UK Olympics

The first Board meeting of the interim London 2012 organising committee took place yesterday.

The members of the interim committee will stand until the permanent committee is appointed, by April 2006. The London Organising Committee for the Olympic games, with the slightly less catchy acronym of LOCOG will be responsible for planning and staging the 2012 games.

The interim Board Members are:

Sebastian Coe (Chairman)
Keith Mills (CEO)
Neil Wood (LOCOG Finance Director)
Craig Reedie (BOA + IOC Member)
Philip Craven (IPC + IOC Member)
HRH The Princess Royal (IOC Member)
Simon Clegg (BOA)
Mike Brace (BPA)
Neale Coleman (GLA)
Mary Reilly (LDA)
Patrick Carter (Sport England)
Howard Bernstein (Manchester City Council)
Jonathan Edwards (athlete representative)

Meanwhile the Guardian reports on the decision be the London Olympic team not to relocate to offices in the West End, rather deciding to remain in the Docklands area when their lease at 50 Canada Square runs out.

“I couldn’t have justified running a bid based around regenerating the East End, one of the poorest parts of the country, and then moved our offices away from the area,” said Coe. “What kind of message would that send?”

London has been chosen as the host city for the XXX olympics in 2012.

After a day of presentations and voting London beat Paris in the fourth round of voting. Earlier Moscow, New York and then Madrid had been eliminated.

Supporters in Trafalgar Square and Stratford, where mush of the games will take place erupted in jubilation at the announcement.

“We have the determination to build something that doesn’t just last for a few weeks but for a generation.” said Tony Blair yesterday in the run up to the IOC vote tomorrow.

Mr Blair has been in Singapore, showing his support and that of the British Government for the London bid. Sven-Goran Eriksson and David Beckham were also present promoting London.

In London, giant video screens will show live coverage of events from Singapore in Trafalgar Square that will include performances by pop stars and appearances by famous athletes, including Dame Kelly Holmes. The event will start at 12:00 BST and include the announcement of the winners, expected at 12:45

Tomorrow, 6 July 2005, the IOC will decide on the host city for the 2012 Olympics.

Each city will outline their bids to the committee in an hour and a half presentation starting with Paris then moving onto New York, Moscow, London and finally Madrid.

The Evaluation Commission then present their findings before the vote and announcement of the vote in a ceremony starting at 19:30 local Singapore time (GMT +8).

The London bid centres around a 500 acre site in Stratford, East London, only 7 minutes travel from the city Centre.

There will be 9 new venues including the Olympic Stadium, all within walking distance of each other. Work is already under way on the new Aquatics Centre, which will have 2 50 metre pools and a dive pool.

In addition there would be the Hockey Centre with two stadia and a warm up pitch, the Velodome and a BMX track, while the four multi-sport arenas would be the setting for Fencing, Volleyball, Basketball and Handball.

The Olympic Village would also be housed here with 17,000 beds, to accommodate 80% of Olympic athletes and 95 per cent of Paralympic athletes.

The whole complex would be served by the Olympic Javelin high-speed shuttle, linking the village to central London in just seven minutes.

The Paris bid is based around the Olympic Village with two main competition venues holding 75% of the sports, located 6 km away. Dedicated travel routes will provide access within 10 minutes from the Olympic Village.

The arenas are grouped into two “clusters”.
The Northern Cluster will comprise 9 competition venues plus the International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre. Existing stadia include the Stade de France and the Aquatic Centre.

There will be 8 venues located in the Western Cluster, including the Parc du Princes.

As part of the transport plan, 20,000 free bicycles will be provided for use by volunteers and residents of surrounding neighbourhoods. These will be sold after the event.

NEW YORK BID COST ESTIMATE $10.4 billion

X marks the spot.

The New York bid is based on an X shaped site, with the Olympic Village at the centre, on a site across the East River from the United Nations. The main sporting venue would be the planned New York Sports and Convention Centre, in Manhattan. This 75,000 seat complex would be complete in 2009 and would also become home to the New York Jets.

A new 41-story, $386 million International Broadcast Centre would be constructed.

Transport would be improved with Olympic priority lanes providing access from the Olympic village to venues in 21 minutes.

TOTAL BID ESTIMATE COST $11.8 billion

Based around the Moscow River, the Olympic facilities and venues will use the river for transport with access from the Olympic village and over 70 other piers, taking only 10 minutes to some of the venues.
Luzhniki Stadium
The existing Luzhniki Olympic Complex seating about 80,000 people, will be the focus for the events, hosting the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as the athletics competitions. It will be 10-15 minutes from the Olympic Village.

The River transport plan means that the first time, all Olympic events would be held within the city limits of the Host City.

The start of the process to select the 2014 Winter Olympics host city is under way, with the IOC yesterday publishing the timetable to determine the location of the XXII Winter Games.

The dates and process is as follows:

Phase I

28 July 2005: National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to submit name of an Applicant City to the IOC

1 February 2006: Applicant Cities to submit replies to IOC questionnaire

February 2006: IOC Observer Programme at the XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin

21-23 June 2006: Executive Board acceptance of Candidate Cities

Phase II

23 June 2006: Candidature Procedure and Questionnaire made available to Candidate Cities/NOCs

10 January 2007 Candidature File to be submitted to IOC

February/March 2007: IOC Evaluation Commission visits Candidate Cities

June 2007: Publication of the Evaluation Commission Report

July 2007: Election of the Host City during the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City

The list of cities that have applied to host the games will be made available on 28 July 2005.

British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Sports Minister Richard Caborn are to tour 14 countries over the next six weeks, including Zambia, Ukraine and Hungary. Their full itinerary has not been revealed but the visits are to meet political leaders and promote sporting links.

Tony Blair himself will be in Singapore to lobby in the 48 hours directly prior to the International Olympic Committee vote on July 6. England football captain and Real Madrid star, David Beckham will also be in Singapore supporting the bid.