STEPH HOUGHTON got Britain off to a great Olympic start — 48 hours before the flame was due to be lit in London.

Houghton, whose superb free-kick gave the Team GB women’s football team a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Cardiff, said: “This is the highlight of my career. I don’t think it is going to sink in for a while.

“I don’t score that many goals, so it was a really special moment for me.

“Being an Olympian has a special feeling. We all felt the same and just couldn’t wait to get started.”

Coach Hope Powell said: “The fans were fantastic. I almost found myself singing along with them at one stage.”

London 2012 live blog
Latest Olympics updates throughout the Games

London 2012 live Olympic blog.

Come here throughout the games to see the latest news, best pictures and quirky stories from the big event.

                                            Opening Ceremoney

After months of torch-bearing, stadium building and arguably tenuous Olympics-based TV programmes, the Games have reached London.

London 2012 got underway with an Opening Ceremony featuring a cast of 15,000, a simultaneously bucolic and pyrotechnic display called Isles Of Wonder that was designed to show off the best of Britain - its history, its countryside, its inhabitants, its athletes, even its farmyard animals. 

It saw reenactments of British history, performances from the Arctic Monkeys and Paul McCartney, colourful displays of dance and even a few celebrity came.

Mr. Bean At Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremonies

The Olympics are a serious time for serious athletes to… seriously compete. So inviting the extremely goofy Mr. Bean to be apart of the opening ceremonies may not be the best idea.

Of course, Mr. Bean was invited and it was for fun. Some real life comedy relief to cut some of the extreme tension. During the playing of Vangelis’ nearly obligatory Chariots of Fire, Bean appeared on camera as a part of the performance being very Mr. Bean-like.