The London Olympics
London is the city that will have hosted the Olympic Games three times, 1908, 1948 and now 2012.
The 2012 Games promise 26 different sports, 9.2m ticket sales, over 20,000 journalists attending, 4bn people watching world wide and some 14 million meals served!
East London, historically, the most industrial part of London is being transformed into a green corridor with 5 km (3 miles) of parkland, connecting the new Thames Barrier Park, through the Olympic Park, to another large area of sport, leisure and nature - the Lee Valley.
The Olympic Park project will reclaim 2.5 sq. km of contaminated land and clean 1.4m tonnes of contaminated soil. Construction at Stratford has now entered a crucial stage with the 'Big Build' having started on all major buildings. The aim is to finish by the middle of this year so that test events can be staged. The external structure of the impressive 80,000 seat Olympic stadium has recently been completed, the Olympic village is fast appearing and the sting-ray shaped roof of the Aquatics Centre is already an amazing sight.
With the arrival of the Velodrome, the Olympic Village and Energy Centre, the East London skyline is changing forever. We already see the 80,000-seat Main Stadium, the Multi-Sports Arena, the Broadcasting & Media Centre and Stratford City. The project will create the largest new urban parks seen in Europe for some 150 years.
Crucial to London’s successful 2005 bid for the games was the legacy of this area after 2012. The Olympic Delivery Authority stated legacy use and community regeneration must be "locked-in" to the planning and designing of Olympic and Paralympic venues and infrastructure. In keeping with this, West Ham United have formally gained approval to move to the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. The Premier League club was selected last month as the preferred tenant for the venue, beating a rival bid from Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham plans to downsize the stadium after the Olympics from 80,000 to 60,000 seats and use it as a multi-purpose venue. This will fulfil Britain's promise to retain a running track at the show-piece venue.
The Hammers expect to move into the Olympic Stadium in August 2014.
The official 2012 Olympics website can be seen here >
Photos of the Olympic Site - click to enlarge:
