The Games of the XXX Olympiad are officially opened today with the Opening Ceremony at London’s brand new Olympic Stadium. The theme for this year’s ceremony is “The Isles of Wonder”. The ceremony is expected to include a countryside scene, with live animals, a village cricket team, and a rain-producing cloud. The Games will be officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and Paul McCartney will perform after the Olympic Flame has been lit. Leading the United States contingent of athletes into the stadium will be flag-bearer Mariel Zagunis. The native of Portland, Oregon has won the last two Olympic gold medals in sabre fencing. She’s only the second American ever to win gold in a fencing event.

While the Ceremony is the official start of the Olympic Games, the men’s and women’s soccer competitions have already gotten underway. The US Women’s Soccer team, looking to repeat as gold medal winners, got off to a strong start with a 4-2 victory over France on Wednesday. The Canadian women’s team, which features former Huskers Brittany Timko and Karina Leblanc, fell to Japan 2-1, also on Wednesday.

The only sport to be active today is archery. The preliminary rounds for the men’s and women’s individual and team archery competitions are today. The USA men’s team is expected to medal, as they enter the Olympics ranked number 1 in the world. The USA women, aiming for their first medal since 1988, are led by Khatuna Lorig, best known for her role as a technical advisor on the movie “The Hunger Games”.

You can see the Opening Ceremony televised in prime time tonight, starting at 6 PM Central Time on NBC.