The Olympic Stadium in Stratford

London 2012: Stars in Stratford heaven - despite four-hour bus ride!

Athletes began arriving for the Olympic Games on Monday and said they were in “heaven” with the amazing facilities.

But for one group there was bus hell as they took four hours to get to Stratford!

A VIP bus carrying USA stars took that long to complete a simple 45-minute journey from Heathrow Airport to the Olympic Village in Stratford as their driver got lost.

And Australian team members were taken on an unscheduled tour of London as their driver had satnav problems.

But Mayor London Boris Johnson lightened the mood by saying: “At least they had a scenic view of London.”

More than 1,000 members of the “Olympic family” arrived in London.

On the USA bus, hurdler Kerron Clement tweeted: “Um, so we’ve been lost on the road for 4hrs. Not a good first impression.”

There was a delay of three hours for the Australian stars until a physio guided the bus home using a satnav app on his smartphone.

It was life imitating art as the events mirrored those on the BBC TV drama London 2012, where the buses get lost.

But back in the real world, athletes just loved Stratford.

USA javelin thrower Craig Kinsley updated his Facebook page to say: “England London, Olympic Village, heaven.”

And swimmers getting their first taste of the Aquatics Centre dubbed it “fantastic.”

Swiss and Belgian stars have already draped their country’s flags from their Stratford flats.

Welcome to Newham!