As you probably know, London is hosting the Olympics in July/August 2012. We are very excited at the prospect of attending some of the events next summer.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to take a walking tour around the Olympic Park and get a close up view of the ongoing construction.
But first, a little history on the past London games... London will be the first city to host three times. Previously, the city has hosted the Summer Games in 1908 and 1948.
Rome was initially selected to host the games in 1908, but the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906 posed such an economic burden on Italy that London stepped in to host. During these games, the distance of the modern Marathon was established. The original distance of 25 miles was changed to 26 miles at the request of the Queen Alexandra so the marathon could start at Windsor Castle (clearly she was not a runner, as that last mile is brutal). To ensure that the race would finish in the front of the King Edward's royal box, the finish line was moved another 385 yards to set the official modern marathon length at 26 miles 385 yards. The first marathoner to enter the stadium in 1948 was Dorando Pietri of Italy who collapsed several times and ran the wrong way. Not far from the finish, two officials took him by the arms and brought him to the line. Initially declared the winner, the US team demanded his disqualification. He was disqualified and the gold medal went to American Johnny Hayes, but all the glory went to Pietri. The Queen awarded him a gilded silver cup the next day. These games are also renowned for the US team refusing to dip the Stars and Stripes to the King at the Opening Ceremonies. Since then, the US Olympic Team never dips the US flag to the host team's heads of state.
The 1948 London games were much less contentious. The event came to be known as the Austerity Games due to the economic climate and post-war rationing. No new venues were built for the games and athletes were housed in existing accommodation instead of a new Olympic Village.
In sharp contrast, the London 2012 Games are the catalyst for transforming 1 square mile in east London that was once industrial, contaminated land. A staggering 9.4 Billion British Pounds (15 Billion US Dollars) are budgeted for the construction of an Olympic Park and to run the games.
The largest venue is the Olympic Stadium.
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The Olympic stadium is nearly finished - it will seat 80,000 spectators.
Surrounded by water on three sides, visitors will reach it via five bridges.
After the games, it will be converted to a 25,000 seat stadium.
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| The River Lee flows right next to the stadium |
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An artist's rendering of the stadium when finished
(photo from London 2012 website) |
The stadium design has received a mixed response from the media, with reviews ranging from "magnificent" to a "bowl of blancmange". Blancmange is a shaped sweet desert which is basically vanilla pudding. Do you agree?
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| Blancmange |
The Olympic aquatic center, which is costing over $1B to build, has two Olympic-sized pools and a diving pool. The media loves the design of this venue. It takes the shape of a wave.
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Olympic aquatic center and observation tower (red
structure which is half completed) |
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An artist's rendering of the center when finished
(photo from London 2012 website) |
After the games, many of the new buildings will be converted to new schools for the east London community and affordable housing apartments. Sports equipment used in the games will be donated to charity. The stadium will likely be used for soccer after the Olympics.
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We saw a television interview of British long jumper
Chris Tomlinson - I spoke to him and his excitement
was very evident (and he was very easy on the eyes!) |
We were told all construction is on schedule - can't wait to see it when it is finished and filled with athletes and spectators!!!!
Linda
