By Tom Degun at the Olympic Velodrome, London
London 2012 today celebrated one of its most significant milestones to date as the impressive Velodrome, which British cycling hero and four-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy has described as the "best in the world," became the first Olympic Park venue to be fully completed.
The 6,000 capacity arena will be the venue for indoor cycling and BMX events at London 2012 and it was Sir Chris, alongside fellow Olympic champions Victoria Pendleton and Jason Kenny, plus a team of British sprint stars, who rode on the finished track for the first time.
"Having been involved in a very small way in the design process in the early stages, it's amazing to see the Velodrome finally completed, and to be able to have ridden on it today gives me a feel for what it's going to be like in a year and a half's time," said Sir Chris, the 34-year-old from Edinburgh who is the most successful Olympic male cyclist of all time.
"It is the fastest Velodrome ever built and for me, it is the best in the world.
"I just can't wait to be back here for London 2012."
Sir Chris and his fellow cyclists were joined in unveiling the Velodrome, which cost just over £90 million ($145 million) to construct, by Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chairman John Armitt, London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe Chair, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and other guests.
"In delivering the Velodrome on time and to budget we have completed our first Olympic Park venue and our biggest milestone to-date," said Armitt.
"The striking architecture of the Velodrome and the medal prospects of our world-leading cyclists mean the venue will become one of the defining images from the Games, and a landmark new building for future generations to enjoy.
"The architect, engineers and contractor have worked together to produce a stunning and sustainable building - it is a worthy venue to be first past the Olympic Park finishing line and a testament to the hard work of those on site."
The stadium will have a 360 degree public concourse for viewing races with seating all the way round the track to create the best possible crowd atmosphere during events.
The Velodrome has been designed with the aim of creating the world's fastest cycling track by tailoring the track geometry and setting the temperature and environmental conditions within the venue to create record-breaking conditions while after London 2012, a road cycle circuit and mountain bike course will be added to it so the park can be used by everyone.
"This is a stunning venue built for champions and designed for legacy, the ODA has done a terrific job," said Coe.
"Over the next 18 months LOCOG will be testing the venue and installing the temporary facilities needed for an Olympic and Paralympic competition Velodrome.
"The British cycling teams provided many of the team GB superstars in recent Games and I am proud to see them on the track for the first time today."
The ODA construction work on the Velodrome began in March 2009 while the venue is in line to stage a test event in early 2012, something highlighted by Hunt, who earlier had embarrassed himself when he had tweeted that it was 526 days until the start of the Olympics, only to have to apologise when it was pointed out to him it was, in fact, 521.
"The progress on the Velodrome has been phenomenal and it is fitting that it should be the first venue on the Olympic Park to be finished, given the gold medal hopes we have for our British Olympic track cycling team at the Games," he said.
"Watching Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton christen the track today was a historic first in the countdown to London 2012."
The Velodrome also received the seal of approval from Pat McQuaid, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), who was attending the opening of the venue.
"The structural completion of the Velodrome today is a significant milestone in the delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic project, and we thank London 2012 for their work to date," he said.
"The popularity of cycling is increasing every year both in the UK and globally.
"We are confident that the cycling events in 2012 will produce worthy winners and spectacular events for spectators and help with the further growth of our sport."
Track cycling was Britain's most successful discipline in Beijing with Sir Chris's three victories and another four gold medals in the sport accounting for more than a third of Team GB's overall total of 19 gold medals.
Britain will be pushing to beat that at London 2012 Olympics when a rule change means only one rider and one team per nation is allowed to compete in each of ten track cycling events.
There will be 10 gold medals to be won in the London 2012 Velodrome, five for men and five for women with 188 riders due compete in the Olympic track cycling competition which will take place over six days.