When she travelled back home to Edmonton in north London later in the evening, Henry and her mum kept the afternoon's event and Boyle's plan from her dad and sisters. Henry and the other six were only allowed to tell the one parent or carer who had accompanied them to that initial meeting. The Sports Desk podcast: Did London 2012 inspire a generation?."We were all looking at each other confused, shocked, excited and in total disbelief." He had to say it again: 'I want you guys to light the cauldron.' "He said he had an idea that we seven would light the Olympic cauldron. "He took the seven of us, linking arms, and literally huddled us up," says Henry, now 26. What connected them? The answer arrived via a balding, spectacled man.ĭanny Boyle strode into the room and introduced himself as the director of the London 2012 opening ceremony. He led youth causes and volunteer groups. One of the group was a national champion sailor. The tallest of the seven revealed he had won a medal at the junior rowing world championships. Henry recognised another youngster - Adelle Tracey - as a familiar face from the youth athletics scene.
"We were all trying to figure out what we all do, asking each others' ages, where we were from, what we did. "No-one had an answer," remembers Desiree Henry, who at the time was a 16-year-old sprinting hopeful. And then they were left alone.ĭown a concrete corridor, in a bare room, they talked. They had been met by London 2012 officials, who were friendly, but not forthcoming.