Helston man to appear in Olympics opening ceremony (From Falmouth Packet)

Helston man to appear in Olympics opening ceremony

11:20am Friday 27th July 2012 in Helston By Emma Ferguson, News Editor

A Royal Navy officer from Helston will fulfil a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ role when he carries a flag at the Olympic opening ceremony tonight.

Lieutenant Jamie Weller, 32, will be one of only 14 military people chosen for the role in the curtain-raiser for the games.

The weapons engineering officer from Helston, who now lives in Gravesend, is one of only four naval personnel chosen for a part in the opening and closing ceremonies of the London games.

Lt Weller, who lives in Kent with his wife Laura and son Alastair, has been selected for his own sporting prowess as a former gymnast. He now sits on the executive committee for the British Schools Gymnastics Association.

Due to his involvement in national level youth gymnastics, Jamie will also act as the lead flag raiser for the medal ceremonies for gymnastics, trampoline and basketball for the duration of the games.

Jamie said: “I feel really proud to be representing the Royal Navy at such a prestigious national event as the opening ceremony of the Olympics.”

Being away from his usual day job in MoD Abbeywood, near Bristol, where he helps manage combat system support to Capital Ships and destroyers, Jamie is looking forward to being involved in the ceremonies for a sport he is so passionate about.

He added: “I have been involved in gymnastics from a young age and to be working at these events is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can’t wait for my son to look back as he gets older and think ‘my dad did that’.”

His career so far has taken Jamie around the world, including anti-drug patrols in the North Atlantic and Caribbean, as well as anti-piracy patrols in the Indian Ocean, but it is the short few weeks of the summer of 2012 on home soil that will add the pinnacle to his seven years in the Royal Navy.