Famous faces celebrate with 40,000 in Olympic Stadium

A host of celebrities and sports stars will celebrate the opening of the Olympic Stadium with over 40,000 spectators on Saturday 5 May 04 May 2012

A general view of the Olympic Stadium at the London 2012 Olympic Park.

ⒸGetty Images

By LOCOG

"I am very proud of this venue and excited that it is set to stage the biggest sporting event in the world.”

Over 30 British celebrities jumped at the chance to be involved in ‘2012 Hours to Go: An Evening of Athletics and Entertainment’ including Tottenham born rapper and song writer Chipmunk, impressionist Jon Culshaw, singer Melanie C, two of Britain’s most celebrated Olympians Sir Steve Redgrave and Mark Foster, Hugh Bonneville of Twenty Twelve and Downton Abbey fame and comedian Jack Whitehall.

From 7.00pm spectators can enjoy the final 90 minutes of the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Visa Outdoor Athletics Championships, plus a series of UK Athletics invitational events featuring some of Britain's best athletes, before presenters Vernon Kay and Gabby Logan take over and lead the celebration.

Celebrities and athletes will get involved in a series of stunts, games and challenges including zorbing, a bicycle relay challenge and Olympic sports of the past in order to win prizes for members of the audience.

The Military Wives will lead a mass sing-a-long of the national anthem and the final challenge of the evening will see archer and Paralympic gold medallist Danielle Brown shoot arrows at a series of spinning targets to select a young person from the audience to take part in a once in a lifetime opportunity to open the Olympic Stadium.

Seb Coe, Chair of LOCOG said: “This event is very important to us for a number of reasons. Seeing athletes on the track for the first time will be a special moment for me personally and then welcoming 40,000 people into the Stadium on Saturday night will be a major milestone. This crowd will not only be starting their Olympic journey just weeks ahead of the Games, they will also play a vital role in helping us test the venue and earn our licence to operate the Stadium. I am very proud of this venue and excited that it is set to stage the biggest sporting event in the world.”