Olympic slalom kayaker and her support crew in London

The London Olympics were on everyone’s lips yesterday as the opening ceremony marked the start of the 2012 Olympiad. Cook Islands slalom kayaker Ella Nicholas is counting down the minutes to her first Olympic race. Here she is pictured with her mum and team leader Sue Clarke, Chef de Mission George George and her dad Robert Nicholas. They are posing here with Ella’s official Olympic kayak, plastered with stickers of the Cook Islands flag. Ella is the only one of the eight Cook Islands athletes who made the official Olympic qualifying standard for her sport, and has been training hard in London. 12072602