Wimbledon Village is gripped with excitement at the news that Andy Murray will be carrying the Olympic torch in Merton.
Wimbledon Village is gripped with excitement at the news that Andy Murray will be carrying the Olympic torch in Merton.
Local business owners and residents are celebrating the announcement and are excited at the prospect of Murray being chosen to pass through the area in the relay on July 23rd.
Tom Brockhurst, owner of the Village Florist, said: “We’ll be here, be cheering him on and I’ll be handing out flowers to everyone!”
Ali Hall, a Wimbledon Village shop worker, says the business will make the most of the Olympic season.
She said: “It’s quite exciting to be here for the Olympics. It’s a once in a lifetime thing we’re never going to experience again.”
The Government’s plans to lift Sunday trading restrictions during the Olympics will increase the buzz in the busy Wimbledon Village.
Some of the roads are being resurfaced and there’s no parking on the high street between 7am and 10am in the morning and 4pm and 7pm in the evening.
Yet this hasn’t stopped high street traders like Maggie Heaney, owner of The Mint Source, from looking forward to the event.
She said: “We will be open. I think we’ll all get the buzz when it happens.”
A number of street parties and events are being planned. Susan Avory of Wimbledon Village’s Valentina store is looking forward to the community spirit that the Games will bring to Putney where she lives.
She said: “It’s great because you don’t normally see the people who live in your street, and everyone will be getting involved, playing music and dressing the dogs in union jacks.”
Murray, the national number 1 tennis player, beat Alejandro Falla today with a straight sets victory in the second round of the Miami Masters.
There are high hopes for him to win Gold in the Olympic Games.
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