

its British eccentricity even if some foreign critics admitted at

times they were a little bit Well, that's all from me. The