london games

100-Person Poll: Londoners on the Olympic Games

A general view as spectators make their way across the bridge to the Olympic Stadium on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 4, 2012 in London, England.
Spectators make their way toward Olympic Stadium.

While most of the country caught Olympic fever months ago, London residents remained, on the whole, a little more guarded about the whole shebang. That’s not to say Londoners aren’t as ready to paint their faces and wave flags as the next tipsy Brit, but the Games also promised to have a very real effect on Londoners’ day-to-day lives. As the Olympics approached, urban horror stories touting the inevitable disruption rarely left the British tabloid press’s front pages. (Brits love a good grumble, you see.) But the first week of events seemed to illustrate that most of the fearmongering had been overstated. Indeed, for the most part, the Games have run pretty smoothly so far, and so, on a sunny afternoon — yes, really — in the city’s East End this past weekend, we surveyed 100 locals to get their feedback on the Games. In a pleasant surprise, most had nice things to say on a lot of topics — but not when it came to the whole Mitt Romney debacle. (Brits may love a good grumble, but they hate anyone else jumping in.)

Here are the results:

100-Person Poll: Londoners on the Olympic Games