An artist's impression of Lee Valley White Water Centre at Games time. (Image by Populous)

The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG), Populous, Atkins and Drivers Jonas Deloitte issued new images today showing what Greenwich Park, Lord's Cricket Ground and the Lee Valley White Water Centre might look like at Games time.


The London 2012 Games are unique for their innovative approach to the use of temporary and existing venues both on and off the Olympic Park. To achieve this and deliver a consistent look and experience for all participants, each of the venues requires detailed ‘overlay’ design, engineering and construction to stage the Games.

From Horse Guards Parade for Beach Volleyball, to Greenwich Park for Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon, London is being used as the stunning backdrop for events hosted in entirely temporary venues.

In addition, venues such as ExCeL London, Lord's Cricket Ground and the Lee Valley White Water Centre will be transformed to deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Games experience in existing venues.

In total, the London 2012 Games will use as much overlay as Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 put together. The extensive project will include:

250,000 temporary seats
165,000 square metres of tents
2,500 cabins
140 kilometres of fencing
250 kilometres of crowd barriers

James Bulley, LOCOG Director of Venues & Infrastructure, said: 'The London 2012 Games will deliver what no other Games has before in terms of the complexity and scale of the event overlay and temporary structures needed. Alongside the absolute commitment to meet the Games requirements, central to our plans have been legacy, sustainability, accessibility and safety.


'Our vision for the London 2012 venues is the integration with London's historic and iconic landmarks alongside our existing world class stadiums and sporting arenas. Our combined overlay team are world class and will deliver the technical excellence required to make this a spectacular Games.'


 

Source: www.sportbusiness.com

Submitted by Matt Cutler on Wed, 16/02/2011

The 17-day event schedule for the London 2012 Olympics has been revealed by organisers of the Games ahead of the start of ticket sales on March 15.

Sunday, August 5 promises to be the most exciting day of the Games, with the 100m athletics final, marathon and 400m final taking place. The first action will be women's football in Cardiff, Glasgow and Coventry on July 27, two days before the official opening of the Games.

Prepared over two years and co-ordinated with the International Olympic Committee and international federations, the 44-page schedule covers all 26 Games sports and more than 640 sessions and will be e-mailed to the 2.2 million people who registered with London 2012 for ticket information.

Tickets begin at £20, while the top tickets for the opening ceremony will cost £2,012. A total of 6.6 million tickets will be on sale for a six-week period from March 15. Tickets for the Paralympic Games, which follow the Olympics, will go on sale on September 9.

“Families up and down the country can now plan their summer of 2012,” said London organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe. “The schedule showcases brilliant and exciting sport every single day, over 19 days, with 302 medals on offer.”


 

Source: www.foxsports.com.au

Ian Thorpe. Source: News LimitedThe 28-year-old five-time Olympic gold medallist, who has not swam competitively since the 2006 Commonwealth Games trials, told a packed press conference in Sydney that he wanted to be part of the London experience.

Thorpe, who actually made the decision to return to the pool last September and had been coached via text by Australian swimming head mentor Leigh Nugent, announced that he would be doing most of his training away from Australia, primarily in the United Arab Emirates and in Europe.

With the 2012 London Olympics less than 18 months away, he said he did not believe he had enough time to prepare for the 400 metres freestyle, his favourite event, and would instead train as a sprinter, something he said "may surprise a lot of people.'' He will be aiming at the 100m and 200 freestyle, with special emphasis on the 100m.

Sebastian CoeThe London 2012 Organising Committee today confirmed that tickets for the London 2012 Olympic Games will go on sale on Tuesday 15 March 2011, and Paralympic Games tickets will go on sale on Friday 9 September 2011.

Olympic Games tickets will be on sale for six weeks, until 26 April 2011, enabling people to consider their options before making final choices and submitting their application. Tickets for oversubscribed sessions will be allocated via a ballot process.

Applications for tickets can be made at any point during the six-week period – tickets are not allocated on a first come, first served process.

LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe commented: 'On 15 March, the application process opens to be part of the greatest show on earth. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world’s greatest athletes going for gold in the UK – a chance for people to see their favourite sport and perhaps try a new one. Our message today is simple – mark the date in your diary and sign up to our ticketing site at www.tickets.london2012.com to receive all the information you need to help you with the process.'

LOCOG will announce full details of the purchasing process and the finalised schedule for all 650 sport sessions in February 2011. The two million people who have already signed up to the London 2012 ticketing database will receive all the information about how to apply and use their existing log-in details to access the application process.

Further details of the application process for Paralympic tickets will be announced later this year, with prices announced in May 2011.