POSTED: October 11th 2010
NewsUpdate
Decisive step for Olympic Stadium as UK Athletics backs West Ham
KEIR RADNEDGE / Sports Features Communications
MONACO/LONDON, Oct 10: West Ham United have received the assurance for which the Premier League club had been hoping when UK Athletics came out in public support of a joint bid from the club and Newham Council to take over the London Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.
UKA, the governing body for the main Olympic and Paralympic sport, has worked closely with a number of interested parties but has now come out in favour of the West Ham proposal.
This will disappoint Tottenham Hotspur which had come with a late expression of interest though this may have been more of a tactical move in Spurs' negotiations with neighbouring Haringey council over their own plans for a new stadium.
UKA chairman Ed Warner said: “What has impressed me so much about the joint bid from West Ham and Newham is their clear commitment to the spirit of the Olympic legacy and not just athletics at the elite end, but with the retention of the community track, our future champions and club runners too.
"It was clear from the start that only a partnership approach would bring to life the vision Seb Coe had when he committed to an athletics legacy in 2005 and we believe the collaboration of West Ham, Newham and UKA gives the strongest opportunity for a vibrant sporting legacy that will go well beyond 2012.
“The team at West Ham have also been keen to support our bid to host the World Athletics Championships in 2015 at the stadium, fully understanding that a significant international event will play a major part in realising their ambition of a British sporting hub.”
'Fantastic news'
West Ham's vice-chairman Karren Brady said: “This is fantastic news. We believe ours is the only bid that can deliver London’s legacy commitment to the International Olympic Committee. UKA’s endorsement is a powerful and highly-valued testament of that.
“Our plan is not just to have a new stadium for West Ham but a real sporting centre for London and the rest of the country. We want to create a home of sport, featuring two of the greatest sports, football and athletics, side by side where they can grow and flourish together both in terms of spectatorship and participation at every level.
"UKA has been great in helping us develop that vision over the past eight months and, together with Newham Council, we are ideally placed to make our dream a reality.
“We now hope to move on and secure the stadium and enable world-class athletics to continue in east London beyond the Olympic Games – hopefully including the IAAF World Championships in 2015.”
Sir Robin Wales, the Mayor of Newham, was equally pleased with UKA's statement.
He said: “We are delighted UKA are backing our bid. It is important we create a vibrant, diverse, well used stadium that brings maximum public benefit, especially for local people. That means offering an array of sports all year round and hopefully will include prestigious events like the 2015 World Athletics Championships and the 2018 football World Cup.
“A busy stadium will in turn open up a whole raft of opportunities and benefits for the local community for decades to come and that is the legacy we in Newham and the East End want from the Olympics."
Keywords · London 2012 · Olympic Stadium · West Ham · Newham · Brady · Warner
For more information contact:
Laura Walden ()
All original materials contained in this section are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Sports Features Communications, Inc the owner of that content. It is prohibited to alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
