LONDON - As the Olympic machine warmed up in the British capital on Thursday, London's mayor Boris Johnson flexed his rhetorical muscles with added panache.

 

Addressing "captains of industry, intergalactic leaders" at an investment conference to harness the July 27 to August 12 Games, Johnson packed in the superlatives to extol the city's virtues.

 

"The whole of London is a zone of intellectual and cultural cross-fertilisation, with all the energy and enthusiasm that I am told is to be found in the Olympic village itself," he said.

 

"That's why 'inspire a generation' is our motto. Not necessarily 'create a generation', which is what they sometimes get up to in the Olympic village."

 

Around 150,000 condoms will be distributed among the 10,500 athletes - a rate of 15 to one. - Reuters