It's not often that an Olympic ceremony goes out of its way to honor ordinary people — but London's volunteers were a good place to start.

London whipped up a army of volunteers — 10,000 in all — for these Olympics, put them in goofy purple-and-pink shirts and gave them 10-hour shifts that could begin before dawn or end after midnight.

No worries. They have been the heart of these games — so cheerful, so helpful, so full of joy.

A handful of them — old, young, male, female — were brought up on the stage Sunday in a sweet tribute. Bravo, guys, bravo.

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Sheila Norman-Culp, Twitter at http://twitter.com/snormanculp

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EDITOR'S NOTE — "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.