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Desiree Henry and her six fellow torchbearers on the night of London 2012's opening ceremony
Henry (far right) says she "felt like a rock star for the day"

They worked it out for an hour and a half.

The seven teenagers talked about the same thing. Light on detail is how an invite is described. A taxi pulls up. There is a journey to east London.

London 2012 officials were friendly but didn't give them any information. They were left by themselves.

They were talking in a bare room down a concrete corridor. Why do they exist? What are you going to do next?

At the time, she was a 16-year-old sprinter, and no one had an answer.

We were all trying to figure out what we did and where we came from.

We didn't know what was happening.

Adelle was a face from the youth athletics scene.

The tallest of the seven said he had won a medal. A sailor was in the group. Another was not an athlete. He was the leader of youth causes.

What made them connect? The answer was delivered by a balding man.

The director of the London 2012 opening ceremony walked into the room.

"He took the seven of us, linking arms, and literally huddled us up," said Henry, now 26.

He thought we would light the cauldron. All of us were amazed. I thought I let out a huge gasp. He told them he wanted them to light the cauldron.

We were all looking at each other.

Henry and the other six were only allowed to tell the person who was with them at the meeting.

Henry and her mother kept the afternoon's event and the plan from her father and sisters. Maybe they didn't believe it anyway.

The lighting of the Olympic cauldron has always been for rich people.

Beijing 2008 was sparked by Li Ning, a three-time gold medal-winning gymnast.

In 2000 she torched her way to a symbolic gold. The start of Atlanta 1996 was marked by the expression on Muhammad Ali's face.

Until London, that spotlight and heavy responsibility was taken care of by a single star.

The pre-Games betting market featured the Queen, Sir Steve Redgrave, David Beckham, and other athletes. There was a lot of speculation, but it wasn't correct. The honor of London 2012 would go to a group of unknowns.

Insiders were urged to keep the ceremony's contents secret. There were a few more precautions for the secret seven.

Henry wondered if this was what it was like to be a spy.

It was not made public. They were adamant that was the case. People kept secrets from each other.

We had to wait for them to clear the stadium so we wouldn't be seen after Danny told us his plan.

The cover was supposed to be the most beautiful.

London's Olympic stadium on the night of the opening ceremony in 2012
Some 900m viewers around the world tuned in to the London 2012 opening ceremony

On the evening of July 27th, 2012 there were 80,000 people in the Olympic Stadium. 27 million people watched TV in the UK. 900m were tuning in around the world.

It was Henry's moment after the Queen's'skydive' with James Bond and after the nurses danced and Dizzee Rascal rapped.

With the house lights down and the soundtrack silenced, Redgrave, dressed in all white, ran under a stand and into the arena.

He turned to look at the stadium.

Barry Davies said it was a very proud moment for the man. It's a very proud moment for Britain.

Redgrave passed on the flame.

A group of people started jogging around the stadium as a choir of children sang.

The seven took turns with the flame. They lit their own torches. They lit the cauldron.

Henry recalls that the only thing he was worried about was starting his torch. I messed it up in rehearsals.

You can see the concentration in my face if you watch it again.

Things were more disorganized at home in the Henry family home.

Henry said that his father and sisters were shocked. On the one hand, they were very happy and proud for me, but on the other hand, they couldn't believe that I had kept such a big secret. I said it was not my decision.

Everyone in my area was so shocked.

I'm from the city ofEdmonton. For me to be involved in one of the biggest things ever filled everyone with a sense of pride. It was special to see one of their own doing something like that.

I looked out into the stadium and embraced it. There were a lot of lights from people's cameras. I felt like a celebrity for the day.

Henry's fame has lasted a long time.

She was part of the 4x100m team that won an Olympic bronze at the Rio Olympics.

She won a silver medal in the 4x 100m relay at the World Championships in London a year later.

The whole stadium erupted when they announced her name, she says.

The guys remembered me. It was similar to when the people's child had grown up and was still doing athletics.

Henry and her Rio 2016 team-mates celebrate winning bronze in the 4x100m relay
Henry and her Rio 2016 team-mates celebrate winning bronze in the 4x100m relay

The opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games will take place on Thursday at the renovated Alexander Stadium.

Henry predicts that there will be a young child in that crowd who wants to be on the track.

"Moments like that help make a future Olympian or Commonwealth medal winner, especially when it is right there, not something they're watching online or through a screen." In person, they can breathe in the atmosphere.

Reality has a tendency to pinch in on legacies.

For the next 50 years, UK Athletics has the right to host events at London Stadium.

In the future, a 67-year-old Henry could take her children with her. Her athletics career could surpass the arrangement.

According to reports earlier this year, UK athletics would be offered a pay-off of about 15 million dollars to give up their rights to London Stadium.

The capital doesn't have a top-class facility to host athletics events if the move is made.

Jessica Ennis-Hill, Dina Asher-Smith and Lord Coe are all worried about it.

Henry has as well.

She says it's impossible to imagine London without a top-class athletics stadium.

The games unified so many different cultures.

The stadium has a lot of history. It would be terrible to think about it as just something for the records.

Short presentational grey line

The seven young people who lit the flame are still in touch. Some are still playing sports. She is going to compete in the Commonwealths for Jamaica after changing her loyalties. Most of them aren't. They have decided to pursue other career opportunities.

They share a common experience despite their differences. The 10th anniversary of London 2012 will be marked at a reunion hosted by the British Olympic Association.

Henry says that this is a bond that no one else can explain.

We will always stay in touch even though we are doing so many different things.

It is impossible for any of them to live without me.