POSTED: July 27th 2011
Appointments
London 2012 Games opening....365 days and counting
LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications
TAMPA/LONDON, Jul. 27: London is celebrating the one year countdown to the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games today with a number of events taking place with IOC President Jacques Rogge in attendance.
President Rogge will join the organizers and formally invite the athletes of the world to the Games next summer and unveil the Olympic medals at an event in London’s Trafalgar Square.
The progress during these past six years has been under the watchful eye of the IOC and the Olympic Park, built by the Olympic Delivery Authority, now 88% complete
IOC President Jacques Rogge said, “One year to go is a special time for any host nation. It is the moment when the International Olympic Committee invites the National Olympic Committees and their athletes to attend the Games, when Olympic dreams start to come into focus, and when the world turns its attention in earnest to the city that will welcome it in only 365 days’ time.”
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said, “We will be looking forward to next summer with great excitement. Our venues are nearly all complete and our preparations to ensure all our visitors can experience the Games wherever they are in the capital are well advanced. With a year to go we can safely say we are ready to welcome the world.”
ODA Chairman John Armitt noted, “With 6 main venues complete and 90% of construction work finished, the 1 year to go stage is the latest milestone in one of Europe’s biggest construction projects being delivered on time and within budget. A project of this scale and complexity has not been seen in the UK for generations.”
LOCOG is also committed to accessibility and making sure that the London 2012 Games will be the easiest to experience so that everyone has the opportunity to be involved with the Games.
This marks the third Olympic Games held in the UK after London 1948 and 1908. Up to 180,000 spectators a day will enter the Olympic Park to enjoy the Games, making it the principal focus of Olympic activity next summer.
IOC Info on the scale of the 2012 Games:
- 26 Olympic sports in 34 venues
- 20 Paralympic sports in 21 venues
- 10,500 Olympic athletes and 4,200 Paralympic athletes
- 20,000 press and media
- More than 9 million tickets
Keywords · London 2012 · Seb Coe · Jacques Rogge · Boris Johnson
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Laura Walden ()
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