That headline is possibly a little misleading. If you are indeed a Olympic Gold Medal contender, you're not going to win by playing with your iPhone looking for the Snipe's next MPFree. On the other hand, the Royal Mail is actually issuing gold medal stamps the day after the Team GB wins them. That's kind of mind boggling.

 

You have to think, the first modern Olympics took place in 1896 but it took the Royal Mail until London's 1948 Games to issue Olympic stamps. That's 52 years then versus 24 hours now. Of course now, the Royal Mail has a team of picture editors and graphic designers – plus the person with their finger on the button on the printer – to  turn them around immediately. The stamps will be available the next day at 500 selected Post Offices. A further 4,500 post offices will get their stamps in three special deliveries during the games. What happens if Team GB wins on a Saturday? Many of the 500 selected Post Offices will be open on Sunday, for the first time.

 

Sunday openings are not the only firsts. Gold medal action shots: first ever. Royal Mail issuing stamps the next day: that's a first, too. But even more exciting – Royal Mail is the first postal administration, whose country is hosting the Games, to issue stamps honouring the start of Paralympic Games. That's gold in anyones book.

 

Be the first to register your interest in the Royal Mail's Gold Medal and Paralympic stamps by clicking here.