2012 Olympics Launches New Event: Competitive Tweeting

The website for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games just got a bit more rowdy. It now features an interactive contest designed to discover which country has the biggest online fan base. The contest ranks the top 20 countries based on the number of tweets, YouTube videos and Flickr photos submitted. Fans already have submitted more than 20,000 tweets with Great Britain in the lead, followed by Brazil, the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands. To be considered, tweets need to include the hashtag #1YearToGo, along with the three-letter code for your country. The aim of the contest: to promote the fact that we’re a year away from the opening ceremony of 2012 London Games on July 27, 2012. As with past sporting events, social media will play a huge role in how fans participate in next summer’s...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympic Games,2012 London Olympics

Join us as we count down to London 2012

Haverhill Paralympian and London 2012 hopeful Caroline Maclean Published on Friday 22 July 2011 11:30 The clock has been ticking down to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games ever since International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge made the dramatic announcement at 12.49pm on Wednesday, July 6, 2005. But after years of preparation, just 52 weeks will remain next Friday before the torch is lit and the curtain rises on the Games of the XXX Olympiad. Over the next year, the Haverhill Echo will be guiding you through the build up to the “greatest show on earth” as Great Britain hosts its first Olympics since London 1948. A number of gold medal hopefuls will be hoping to reach the top of the podium on home soil, including...

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympic Coins,London 2012 Olympic Games,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Olympics Tickets

Now the 2012 Olympic Games is faster, higher, stronger And FATTER!

The organisers of the London 2012 Olympic Games have sold out to McDonald's so spectacularly I wouldn't be surprised if Jessica Ennis collects her medal on the podium and is then asked 'Do you want fries with that?' If you missed the grotesque development I'm referring to, allow me to provide a free refill - I mean recap. McDonald's has been allowed to open its largest-ever 'restaurant' right in the heart of the Olympic Park, a facility stretching 3,000sq metres across two floors, with three more of its burger outlets plonked elsewhere on the 2012 site. Supersized: An image of the record-breaking McDonald's restaurant in the Olympic village at Stratford Apparently this centrepiece McDonald's will have 1,500 seats and 'brightly coloured...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic Games,2012 Olympic Games,London 2012 Olympic Games

CHINESE WOMEN PLAYERS READY FOR THE UP-COMING 2012 LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES

Chinese Women players ready for the up-coming 2012 London Olympic GamesThe next Olympic will be held from July 27 to August 12, 2012 in London, England and will surely be quite a fascinating event. The table tennis event in 2012 London Olympic Games will be held in the Excel Centre in East London’s Royal Victoria Dock. It will be played on sports looring supplied by Tinsue.Wang Hao and Zhang Jike are China’s Men qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympics. Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yan are China’s women qualifiers and all these four players have directly qualified by the world ranking as per May 16, 2011. There are a total of 28 players for each event worldwide, who have qualified directly with a maximum number of three men and three women.Sadly,...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic Games,ExCel centre,Guo Yan,Table Tennis,Wang Hao

The Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival

The eyes of the world will turn to London in the summer of 2012, for the Olympic and Paralympic games – the greatest shows on Earth. And we want to seize this opportunity, to dazzle and impress with the best of British arts, too. London is the world capital of culture – this is our chance to put on the show of a lifetime. Next summer we will be in the middle of the London 2012 Festival when, from June 21 to September 9, leading artists from this country, and around the world, will take part in a UK-wide summer celebration. This festival is the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad which was part of our promise to the International Olympic Committee when we won the Games in 2005. The Cultural Olympiad was the idea of Pierre de Coubertin, the inventor of the modern games. He had a vision of...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympics,Cultural Olympiad,London 2012 Festival,Olympic and Paralympic games

Roads to be closed for London 2012 Olympics cycle race test

London 2012 chairman Seb Coe with Michael Day, chief executive of Historic Royal Palaces, outside Hampton Court Palace where the Olympic time-trial events will start and finish Organisers are confident next month’s test event for the London 2012 road race will prove a hit with the public in what is set to be one of the toughest logistical exercises of the Games. The London-Surrey Cycle Classic will take place over a 140-kilometre (87-mile) course, with some 148 riders from 26 different teams. The August 14 race starts and finishes at the Mall, winding out south-west across Putney Bridge, through Richmond Park and Hampton Court, then on into Surrey and back towards a hilly circuit around picturesque Box Hill and up to central London. It is one of the few non-ticketed events for the Olympics,...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympics,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics cycle race test

London 2012 Olympics: traffic warning for cycling test event

The event, which will be held on August 14, is part of the London Prepares series that allows organisers to test key aspects of their operations ahead of the Olympics next year.Several elite cyclists are expected to attend the 140km race that will go through five London boroughs, four Royal Parks and follow a looped route around Box Hill in Surrey, prompting road closures as early as 4am lasting until 3pm.Coe has branded the route as “interesting” with “impressive technically elements”. However, he said: “As with any major sporting, in particular one that moves through so many different areas of London and the South East, there will be a significant impact on traffic and transport. We want to give everyone enough time to plan their...

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London Olympic 2012,Tour de France

Planning for the 2012 Olympics: Marketing

Once you’ve made yourself aware of what’s happening during the 2012 London Olympic Games (by reading our first feature in this series) you need to decide how you’re going to use the event to boost your business’s profile. Businesses may not be able to use the 2012 logo during the Games, but iconic images like this are allowed Before you set off dreaming up creative marketing activities, remember this is all about going the long haul. Oxford Economics expects 54 per cent of the tourism benefits of the Games to be generated in the four years after the event has finished, with the event itself generating just 31 per cent. The Olympic Games run for just two weeks, as do the Paralympic Games at the end of August, so any benefit to businesses in...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,London Olympics

London and Surrey to under Olympic cycling tests

Next month’s London-Surrey Cycle Classic is being touted by many as a test run for cycling competitions at the 2012 London Olympics. The London-Surrey Cycle Classic  is scheduled to pass through six boroughs in London and four Royal Parks in addition to a looped route around Surrey’s Box Hill. In order to sufficiently prepare and stage this event, extensive road closures and disruption to travel is expected on the day. Seb Coe, London 2012’s chairman, explained at a press conference that the race will be fantastic for cycling enthusiasts and that the interesting route and technical elements for the course decided had attracted the best pro cycling teams competing in the sport. Those living along the route and spectators intending to travel to be spectators at the race have been advised...

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Posted in: London,London Olympic 2012,London Olympic Games,London Olympics,London Olympics 2012,London Olympics 2012 Tickets,Olympics 2012,Surrey

London 2012 Olympics evangelist: Steve Wages

Lay Witnesses for Christ International’s Board of Directors have unanimously endorsed its Presidents’ (Dr. Sam Mings, Sr.) recommendation to invite Steve Wages to serve as one of seven Evangelism Directors during Lay Witnesses for Christ International’s (LWFCI) ‘Bridging the Gap 2012 London~England Olympic Outreach.’ The XXX Olympiad will be LWFCI’s 8th Summer Olympic Outreach and is projected to have its largest ever team, a ministry known as Chaplains to the World’s Olympians. Pastor Steve Wages is a sixth generation preacher, married to Kim with a son, Noah. Steve Wages is the founder and senior pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida. He leads this thriving, exciting and mission-minded congregation with a pedigree in preaching revival. Press Service International's...

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Posted in: London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Olympics Tickets

London 2012: Touts face jail over £5m Olympics ticket scam

Olympic Stadium (pic: PA) Two touts have been warned they face jail over a £5 million Olympic ticket fraud which took in more than 10,000 customers. The scam saw sports fans pay up to 48 times the price of Beijing Olympics tickets - but not a single one arrived. The parents of gold medal-winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington were among victims from all over the world taken in by the ticket fraud in 2008. The conmen were also involved in the sale of £1 million-worth of tickets to major sporting events such as football and rugby matches and pop concerts, including events at the O2. Jurors at Southwark Crown Court, in London, returned their verdicts after almost 26 hours of deliberation. They convicted Terence Shepherd, 52, of Blackheath,...

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Posted in: London 2012,Olympics Ticket Scam

London 2012 Olympics: Power and the glory spurring on Aaron Cook

Aaron Cook believes he can go from watching Power Rangers as a youngster to taking his place on the Olympic podium, despite splitting from the British squad set-up. The British mat-ador: Aaron Cook has plenty of confidence in his new training set-up (Pic: PA) The 20-year-old competed at his first Games in 2008 but lost out in controversial circumstances to Zhu Guo of China for a bronze medal. That has only increased his  determination to go and win gold in London next year. But, as Cook reveals, his rise to sporting success stems from an unlikely source. The Dorchester-born athlete watched Power Rangers as a child, leading his parents to take him to a local taekwondo club which was opening in his home town. ‘It could easily have...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 Olympic,2012 olympic travel packages,2012 olympics travel packages,London 2012,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

London 2012: Ten best of the web

Twitter guidelines for athletes; Olympic Stadium controversy and a new tune at the All England Club What song will Andy Murray pick if tennis players are allowed to enter court to music during the Olympics? Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images 385 days to go: Here are 10 of the best pieces of London 2012 Olympics content on the web this week: 1. The 'second chance' ticket round The much anticipated "second chance" ticket round closed on Sunday, with a further 750,000 tickets sold to 150,000 applicants who had not obtained any tickets in the opening ballot. During the first two frantic hours of the second ballot, there was such a high demand for the 40,000 remaining athletics tickets on the official website that a minority were wrongly...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 Olympic,2012 olympic travel packages,London Olympic 2012,London Olympics,London Olympics 2012,London Olympics 2012 Tickets,London Olympics Tickets

One million tickets now sold for RWC 2011

One million tickets have now been sold for Rugby World Cup 2011 following a surge in sales during the final phase of ticketing which opened to the general public on Monday. “This has been a tremendous start to our final ticketing campaign and we are thrilled with the way fans in New Zealand and around the world have responded,” said Martin Snedden, chief executive for Tournament Organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011. RNZ 2011 is forecasting total sales revenue of NZ$268.5m based on expected ticket sales of 1.35m from the 48 Tournament matches. The sales in the final phase have boosted ticket revenue by NZ$17 million to NZ$220 million. This means RNZ 2011 has now reached 82 per cent of its revenue target. Over the last six weeks fans have purchased 211,000 tickets with a value of NZ$51 million....

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Posted in: rugby world cup,rugby world cup 2011

Calum chosen as BT storyteller for London 2012 Olympic Games

DUMFRIESSHIRE’S Calum Graham has secured a dream ticket to the London 2012 Olympic Games. The council sports development officer with leisure and sport Annandale and Eskdale has beaten thousands of hopefuls to become a coveted BT Olympic storyteller. BT is a partner for the London 2012 Olympic Games and the communications giant launched a competition to find members of the public to help chronicle the story of the Olympic and Paralympic Games from one-year-to-go right through to Games-time. It means the 38-year-year-old, who lives in Canonbie, will have to submit stories, tweets, photos, film clips and blogs for publication on a dedicated website from July 27 this year, to help mark one year to go to the London 2012 Olympic Games. And Calum says it will be a “labour of love!” On July...

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

Hoy taking little steps towards London 2012

Triple Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy has revealed he breaks his training schedule down into manageable chunks so as not to get overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead of him. Hoy will defend three gold medals at London 2012, and with the difference between glory and failure often just a fraction of a second, the Scot knows the importance of every single session. "You cannot afford to look at the bigger picture," Hoy told the Telegraph. "If you think, 'this is the first of 10 of the day and then I've got to do it again tomorrow and then for the rest of the week and then there's eight weeks in this block and then 12 months until the Olympics', it all gets very daunting. "You have to look at it like a hurdles race, just looking at what's...

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

More London 2012 Olympic tickets go on sale

Existing ticket holders for the London 2012 Olympic Games are being offered a second chance to more seats for a limited number of events. Those who won tickets in the initial first round ballot can buy tickets for football, volleyball and freestyle wrestling from today. While football makes up the majority of the offering, with 1.5 million tickets on sale, there are also 40,000 volleyball and 8,000 wrestling places available. Tickets will be on offer until July 17th, with 700,000 potential buyers being sent emails from today. In total more than 3.5 million Olympic tickets have now been sold, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) confirmed. The available tickets for football, volleyball and freestyle...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets,London Olympic 2012,London Olympics 2012,London Olympics 2012 Tickets,London Olympics Tickets

London 2012 Celebrates 500 Days To Go As Tickets Go On Sale

©LOCOG London 2012 began its 500-days-to-go celebrations yesterday with the unveiling of the OMEGA countdown clock in Trafalgar Square. As official timekeeper for the London 2012 Games, OMEGA has provided a large countdown clock that will allow Londoners to see the days, hours, minutes and seconds until London’s big day on 27 July 2012 – the day of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. In addition, Olympic tickets have also gone on sale around the world, with sports and Olympic fans now able to apply to see the world’s best athletes compete at the Games. The Greatest Tickets on Earth Described by London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) Chairman Sebastian Coe as the “greatest tickets on earth”, now is your chance to apply...

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic Games,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets

Olympics-London 2012 still has 1.5 million soccer seats to fill

Some 1.5 million Olympic soccer tickets remained unsold on Sunday after the end of the first phase of London 2012's 'second-chance' offering in Britain. Organisers said the only tickets still available were for men's and women's soccer matches, volleyball and freestyle wrestling. The soccer tickets were always going to be the hardest to shift, with 1.7 million of them available before the second round of sales kicked off on June 24. Fans wanting to sample the London 2012 atmosphere have snapped up tickets to anything in the Olympic Park itself but many of the soccer matches are being held in stadiums hundreds of kilometres from the capital. While Britain intends to enter a united team for the first time since 1960, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish associations have opposed their...

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Tickets,Olympics London 2012

London 2012 declare second ballot a success after 750,000 tickets sold

London 2012 revealed today that more than 750,000 Olympic tickets have been sold to nearly 150,000 successful applicants in the "second chance" sales round which closed at 6pm today. The start of the second of ticket sales, which began on June 24 on a first-come, first-served basis, was open exclusively to applicants who did not receive any tickets in the first round sale which took place earlier this year between March 15 and April 26. The exclusive second round sale was open for ten-day window but has now ended. The next phase will see ticket sales open to the 700,000 applicants who were successful in all or part of their ticket applications in the first round sale. It will open on July 8 at 6am and close on July 17 at 6pm but only football, volleyball and freestyle wrestling tickets...

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

London 2012 Olympics test event blog: familiar and disconcerting

"Look at the view!" I exclaimed, halfway up a hill on a London Olympic test event cross-country course walk this afternoon. In truth, my pause was mainly an excuse to have a rest on the steep slope, but turning back, we were rewarded with a stunning look across London to the O2 and the main Olympic stadium. There were times this afternoon — the first day of action at the equestrian test event, if you can call a horse inspection action — when we could have been at Any Championship, Anywhereville. I was lucky enough to go to the test event in Hong Kong for the 2008 Olympics — don't worry, there wasn't a breakdown in the H&H expenses policy, the Hong Kong Tourist Board paid — and I remember having the same feeling there, as familiar face...

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Posted in: London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Olympics Tickets

Canadian Paralympic Athletes Shoot Hoops in Trafalgar Square

London, 24/06/11 – Experience all things Canadian on 1 July 2011 just like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who will be in Ottawa celebrating Canada’s 144th birthday. Canada Day in London wouldn’t be complete without a celebration of sports, one of the nation’s great loves. Head down to Trafalgar Square to watch and participate in a myriad of sports and activities all day long. The coveted Trafalgar Cup street hockey tournament will kick off Canada Day in London with the puck dropping at 10:30 a.m. Eight teams will compete in a round robin hockey tournament, battling it out in the arena for the title of champion. This action-packed sport event is a Canada Day in London favourite as teams unite in their quest for the Cup. Also in the Square will be the Hockey Hall of Fame Slapshot Experience...

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Posted in: 2011 London Olympics,2011 London Olympics Volunteer