UNITED KINGDOM: OLYMPICS 2012 : With 100 days to go until the start of the 2012 Olympic Games, venue construction is all but complete with just temporary structures and final testing to come as London readies itself for the "greatest show on earth"

Record ID: 330639

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: OLYMPICS 2012 : With 100 days to go until the start of the 2012 Olympic Games, venue construction is all but complete with just temporary structures and final testing to come as London readies itself for the "greatest show on earth"
  • Date: 17th April 2012
  • Summary: LONDON, UK (RECENT) (REUTERS) NORTH GREENWICH ARENA SEEN FROM GROUND LEVEL VARIOUS OF INSIDE OF ARENA DURING BASKETBALL GAME LONDON, UK (JANUARY 9, 2012) (REUTERS) PAN FROM ROOF TO FLOOR OF NORTH GREENWICH ARENA SET UP FOR GYMNASTICS AUSTRALIAN COMPETITOR PRACTISING ON SWINGING BARS WIDE SHOT OF VENUE
  • Embargoed: 2nd May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA1SGQHNYI72TL05WXDX83SWI1H
  • Story Text: The countdown to the start of the London 2012 Olympic reached a significant milestone on Wednesday (April 18) with the Games to begin in just 100 days.
    Nearly all of the permanent venues and infrastructure are complete, which will please organisers as they have avoided many of the construction problems that have hit other host cities.
    More than 30 venues throughout the United Kingdom will host events and alongside purpose-built arenas many iconic locations are being prepared for Olympic sports.
    Among the venues to be used are Wimbledon, which will host tennis; Wembley Stadium for soccer and Lord's cricket ground for archery.
    The formal surroundings of Horse Guards Parade, normally used for ceremonial events like Trooping the Colour before the Queen, will be transformed into a beach volleyball arena, while Greenwich Park will host equestrian sports and central London's Serpentine for triathlon and marathon swimming.
    It is not unusual in more recent times for 'Keep Out' signs to go up quickly on Olympic sites once the Games are over and for rubbish to collect in drained diving pools as weeds poke out between rows of dilapidated seats.
    LOCOG, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, is determined to avoid such a fate so has built some temporary venues while ditching others when the economic downturn kicked in.
    It also designed stadiums with flexibility in mind so they could be scaled down after the Games.
    Earlier than any of its predecessors, it created an Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) with the aim of attracting investment and preventing the park being a drain on the taxpayer in the future.
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