Welcome ceremony held for Team Zim in London

Esther, attended the welcome ceremony.
The Olympic Village Mayor, Sir Charles Allan, officiated at the ceremony where Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana teams were officially welcomed to the Games.
The ceremony, which lasted for half an hour, is a creation by London 2012, and involves members of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain in association with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.
The youths put up an exciting fun performance programme where Team Zimbabwe became part of the spectacle.
Zimbabwe’s chef de mission Busi Chindove signed the Truce Wall together with her counterparts from Botswana and Malawi.
Some Zimbabweans based in London were also part of the audience who came to witness their home team being received at the London 2012 Games Village.
Traditionally team welcome ceremonies take place before the Opening Ceremony of the Games with the aim of engaging the athletes in a fun and interactive experience with a lasting memory.
They extend a formal welcome to the athletes and the athletes’ national anthem is played while at the same time their national flag is raised.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s  swimming ace Kirsty Coventry arrived in London on Monday night to join up with Zimbabwe’s Olympic team ahead of Friday’s official opening of the 2012 Games.
Coventry and her American coach Kim Brackin have been in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, and later France for nearly a month preparing for the Olympics.
Coventry, who turns 29 in September, won seven medals for her country in her last two appearances at the Athens and Beijing Olympics — two golds and four silvers and one bronze.
In London, she is entered for the 100m backstroke, the 200m backstroke and the 200m individual medley events.
Just as she did in Beijing, Coventry will be Zimbabwe’s flagbearer at the official opening on Friday night.
The rest of Team Zimbabwe — comprising athletes and officials — arrived in London last Saturday and checked into the Athletes’ Village located in the Olympic Park.
Coventry will team up with fellow Zimbabwean athletes marathon runners Cuthbert Nyasango, Sharon Tavengwa and Wirimayi Zhuwawo, triathlon ace Chris Felgate and rowers Jamie Frazer McKenzie and Micheen Thornycroft at the London Games.
Team Zimbabwe to the London 2012 Games comprises of 18 members. There are seven athletes and 11 officials representing Zimbabwe at the Games.
The number of officials at any Olympic Games is determined by the Organising Committee based on the Olympic Games Rule 38 which automatically calculates the maximum number of officials vis-à-vis athletes.
This rule calculator is designed to show that the officials’ number is kept at its lowest but without compromising the quality of coaching and management of athletes at the Games.
The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture is represented by Minister David Coltart, the Director of Sport in the Ministry and two representatives from the Sports Commission. The Zimbabwe Olympic Committee is represented by its president Admire Masenda and chief executive Anna Mguni.
Below is the official list of Team Zimbabwe
Athletes
Kirsty Coventry        Swimming
Cuthbert Nyasango        Marathon
Wirimayi Zhuwawo        Marathon
Sharon Tavengwa        Marathon
Christopher Felgate        Triathlon
Micheen Thornycroft        Rowing
James Frazer McKenzie    Rowing
Officials
Sibusisiwe Chindove        Chef de Mission
Kathy Lobb        Asst chef de
mission
Nicholas Munyonga        Team doctor
Kim Brackin        Swimming coach
Tendai Tagara        Athletics coach
Wayne Davidson        Triathlon coach
Rachel Davis        Rowing coach
Margret Gibson        Physiotherapist
Farai Muguwe        Physiotherapist
Imelda Shoko        Press attaché
Primrose Mhunduru        Administration