London 2012 Olympic venues to stage test events this summer

Spectators will get their first taste of sport in the new 2012 Olympic venues this summer at test events including beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade and basketball in the Olympic Park, London organisers have revealed.

A comprehensive 12-month testing programme will cover 42 events across 26 venues and involving 8,000 athletes from more than 50 countries. Not all of the events will be open to the public, depending on the emphasis of the tests.

A total of 150,000 tickets costing between £5 and £35 will be on sale across several events, though others such as the London–Surrey Cycle Classic to test the road race route will be free.

Tickets for the equestrian test events at Greenwich Park will be given away to local residents. Altogether, a total of 250,000 spectators are expected to see events in the so-called "London Prepares Series".

"This is a dress rehearsal for us but the public, of course, will see the rehearsal not the dress. It will look and feel quite different," London 2012's chief executive, Paul Deighton, said. "We don't expect to get everything absolutely right. If we did I wouldn't be happy because we wouldn't be stress-testing things properly. We will learn from our mistakes and make changes."

The series takes in events organised and ticketed by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog), such as the mountain biking at Hadleigh Farm for which there will be 5,000 tickets available in July, and others, such as the Badminton World Championships at Wembley Arena in August, that it will not organise but will help to staff and operate.

The test events are grouped into three "clusters". The first, in July and August this year, predominantly take place at venues away from the Park. The exceptions are the BMX and basketball events on the Olympic Park, for which spectators will be bussed in to what will still be a construction site.

Locog will build reduced versions of the temporary grandstands that will be used for the Games at the showjumping arena in Greenwich Park and the beach volleyball venue at Horse Guards Parade.

The second cluster of events, from November to January next year, will include events at the aquatics centre and the velodrome, while the third cluster in April and May 2012 will test the rest of the Olympic Park venues including the athletics stadium.

Deighton said the events would be used to test technology, security, ticketing, crowd flows and logistical considerations surrounding the individual sports themselves. Modern pentathlon, for example, has recently switched to laser shooting in place of the traditional air rifles and will need to be rigorously tested in situ at Greenwich Park.

Deighton and Locog's head of sport, Debbie Jevans, said lessons had been learned about the staging of events from Beijing and about city-wide logistics from the Vancouver Winter Games.

In Vancouver in 2010, organisers came under fire for the Own the Podium programme that attempted to maximise home advantage by restricting access to rival teams.

Asked whether London organisers risked going the other way by inviting top-class athletes to compete in Games-time conditions at new 2012 venues, Jevans said: "We have worked closely with the BOA but also with international federations to allow them access. We have to be open but we also have to get ready to deliver these Games."

Deighton also confirmed that those who did not get all the tickets they applied for in the first phase of applications, which closed on 26 April, would be offered the chance to buy other tickets in July. Those who didn't apply in the first phase won't be able to do so until late this year.Tickets for the test events will be sold through Ticketmaster from 26 May.

The four ticketed London 2012 test events this summer are

Mountain bike 31 July, Hadleigh Farm, Essex

Beach volleyball 9-14 August, Horse Guards Parade

Basketball 16-21 August, Basketball Arena, Olympic Park

BMX 19-20 August, BMX Track, Olympic Park

Other London 2012 venue ticketed events include

Gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic and trampoline) 10-18 January 2012, North Greenwich Arena

Cycling (track) 17-19 February 2012, Velodrome, Olympic Park

Aquatics (diving) 20-26 February 2012, Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park

Aquatics (synchronised swimming) 18-22 April 2012, Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park

Hockey 2-6 May 2012, Hockey Centre, Olympic Park

Wheelchair tennis 2-6 May 2012, Eton Manor, Olympic Park

Water polo 3-6 May 2012, Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park

Athletics 4-7 May 2012, Olympic Stadium

Paralympic athletics 8 May 2012, Olympic Stadium

Ticketing arrangements for these events will be announced later this year

Read more »

Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 Olympic,2012 Olympic Logo,2012 Olympic stadium,2012 Olympics,2012 Olympics Coins,2012 Olympics logo,2012 Olympics Progress,2012 Olympics venue,London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympic Coins,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Stadium,London Olympic 2012,London Olympic Games

London 2012 - Mixed sailing debuts as 2016 events decided

The 2016 Olympics will see mixed sailing make its Games debut after the ISF announced the 10 events that will take to the water in Brazil.

After a meeting in St Petersburg the ISAF Council announced that a two-person mixed multihull event will be included in 2016.

But arguably the biggest impacting change for the Great Britain sailors comes with the culling of the Star keelboat class, an event GB has dominated in recent years.

Great Britain's Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson won gold in the Star event at the 2008 Games but next year's 2012 Olympic will be their final chance to top the podium in the class.

The Elliott class - making its debut next year in London - has also been cut from the Olympic schedule meaning there will be no keelboat events in Rio.

The women's skiff has also been added to the schedule, a decision received with mixed feelings by John Derbyshire, the Royal Yachting Association's racing manager and performance director.

"The RYA is supportive of the slate of events agreed by ISAF Council, which shows progression within the sport and a clear pathway now, particularly for girls transitioning from the youth classes into Olympic campaigning," said Derbyshire.

"It's disappointing in some ways to be losing an old friend with the removal of the Star class, which has been a fixture in Olympic sailing since 1932, and that Women's Match Racing has not proved as successful as hoped.

"The mood of the meeting clearly showed, though, that the retention of the keelboat events is not the right thing for the future growth and appeal of the sport in Olympic terms right now, and that the events chosen reflect more the mass participation of young sailors within sailing, and the RYA supports those views."

More Than The Games / Eurosport

Read more »

Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 Olympic,2012 Olympic Logo,2012 Olympic stadium,2012 Olympics,2012 Olympics Coins,2012 Olympics logo,2012 Olympics Progress,2012 Olympics venue,London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympic Coins,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Stadium

London 2012 Olympics: daily countdown to the Games

As the London 2012 Olympics draws ever nearer Telegraph Sport counts down with a daily fact or figure.

Malfunction: the Olympic countdown clock stopped with 499 days to go Photo: EPA

10:14AM GMT 24 Mar 2011

491 - 491 bronze medals have been won in Olympic swimming events since 1896.

492 - In 492 BC, at the Ancient Games, a feared boxer named Cleomedes was denied a gold medal in a fight that involved him brutally slaying his opponent. The disqualification was not for the killing, but a technical incident during the fight.

493 - The 493 London bus runs from Richmond - a key destination in the road cycling race - via Wimbledon Park and Southfields, where the All England Tennis club is located.

494 - 494 competitors from 67 nations took place in swimming events at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics.

495 - £495 is the estimated starting cost per head for a place in a corporate hospitality box at the London 2012 Olympics tennis events.

496 - £496 million is the estimated cost of the Olympic Stadium, the focus of a post-Games tussle between West Ham and Tottenham - which the former won.

497 - £497 million was the estimated returns to the Olympics Lottery Distribution Found from sales of dedicated games, as of March 2010,

498 - With 498 days to go we learned that fridges and large amounts of coins were banned from London 2012 Olympic venues.

499 - The London 2012 Olympic countdown clock in Trafalgar Square stopped with 499 days to go after a technical error. Designers Omega were forced into sending technicians to fix the issue in an incident that proved to be a public relations nightmare.

500 - £500 is the cost of buying two official London 2012 ‘yellow gold disc charms’ from the online store.

Read more »

Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 Olympic stadium,2012 Olympics,2012 Olympics logo,2012 Olympics venue,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Stadium,London Olympic 2012,London Olympics

Olympic stadium decision enters final lap

The future of the Olympic stadium beyond the 2012 Games will reach a critical juncture on Friday when the government body responsible for its legacy meets to consider the rival bids of Premiership football clubs West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur as the stadium’s anchor tenants.

The OPLC declined to comment but confirmed that papers setting out the recommendation of the executive team had been sent to the 14 board members on Wednesday.

West Ham and Tottenham both declined to comment.

OPLC insiders said there were several hurdles to go before a preferred bidder was chosen. Not the least of these is what is expected to be a full and robust discussion by the board members on Friday.

However, insiders have previously said the recommendation of the executives, led by Andrew Altman, the OPLC chief executive, would be difficult for board members to reject.

The OPLC board’s recommendation will then be passed on to two government ministers – Jeremy Hunt, culture secretary, and Eric Pickles, the local government minister – as well as Boris Johnson, the London mayor, who will collectively have the final say.

The OPLC will enter into negotiations with the preferred bidder before final contracts are signed.

The bidders have to meet five criteria, including the viability of their plans, flexible use of the stadium and commitments to a legacy solution for the stadium.

The key difference between the two bids was over the future of the Olympic running track. West Ham is committed to retain the track while Spurs is not, instead planning to demolish most of the stadium and build a new facility dedicated to football.

In the eyes of some involved in the Olympics project, notably Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman, the retention of the running track was a key promise to the International Olympic Committee when London won the bid for the Games.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

Read more »

Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 Olympic stadium,2012 Olympics,2012 Olympics logo,2012 Olympics venue,London Olympic 2011,Olympic in 2012,Olympics 2012

Olympics 2012 Mascot And Logo

The Olympics 2012 mascot or 2012 Olympics mascot is a group of people who are touring the entire London to spread the message which they have set up for the games. The 2012 Olympics logo is also being decided which can be a unique symbol that stands for unity and fraternity. With the help of the Olympic 2012 mascot they will be able to tell the world about the aim of holding such games. Thus it is really necessary that there is a 2012 Olympics logo together with the Olympics 2012 mascot that will help in the promotion of the games. The Olympic 2012 mascot or 2012 Olympics mascot consists of four people who are touring the places and spreading messages of good virtue and unity.

The Olympic 2012 mascot are dressed in different ways to represent the five elements which exist in nature. This is all done to make the people aware that unity lies in strength through the 2012 Olympics mascot. Even the 2012 Olympics logo will be designed that shows reflection of the history and culture and at the same time it is different. Thus through the Olympics 2012 mascot promotion is done at a very rapid speed. The only motive of the Olympics 2012 mascot or the 2012 Olympics logo is to stand in times of need and come together for a common reason. The Olympic 2012 mascot are really doing a wonderful job by promoting it and creating awareness among the people.

If you want to get more information about the Olympic 2012 mascot and the 2012 Olympics logo then you can take the help of the internet. Over the internet you will come across several amazing facts that help you to explore about the Olympics 2012 mascot. It is the best medium to seek information as the information or the details that will be given to you will be correct. There are many websites which have specially emphasized on the 2012 Olympics mascot and from there you can collect lots of important details. Thus the people can be well versed with all the details of the 2012 Olympics mascot that they want to know about or anything related to it.

Read more »

Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 Olympics logo,London 2012 Olympic,Olympic 2012 mascot