The XXX Summer Olympics A presentation by Rasmus

The XXX Summer Olympics, A presentation by Rasmus Peeker 2009

General info The 30 th Olympic Games will take place from Friday 27 July to Sunday 12 August. The Summer Games programme consists of 26 sports with a total of 39 disciplines, the Paralympic Games programme features 20 sports with 21 disciplines. 205 nations with approximately 12, 500 athletes will participate. The budget of the Games is approximately £ 2 billion, an additional £ 9, 3 billion is needed to improve infrastructure, build venues and other structures. The logo of the Games is the following:

Becoming the host In 2003, 9 cities submitted their bids to become the host for the 2012 Games. A year later, 5 cities (Moscow, Madrid, Paris, New York and London) were announced as the finalists. The International Olympic Committee considered things such as transportation, accommodation, security, technology and public opinion when making their decision. On 6 July 2005, the results were announced, thus making London the host for the 2012 Games. There have been rumors about Tony Blair bribing several members of the IOC to achieve favored results as London wasn't expected to become the host in the first place (Paris was the favorite). Although a documentary entitled Panorama: Buying the Games was made, the subject didn't receive enough attention to be thoroughly investigated.

Various improvements To cope with the large amount of visitors and maximize the convenience, London is undergoing a series of different improvements. Some of the most of important of them are: Means of getting to one place to another are being greatly improved by building more walking and cycling paths, expanding the London Underground, improving railroad stations and building parking lots near London to reduce traffic inside the city. High-speed bullet trains will also enhance mobility. The construction of the Olympic Park and a number of new venues. To improve the security while the Games, the police infrastructure is being overlooked. A number of workshops and scenario-based exercises have been executed. Also, various different units have been created to increase efficiency. Low-emission zones are being created to decrease air pollution. A national lottery will be created to increase funds. Inside the Olympic Park, the Paralympic Village is being built. The village will have special conditions allowing sportsmen with physical disabilities to safely move from place to place.

The Olympic Park The majority of the sports venues have been divided into three different clusters – the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. The Olympic Park is located in the first zone. The Olympic Park and the Olympic Village, which is located inside the aforementioned park, is a place where the athletes will live during the Games. The Olympic Park is the largest urban park created in the last 150 years and its creation is a part of the regeneration of the Stratford area. The Village will include houses for the athletes, shops, restaurants, medical, media and leisure facilities as well as a lot of open greenland.

Venues There are/will be 23 different venues where the various sporting events will take place. Some of them are still being built and some of them will only be built as temporary venues, which means that after the Games they will either be made smaller or taken apart and transported to a different location where they shall be reassembled. The new venues are the Hockey Centre (20, 000 seats), the Velopark (12, 000 seats, picture 1), the Aquatics Centre (22, 500 seats, picture 2), the Basketball Arena (12, 000 seats), the Handball Arena (6, 000 -7, 000 seats), the North Greenwich Arena 2 (6, 000 seats) and the Olympic Stadium. Improvements will also be made to some of the existing venues.

The Olympic Stadium Located south of the Olympic Park, the Olympic Stadium will be the largest and the most important venue with 80, 000 seats for spectators and a circumference of 900 meters. The outer wall of the Stadium will be covered with a 20 m-high wrap that will be decorated by various artists. That mural will show historical sporting champions, participating countries' flags and sponsor logos. After the Games, 55, 000 temporary seats will be removed, the Stadium itself will continue to host various cultural, educational and sporting events.

The 2012 legacy For London, hosting the Olympic Games is not just a great honor, but also a means of accomplishing a far greater plan as the improvements made in the name of the Games will bring welfare to the British after the Games as well. Basically, this means that everything built in the name of the Games can be readjusted after them and made useful for the greater public. For example, the Olympic Village will be turned into a residential area and a part of it into a leisure center. The need for a more practical way of handling new buildings came about after the failure of the Millenium Dome. Millions were spent on building The Dome and after the completion there was no use for it. Put short, the benefits 2012 Olympic Games will be a legacy for the British people for the years to come, everything done for the Games is done thinking that way.

An overview of the Olympic Zone

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