Games has fashioned a style council

Bradley Wiggins has become a mod style icon after his gold medal win. Pic: Ian Langsdon/EPA

Part of the whole London 2012 vision is that it inspires people to “get involved.” There’s a section on the organisers’ website urging visitors to do just that – to get involved in sport wherever they are in the country.

This being London though a lot of locals are getting involved on the style front rather than anything more strenuous.

London has gone Mod crazy thanks to the massive popularity of Bradley Wiggins. Men are cultivating Wiggins’s trademark sideburns and Vespa riders around town have decked their scooters with Union Jacks.

Meanwhile for the girls it’s all about nails thanks to a moment of genius on the organisers’ part and the decision to install a nail salon in the Olympic Village.

From swimmers to gymnasts, sprinters to riders, cyclists to hockey players, female athletes have been sporting nail art. Elaborate patriotic manicures featuring their nation’s flags, the Olympic rings and glittering medals have been seen on the fingers and toes of some of the world’s greatest competitors.

Frankly it used to be considered a bit tacky by London’s “too cool for school,” brigade. But nobody is too cool for the Olympics and half the female population of London has followed suit.

So if anyone is in any doubt about how London feels about the Olympic Games all they need ask for is show of hands.