International Olympic Committee : News

Benefits of hosting London 2012 will be ongoing

8/12/2012 8:00:00 AM

The regeneration of East London and particularly Stratford, the site of the Olympic Park, will bring untold benefits to the area and the local communities that live there.

The Olympic Park will be transformed into the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, and the permanent venues within it will bring new leisure facilities to the area. The increased focus on the area brought by the Games coupled with an improvement in transport links and the new shopping centre next to the Park will bring greater visitor numbers and continued investment to the borough.

Permanent venues such as the Velodrome and the Aquatics centre will not only offer affordable facilities to encourage residents of the capital to get involved in sporting activities, they will also have the facilities to host world-class events. These will attract further tourism to London providing an ongoing boost for businesses operating in the capital.

The sporting legacy created by the Games will also have a lasting impact on the capital and its residents. London 2012 has generated a lot of interest in sport and a number of initiatives are already in place to capitalise on the enthusiasm generated and encourage people to get involved.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson described this week how London must continue the momentum created by the Games to secure a lasting legacy for the capital. “We can secure a transport, housing, infrastructure, sporting, cultural and social legacy from these Games and turn these Games to gold for decades to come,” he added.

London 2012 venue legacy ensured for years to come

8/10/2012 12:57:00 PM

The venues for the Games have shown that it is possible to achieve high standards in areas such as sustainability, equality and inclusion, and business, jobs and training even for major construction projects such as this. The outcome of this will be a lasting legacy for the construction industry, whereby these new standards become the benchmark in the future.

The building of permanent venues for London 2012 was only approved if there was the potential for long-term use. These include the new Lee Valley White Water Centre, which will remain open as a canoe centre for the public and elite athletes, and the Velodrome within the Olympic Park, where plans are in place to reconfigure the track and a new mountain bike course and road cycle circuit will be added.

Where possible, LOCOG has incorporated or enhanced existing facilities and venues into its plan for hosting London 2012. The rowing course at Eton Dorney was already used by the local community and for international competitions, so only required minor improvements to make it suitable for competitions in the Olympic Games.

Likewise, Weymouth and Portland was already hosting world-class sailing events, but the improvements made for the Games will leave behind state-of-the-art facilities for elite training, competition and community use. A programme that introduces young people in the local area to take up sailing is already underway.

Other temporary venues were created at some of London’s best landmarks, such as the Beach Volleyball Venue at Horse Guards Parade and the Equestrian facilities in Greenwich Park. While these temporary constructions will be removed completely after the Games, the showcasing of some of the capital’s most famous and picturesque landmarks will provide a boost to tourism for years to come.

London set to capitalise on Olympic Park legacy

8/9/2012 3:12:00 PM

This public sector, not-for-profit organisation – previously known as the Olympic Park Legacy Company – is responsible for the long-term planning, development, management and maintenance of the Olympic Park and its facilities.

After the Games, the LLDC will begin a £300m construction project to transform the Olympic site into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This will involve removing temporary venues, transforming permanent venues into everyday use, building new roads and bridges and the first neighbourhood.

"London has set a benchmark by forming a legacy body three years before the Games,” Peter Tudor, Director of Venues, LLDC, tells Olympic.org. “The Olympic Park has been built with legacy in mind; there are three temporary venues and the permanent ones can easily be reduced in size and adapted for daily use.

“The new Park, renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will be a park like no other, with beautiful open space, fantastic venues and a full programme of events, there really will be something for everyone.

“We will also create five new neighbourhoods, building up to 8,000 new homes as well as new schools, health centres and other community facilities.”

The new Park will re-open in phases, starting exactly one year after the Opening Ceremony of the Games on 27 July 2013.

Andrew Altman, Chief Executive of the LLDC, adds: “London’s Olympic legacy was rooted in the creation of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – a place that will become one of the most thriving parts of London. The creation of thousands of new homes and jobs will bring huge benefits to the area.

“The transformation will take the Park from an Olympic site, to a new piece of London that’s owned and shaped by the community in and around it. Above all, the Park will create a place of practical benefit for the surrounding community – a place to take your children swimming at weekends, go to school, walk your dog or go to a festival in the summer.”

Olympic Park will continue to transform East London

8/7/2012 11:26:00 AM

A £300m construction project run by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) will transform the Olympic site into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, due to open in phases from 27 July 2013.

The LLDC was established in 2009 and its development plans for the Olympic Park after the Closing Ceremony include removing temporary venues, transforming permanent venues into everyday use, building new roads and bridges and the first neighbourhood, all with the aim of furthering the regeneration that has already taken place in Stratford, East London.

The future of six of the eight permanent venues located in the Park has already been secured with appointed operators, and the stadiums will be modified to allow them to cater for the local community at a grass roots level, as well as continuing to host high performance events.

Up to 8,000 permanent jobs will have been created by 2030, plus 2,500 temporary construction jobs, and training and apprenticeship opportunities will focus on local people.

Another lasting legacy of the Olympic Park is the amount of green space that has been introduced to that area of London. It will leave behind over 22 miles of interlinking pathways, waterways and cycle paths and more than 250 acres of open space. By 2016, it is estimated that more than nine million visitors per year will visit the Queen Elizabeth Park.

Olympic Games legacy visible in everyday life

8/6/2012 1:54:00 PM

Organisers have also worked hard to use the Games as a catalyst for positive change and inspiration, creating new initiatives and programmes that will lead to sustainable social, economic and sporting legacies at home in the UK and around the world.

Since winning the bid to host the Olympic Games, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has worked tirelessly to ensure that athletes and sport are at the heart of the Games. With this agenda in mind, encouraging sports participation in the wider community has always been a key priority.

Initiatives include the 2012 National School Sports Week, which 14,000 schools and more than five million young people took part in earlier this year. Other commendable programmes include the London 2012 Inspire programme, which officially recognises outstanding projects and events inspired by the Games.

Meanwhile, ‘The Games and beyond’ emails are part of an initiative set up with Sport England, which provide London 2012 ticketholders with event information as well as details of how they can get involved and try out new sports once the Games are over.

London 2012 has also been used as a vehicle for connecting with vulnerable young people around the world and introducing them to sport. International Inspiration is a groundbreaking sports legacy programme that has initiated more than 900 sport-specific projects across every nation and region to develop sports participation and physical activity schemes for people of all ages. It has already helped more than 12 million young people in 20 countries, from Azerbaijan to Zambia, experience sport.

In recognition of the inclusive spirit of London 2012, the Games have provided thousands of Londoners from all ethnicities, ages and backgrounds with jobs and training during this extended period of economic uncertainty, leaving long-term social and economic benefits for London and the UK.

London 2012 will also have a lasting impact on businesses operating throughout the UK. Many of those awarded contracts to work on the Games will have had to adapt their supply chains and working practices, from improving their equality and inclusion or health and safety policies to developing new approaches to sustainable or accessible design. These elements will continue to be applied in their future work, having a positive impact on the working conditions of these industries.

Sustainable Olympic Games are here to stay

8/4/2012 1:00:00 PM

Environmental preservation and enhancement are key factors that fall under the sustainability umbrella and the IOC has been working closely with LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) to ensure that the 2012 Games are held in conditions that demonstrate responsible concern and respect for the environment.

Over the last two decades the environmental element of the bidding and delivery processes has really come to the fore. London 2012 is the first summer Games to formally adopt “triple-bottom” line sustainability management frameworks from the start, reflecting the IOC's three spheres of sustainability - environment, social and economic.

Even during the application stage to become a Candidate City, the environmental and sustainable development guiding principles and requirements were outlined in the procedure and questionnaire documentation.

For the London 2012 bid, LOCOG worked in partnership with BioRegional and the WWF to establish the concept “Towards a One Planet Olympics”. The principles of this concept were taken forward in the form of the London 2012 Sustainability Plan, which is structured around five sustainability themes: climate change, waste, biodiversity, inclusion and healthy living. They provide London 2012 with the framework for delivering truly sustainable Games and have been integrated into the three delivery phases of construction, staging and post-Games legacy.

Once elected, the IOC Coordination Commission provided London with assistance and guidance in its preparations, and this included in the field of sustainability. LOCOG has always consulted with local and national authorities, with the support of UNEP, to ensure that the Games’ sustainability plan is aligned with London's long-term strategy for improving the environment of the city.

Some of LOCOG’s major achievements include the creation of the Olympic Park, which is the largest new urban parkland in Europe for 150 years, and the construction of the Olympic Stadium, which is the most sustainable in history. Steps were also taken to ensure the greening of the supply chain and to bring energy efficiency measures to local homes.

In addition, London 2012 is the first Olympic Games to measure its carbon footprint over the entire project term, while it is has also committed to a Zero Waste to landfill target through the strategic Zero Waste Games Vision.

LOCOG has also been participating in the IOC's Olympic Games Knowledge Management (OGKM) transfer programme, an intitative that ensures that the sustainability lessons learned in London are passed onto Rio de Janeiro and other future host cities. Meanwhile, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) event sector supplement, published last year in conjunction with the IOC, offers a standardised framework for sustainability reporting. A guidance tool for current and future event organisers, it aims to ensure that sustainability reporting covers all relevant issues.

OGKM: Learning from experience

8/3/2012 8:09:00 AM

Q. How helpful has the OGKM programme been?
A. Over the lifespan of London 2012, the OGKM programme has been invaluable in helping LOCOG learn from the experiences of previous Games and obtain best practice from other Olympic Games experts and advisors.

Q. Can you outline some of the things you have learnt from the OGKM programme?
A. There have been numerous examples of learnings that have influenced LOCOG’s plans, but the Vancouver Observer Programme was perhaps the area where I personally learnt the most. This included strategic elements such as the importance of integrated working and development of stakeholder relationships, to detailed operational matters such as the optimal layout and design or airport accreditation desks.

Q. What aspect of the OGKM programme have you found most valuable?
A. The Observer Programme and OGKM workshops stand out as the most valuable elements. The relationships formed with other OCOGs through the OGKM programme allow further follow-up and collaboration between Functional Area counter-parts which can really help develop best practice.

Q. At what stages of the Games process have you been able to draw on OGKM resources?
A. Different OGKM resources are more relevant at different phases. The Technical Manuals are very useful in the bidding phase, and less relevant in the last year of planning before the Games. The optimal time for using OGKM resources is in the period from around five to two years before the Games, when key early operational decisions are being made that can significantly impact the overall Games and client experience.

Q. What advice would you give future host cities about using the experiences of past OCOGs?
A. Make sure you understand the specific context of the Host City before using any experiences from previous Games. For example, using London 2012’s airport plans as the basis for planning in Rio 2016 might seem sensible on the surface, but when you understand that London 2012 was served by five different ports of entry, including four independent terminal operations at Heathrow, then the corresponding operations in Rio will need to be adapted significantly for the size, location and number of airports located there.

The London 2012 observer programme will see over 530 observers participate in 50 visits and 5 roundtables over 21 days. The visits will look at topics such as athlete experience, ceremonies, village operations, sport, and technology. This on site knowledge gathering then allows for more detailed discussions to take place during the Games debrief, which is normally held in the next host city of the Games. The London debriefing will be held in Rio de Janeiro in November this year.

Flexible and sustainable: London’s Olympic Stadium sets new standards

8/1/2012 7:57:00 AM

The stadium’s architect, Rod Sheard – who also designed the Olympic Stadium in Sydney – worked closely with the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) to create a venue that is as sustainable as it is stunning, and yet flexible enough to provide any number of uses once the Games are over.

“There were two fundamental principles that were always going to set this Olympic Stadium as a different sort of building to anything that had ever been done before, and that was everybody wanted the most environmentally sustainable Olympic Stadium ever built,” he says.

“Secondly, we wanted a building that was capable of being totally transformed after the Olympic Games.” Many Olympic Stadiums are converted to host alternative sports once they have staged the Games, but LOCOG were keen to provide an athletics legacy for London after the Games, with the track set to remain in place for both community and elite athletes, although the 80,000-capacity could be reduced.

“The simple idea was to have a building that could transform and that could be acceptable to athletics, so the overall concept was a building that could close down potentially to 25,000 spectators instead of 80,000 for the main Games,” adds Sheard.

“It is a building that is capable of taking on different forms,” he continues. “It is capable of being transformed to whatever we want it to be. It is obviously going to have an athletics involvement. I personally think it is going to be a brilliant site and a brilliant park for outdoor concerts, the sort of concerts that take place right now in Hyde Park or Regents Park will be perfect to be held here.

“In many ways we have always seen this building as a blank canvas. It is, in a way, a three-dimensional blank canvas. It is ready for other people to write their masterpieces and certainly Friday night was Danny Boyle's night and starting next Friday it will be a canvas for the athletes who will take part and write their own message on the building.”

As well as building a flexible stadium, LOCOG were also keen to ensure that the venue was as sustainable as possible – not only during operation, but also during construction.

“Most people when they think about a sustainable building think about the energy that a building uses, whether you have low energy lighting, whether your air conditioning systems have a low carbon footprint, whether you can generate your own electricity through photovoltaics, all of those sorts of things,” explains Sheard.
“But often a stadium is built and the energy that is used to run it as a building is never surpassed by the energy that goes into building it. So that set us a very clear objective: we had to use the least amount of energy that was humanly possible to build an 80,000-seat stadium. And that's what we did.

“We built the lightest Olympic Stadium ever, with just over 10,000 tonnes of steel, compared to perhaps four to 10 times that for a typical stadium of that size, so we used less materials, we also used materials that were recycled.”

The stadium’s recycled materials included an unused gas pipe from a North Sea oil project, while approximately 40% of the concrete used was made of recycled aggregate. LOCOG also saved energy by transporting materials to the site by boat or train.

Sheard adds: “It was through a series of programmes that we analysed the carbon footprint of the building and we are confident when we say it is the lowest carbon footprint stadium that has ever been built for an Olympic Games, or for any major stadium of that scale.”

Riverbank Arena to be integrated into community facility

7/30/2012 2:48:00 PM

The Riverbank Arena is a temporary structure composed of two pitches – one for use as a warm-up area and the other with spectator seating where matches will be held – with a capacity to hold 15,000 fans. Although constructed specifically for the Games, the hockey stadium will leave a lasting Games legacy when it is eventually integrated with the facilities to the north of the Olympic Park at Eton Manor, after the Paralympic Games end in September.

Once there, Riverbank Arena will become the Lee Valley Hockey Centre, one of four London 2012 venues owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority. The centre will have 3,000 permanent seats that can be expanded to accommodate 15,000 spectators temporarily.

As part of the site’s lasting Games’ legacy, the Lee Valley Hockey Centre will be designed for use by people of all ages and abilities, from beginners to elite athletes with guaranteed extensive community use, outreach and sports development programmes.

The Authority is working closely with hockey’s national governing body, schools and community groups to ensure that people of diverse abilities will benefit from these venues. Special coaching programmes will be implemented to encourage youngsters to take up hockey while attracting disabled athletes will form a core part of the legacy work. Hosting major events such as the 2015 European Hockey Championships will also help the centre in its mission to ‘Inspire a Generation’.

Chief executive of the authority, Shaun Dawson, explained in May that the Hockey Centre would be run under the organisation’s philosophy of “community focused, commercially driven”. He added: “For hockey, the focus clearly has to be around schools, club development, pathways to the elite level and supporting major events. This is about making sure the sport isn’t compromised.”

Keeping the Games moving

7/24/2012 7:48:00 PM

There are expected to be approximately one million extra people in London during the Games, meaning an extra three million public transport journeys per day, but London 2012 Chief Executive Paul Deighton is confident that LOCOG and its partners have made all the necessary plans to ensure that the transport operations run as smoothly as possible during the Games.

“Our overall objective is simple,” he explains. “It is to get the athletes, the media, the workers and the spectators to the Games on time while we have to keep London moving.”

To achieve that, considerable investment has been made in improving London's transport infrastructure ahead of the Games. These include new lines and new trains – such as the high-speed Javelin service to the Olympic Park – as well as bigger stations and extra services for commuters and Londoners. After the Games, these improvements will provide a well-needed legacy for London.

Work has also been done to ensure that the existing transport network runs as efficiently as possible, while the Olympic Route Network – which is made up of roads linking all competition and other key venues, yet occupies just 1% of London’s roads – will help provide reliable journey times for athletes, media, officials and others working at the Games.

“To get all that to work requires an unprecedented co-ordination and collaboration between organisations, and our priority, of course, at London 2012 has been to serve the needs of the athletes and the technical officials, media and the Games family, while ensuring our spectators, right from when they leave home to when they get home again, just have a fantastic experience, and the transport leg is an important part of that,” adds Deighton.

“That has included everything from securing free travel for spectators in London to ensuring Games lanes are in place to get the athletes and the media to the events according to a reliable and predictable time.”

So would Deighton have a tip for fans making their way to the Games?

“Plan your journey,” he says. “We won't necessarily be advising you to go on the route you know. We have a special journey planner for ticket holders, and it will show you how to get to any of our venues from anywhere in the UK, and if our spectators haven't already done so, please book your ticket.”