Olympic chaos predicted by papers but calm reality then draws praise

Stories speculating how London’s transport network would cope with the Olympic Games were nothing if not doom-laden in the week before the opening ceremony, but have proved (so far) to be entirely unfounded.

Rik Thomas

03 August 2012

The papers predicted transport chaos in London once the Olympic Games got going... and were seemingly taken by surprise when it did not materialise

In the run up to the start of the Olympic Games the media frequently, and often gleefully, predicted transport chaos once the Games actually got up and running. “With the Olympics only four days away, London’s transport network was already creaking under the pressure, with drivers facing lengthy delays and Tube services disrupted,” The Daily Telegraph said on 24 July, for example. The paper’s story, moreover, prominently featured a picture of sprinter Usain Bolt on board...