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London 2012 (20 unread)

Five cheers to go

Posted: July 26th, 2007, 12:00pm CDT by The 2012 Editor

205 people working on the Games had their snap taken in the Olympic Park today to mark five years to go to the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Games… see the results below…
Boring - definitely not boring

Posted: July 25th, 2007, 3:23pm CDT by Hugh, Transport chief

Definitely a one-off event for me last Monday, making a speech in front of a giant concrete slab behind which a Tunnel Boring Machine is about to grind its way out into the open air at Woolwich’s new railway terminus. The Docklands Light Railway is coming to South East London to bring direct access to the Olympic Park for tens of thousands of spectators in 2012.

Speeches over, 560 tonnes of machinery started grinding its way towards us and the media. It’s so easy to be glib about building underground railways but to see the ground give way, to hear the deep rumbling noises and feel the ground shaking is always impressive.

The ODA is putting a great deal of effort and money into a spread of projects all across the DLR’s expanding network but the tunnelling project to take the DLR under the Thames into South East London is the one that I think I shall write up in my memoirs as leaving the biggest legacy benefits after the Games are over. I look forward to going back to ride the first official DLR train into Woolwich Arsenal station in 2009.
Leading the way in health and safety

Posted: July 25th, 2007, 11:01am CDT by Lawrence, ODA Health and Safety

London 2012 is going to be one of the biggest construction projects in the UK with over 9,000 workers on the site at the peak of construction.

Obviously in a development of this size and scale, safety comes first. But our approach to health and safety goes beyond that and is not just about minimising accidents and injuries. We also want to promote good health and support healthier lifestyles for the people who are building the venues and infrastructure for the 2012 Games.

This week, we have announced the Consortium that will help provide the health care services for the construction work-force which will include occupational health and treatment services on site, a new medical centre at the Olympic Park and health checks for every worker.

The winning team, Duradiamond Health Management Consortium, have worked on big projects such as Heathrow Terminal 5, so they are well experienced at working on large and complex construction projects.

With their help, we will aim to make this a exemplar project and raise the standards for future projects.
Games, Brazilian style

Posted: July 25th, 2007, 9:25am CDT by Neil, Sports team

When I left Heathrow on Friday 13th en route to Rio for the XV Pan American Games I was not sure quite what to expect as this was my first trip to South America and my first experience of the Pan American Games. Rio is renowned as being one of the most beautiful cities in the world with its beaches, lagoons, mountains and forests. It is also well known for the annual carnival, the figure of Christ who surveys the 8 million Cariocas who live in the city below and of course football - the other religion of the Brazilian people. However Rio is also infamous for the gangs that roam the enormous sprawling shanty towns (Favelas) which provide homes for millions of people but also provide refuge for the the warring gang members. So which side of Rio would I discover and what would I make of it all?

What I discovered was a city of real contrasts with luxury apartment blocks and shopping malls full of designer labels co-existing with poverty on a huge scale. My taxi driver claimed that people that live in the Favelas are the happiest poor people in the world as they know what is important in life - Football and Carnival, however the scale of these breeze block “cities” is immense. Rio is indeed a stunning city and the off shore islands and beaches at Ipanema and Copacabana did not disappoint but the most striking thing for me was the warmth of the local people and the incredible welcome that we received as visitors to their city and their Games.

Rio are hosting the XV Pan American Games between 13 and 29 July, there are 34 sport disciplines with 5,500 athletes competing from 42 different countries from Southern, Central and North America. The games take place on a four yearly cycle, and usually fall one year ahead of the summer Olympics, the first Pan American Games took place in Buenos Aries in 1951. Along with the other major regional games such as the Commonwealth Games, African Games and the Asian Games they are important in their own right as they provide athletes with a key milestone within the 4 year Olympic cycle, but they also provide host cities such as Rio with the opportunity to demonstrate to themselves and to the world what they are capable of delivering as often their ultimate goal is to host the Summer Olympic Games.

It was obvious that a great deal of planning had gone into the games in terms of venues, volunteer programmes and security, and my overwhelming impression was that the organizers (Co-Rio) had managed to pull off an excellent event on a large scale that athletes, officials and spectators thoroughly enjoyed. Clearly there were challenges especially in terms of venue delivery, test events, recruiting the workforce and power supplies, but despite these challenges they succeeded. In my view there were two main reason for this 1. The volunteers were outstanding and despite limited training they were enthusiastic, well informed and just thrilled to be hosting the games:

2. The Brazilian supporters, whether there were 40,000 at the football or 400 at the water polo they were colourful, loud, good humoured and certainly knew how to celebrate.

The venues were impressive and included existing facilities that had been refurbished, new build and temporary facilities. The iconic Maracana Stadium, built in 1950 for the World Cup and one of the symbols of Rio, had been upgraded to host both the opening and closing ceremonies and the football finals. At the other end of the spectrum was the brand new Joao Havelange Stadium which has been built especially for the games and hosted the athletics and the group stages of the football. It is a stunning open plan stadium which has been deliberately built in one of the poorer districts of Rio as a symbol of regeneration and after the games will be the new home to one of the Rio based football teams such as Flamengo, Fluminense or Vasco da Gama.

The three other new facilities in the centre of Rio are located at the Nelson Piquet racing circuit (which used to host the Brazilian Grand Prix before it moved to Sao Paolo), and are a 15,000 multi purpose indoor arena which hosted the Basketball and Gymnastics, a 5,000 seat aquatics centre and a brand new 1,500 seat velodrome with a Sander Dauma designed track. These venues all provide the next generation of athletes and spectators with excellent facilities that will attract major sporting events to Rio but have also been clearly built with the 2016 Olympic bid in mind. Perhaps the most spectacular venue was the beach volleyball at Copacabana beach which was a 4000 seat temporary stadium with views of the beach, city and Sugar Loaf Mountain:

Outside of the city in the Deodoro Military Complex the city have constructed two additional facilities for Equestrian and Shooting which will be used primarily by military personnel post-games but which will also be available for local and international sports events.

In terms of security there was a strong military presence around the city at all times and a well organised screening process at all venues. There were reports of isolated muggings and pickpockets operating in the busy beach areas at night but no major security incidents.

As regards the action on the field of play we witnessed some very high quality competition with USA, Cuba, Brazil and Canada heading the medals table throughout. The approach of the USA is interesting as they do not put out their A team in all events but used some of the events to give their less experienced athletes a chance to compete at a major games. However in other sports, especially the team sports, they do send out the “big guns”. My personal highlight was the women’s final of the indoor volleyball between Brazil and Cuba, two of the best 5 teams in the world. This was an outstanding match which went to 5 sets with Cuba eventually coming out on top having saved two match points. The match took place at the Indoor arena (Maracanazhino) in front of 15,000 passionate Brazilian fans and was a night to remember. I still have the Rio 2007 song “Viva Esa Energia” ringing in my ears.

My overall assessment of the games was that the organising Committee and the Cariocas were able to put on a very successful games despite the many challenges that they faced. There was a tremendous spirit and enthusiasm at all of the venues, the athletes and officials spoke very highly of the venues and organisation and I am sure that the IOC members that visited Rio after the IOC session in Guatamala City will have been given a lot to think about in relation to Rio’s aspiration to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016.
A trip to the top - a garden on a roof

Posted: July 24th, 2007, 11:49am CDT by David, Head of Environment and Sustainability at 2012

Some weeks ago we issued an internal request to London 2012 staff to come up with suggestions for improving our in-house green credentials. We had many good ideas put forward: mostly around waste recycling, energy saving and travel and these will be fed into our emerging ‘Green Office’ policy.

In fact this appeal received more feedback than pretty well all other intranet posts to date. Either that means we have a lot of improvement to do, or we have a lot of green conscious employees. I think it is a bit of both.

Another reason was the incentive reward: a visit to the nature reserve on our building’s roof – the 33rd floor! Luckily we did not plan this for last Friday; today’s visit was fine and not too windy. Apart from enjoying panoramic views across the city, we were treated to an ecology tour of the green roof plot by local expert and ‘Living Roof’ expert, Dusty Gedge.

This thin mat of rubble and soil is now home to some 40+ wild plants (many self-seeded) and an increasing range of small invertebrates – grasshoppers, hoverflies, spiders and beetles… Even some migrant birds have been seen here and peregrine falcons regularly use the roof as a feeding perch.

Green roofs (sometimes referred to as brown roofs) are becoming an increasingly important part of urban conservation design. As more and more brownfield sites are being redeveloped, ecologists are seeking new ways of providing habitat for some of the more unusual flora and fauna of our city. The thin soil, fast-draining and exposed conditions on green roofs enable certain of our less common species to thrive in relative safety.

There are some interesting lessons here for the Olympic Park designers, so we can expect a few more trips upstairs over the coming months
Athletics camp enthusiasm - it’s what it’s all about

Posted: July 19th, 2007, 1:05pm CDT by Seb, the Chair

Today I visited an athletics camp for promising young endurance athletes at St Mary’s College in Twickenham. The camp is organised by UK Athletics and funded by the London Marathon. It was set up in 2004 with the aim of providing the opportunity to enjoy the experience of a training camp whilst gaining a valuable insight into what is required to progress to World Class Performance.

It was really nice to spend a bit of time at the sharp end of Olympic project management and to remind myself what the project is really all about - young sporting talent. And a more eager group of aspiring endurance athletes I could not have hoped to have met than the group today. They were motivated, excited by a Games in their back yard, lively and hungry for knowledge – all asking very good questions. And their coaches were of the highest calibre. They had all been there for a few days and had participated in a number of lectures and seminars dealing with a wide range of issues, including lifestyle, injury prevention, training volumes and workloads and nutritional advice, in addition to their normal training sessions.

Many of the group were recent competitors in the English School Championships in Birmingham - such an important first step in the process of identifying tomorrow’s champions. If I ever needed reminding why we went to Singapore, it is days like this.
International security partners come to town

Posted: July 19th, 2007, 4:41am CDT by Hugo, 2012 Security team

LOCOG’s security team recently welcomed UK and international security partners to an IOC-sponsored security workshop. We welcomed a high level delegation of police and security officials planning for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to Canary Wharf HQ for a jam-packed agenda. Members of the 24-agency Olympic Security Directorate - the “OSD” - joined the team to make the workshop a full-house.

LOCOG organised a series of presentations providing security lessons learnt from past Games. A star-studded cast of Olympic Security speakers included:

• Vassilios Konstantinidis (Director of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Security Division);
• Duncan Jarrett (former Metropolitan Police Officer and Athens 2004 adviser);
• Peter Ryan (an IOC security consultant and Head of the New South Wales Police during Sydney 2000); and
• Francesco Norante (Former Head of Security for Turin 2006 and currently Vancouver 2010’s Director of Security Integration).

Key workshop themes included the need for Organising committee and law enforcement security integration, the ongoing need to build up trust and strong relationships between all Games security planners, and the need for effective multi-agency communication. Speakers and delegates concurred that these points are already embedded into UK security planning arrangements, and that they will continue to be developed in the 2012 Games context.

The Games security community also received presentations from key London 2012 security ‘clients’. Paul Deighton opened the workshop by outlining LOCOG’s vision and security’s centrality to the project. Jonathan Edwards gave security officials a feel for athletes’ expectations and recalled some personal tales of how he had been affected by security measures during different competitions. Phil Lane, CEO of the British Paralympic Association confirmed security planners’ thinking by explaining how security must be integrated across the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

After the first day of presentations the Metropolitan Police Service hosted a London 2012/Vancouver 2010 partnership dinner at New Scotland Yard. This was organised by Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Bryan – the OSD’s leadership team. The after-dinner speakers commented that the ‘partnership’ was quickly evolving into a ‘relationship’. All agreed that London/Vancouver collaborative opportunities should be developed, with a return London 2012 delegation trip being considered for later this year.

On Wednesday LOCOG security organised a venue visit tour for its Canadian partners. The group first visited the Olympic Park’s optimal viewing location at Holden Point, where they were given a comprehensive briefing of developments to date by a member of the London 2012 Community relations team.

The group then moved down to the Dome venue. After a briefing from the venue operator, a LOCOG venue team official outlined current Games-time plans for Gymnastics and the Basketball finals. The delegation then travelled south to Greenwich Park for an inspection of London 2012’s Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon events venue. Vancouver were shown what we think will become the world’s “most famous mag&bag location” in front of the stunning seventeenth century Queen’s House backdrop! The venue tour finished at the famous Trafalgar Tavern for a traditional English pub working lunch on the Thames. Not one member failed to enjoy the excellent fish and chips, and all were reassured by the police boat passing the restaurant on the river outside.

On Thursday a delegation of Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games police officers and private security partners joined the group at London 2012 HQ for a “trilateral” roundtable discussion with London 2012 and Vancouver 2010 officials. The teams gained further Games planning and operational lessons learnt during the session. Members from the OSD and the UK’s private security industry joined in to share in the learning.

Other past week highlights included a Vancouver 2010 visit to the Metropolitan Police Service’s new control room at Lambeth, a back-of-house learning visit at the Tour de France, and a series of bilateral meetings between OSD representatives and its new international partners.

At the end of a busy week a London 2012 security team member reflected: “Last year I completed some study in international security – this week we placed international security at the very heart of our 2012 planning.”
Some seriously impressive stats in Kent

Posted: July 18th, 2007, 5:12am CDT by Liz, DCMS

This year’s Roadshow is all about having a go and joining in. And Bradley Everest is glad he did just that at the Kent County Show last Saturday. Bradley is 21 years old and has recently moved from Orpington to Ramsgate. Bradley was enjoying his annual day out at the Show and decided to pop in to the Roadshow and have a go at the Dream Stats activities. Whilst in a number of sports teams at school – cricket, football and volleyball – Bradley hasn’t done much sport since. He enjoys a bit of recreational cycling, but his real passion is ten-pin bowling. Delighted that his Dream Stats showed that he is ideally suited to cycling, Bradley decided to have a go at a couple of the Dream Stats tests.

First off, the grip test which reveals grip strength. The average male score is 40kg, with Audley Harrison weighing in at an impressive 70kg. Bradley scored 86kg. The curiosity of Steve Backley, our Olympic athlete for the day, was immediately aroused. Bradley repeated the grip test, scoring an incredible 87.5kg. Next, the rowing machine. After a few false starts – we moved the back of the rower onto the grass as it kept wobbling (probably due to the strength being applied) – we all eagerly awaited the results. Bradley scored an amazing 743W on the 7-stroke power test. To put into context, Steve Redgrave’s score was 736W.

Bradley on the rowing machine:

Asked whether he had any idea he would get these results, Bradley modestly replied that he didn’t realise that he was so strong. I asked what he did for work – he is a night worker at Tescos. Did this involve lots of lifting? Not really. Asked what he planned to do with these result – definitely join a rowing club. And any advice to anyone else who may not think that they have any talent and so aren’t bothering with sport? Try everything once – you never know what you might achieve. Making sure we’d got Bradley’s details, I shook his hand goodbye – and got an insight into the strength in that grip!!
Afroreggae in Rio

Posted: July 17th, 2007, 7:47am CDT by Bill, Culture and Events Chief

“Everything’s changing in Rio, but everything stays the same”. This is one of the many Rio paradoxes that Damian Platt explains to me on my last day in the city.

Damian is a Brit who’s been working in Rio for the last couple of years. He looks after international partnerships for the “Afroreggae” project which is doing astonishing work in the city’s many favelas, or shantytowns.

We’re standing right next to another paradox. In the heart of one of the favelas we’re outside a police station – but you wouldn’t know it. The small breeze block shack looks like many others here except that it has a particularly colourful graffiti mural covering two of its walls.

A relaxed looking policeman is standing in the doorway smiling. Just fifty yards away down the narrow alley is a boy of no more than ten proudly brandishing his automatic rifle for all the world to see. Both apparently aware of the other – neither doing anything about it – for now.

The favelas are largely run by drug gangs – some are virtually no-go zones for the police, but there are raids and there are turf wars between gangs. The casualty rate for young favela dwellers is appallingly high.

And yet you can buy and sell property here (so long as the local gang bosses approve), the favela population can vote and their existence is semi-authorised – indeed one in five of Rio’s population is said to live here.

In this most unlikely of circumstances there is an inspirational cultural project which already has links to London 2012. Afroreggae trains hundreds of young people in music, dance, samba and circus skills. Even more important they offer an alternative to joining the drug gangs. They start as young as seven and some stay with the programme for years.

One of the agents at the project, Camila:

But this is no easy-come, easy-go drop-in centre. Students have to commit to at least 12 hours of tough professional training every week. There are all manner of bands and performance groups starting with the beginners but stretching up to the bands that tour internationally to venues like New York’s Carnegie Hall and who, last year, played support to The Rolling Stones.

Just two weeks ago one of the bands played to packed houses at London’s Barbican Arts Centre. Whilst on tour, the Rio band joined workshops with youngsters in the East End of London, sharing their musical skills and, amazingly, preaching racial tolerance.

This is part of a partnership project patiently brokered by Paul Heritage – another Brit who’s been to-ing and fro-ing between London and Rio for many years creating ground breaking arts work.

He mounted a production of Romeo and Juliet provocatively staged on the warring front line between two opposing favelas. Paul and the Barbican are hoping to build on the partnership over the next five years, inspired, in part, by the opportunity that London 2012 offers.

In the same way that the Pam American Games is bringing many kinds of inspiration to Rio right now, Paul, Damian and Afroreggae’s leader, “Junior”, start to look to London 2012 for a fresh set of opportunities. On my visit to one of the Afroreggae centres, some four performance bands have come from all around the city to perform for me.

Some have been travelling since six in the morning but a four-hour journey has done nothing to dim their exuberance. There are acrobats who tumble and twist not just with skill, but with panache and sheer arrogance.

There are pulsating samba bands, and a mesmerizing dance troupe. Afterwards we talk about the Pan-American Games and London 2012, and the kind of legacy that projects such as Afroreggae can leave.

I conclude the visit by explaining to the young Brasilians that my trip to Rio was mainly to witness the Pan-Am Games opening ceremony. I explain how impressive I thought it was and what a privilege it had been to be there.

But I’m happy to add that the morning’s command performance was every bit as inspiring – and very much a lasting memory to take back to London.
Talking horse with the Paralympic Equestrian chief

Posted: July 17th, 2007, 4:38am CDT by Terry, London 2012 Legal team

Jonquil Solt, the Chair of the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee, took time from her peripatetic schedule to spend a few hours at LOCOG recently with Piers Jones, Tony Sainsbury and me. We started off at the London 2012 Paralympic emblem and as you can see from the picture Jonquil was very happy to be seen with it! She is sporting a colour-coordinated pink version of the 2012 pin. Her husband Bobby came along on the visit and also pinned on the world-famous emblem, in a colour which very nicely matched his tie.

Piers, myself and Jonquil (right) with the Paralympic logo:

We then went on to lunch, where there was an opportunity to exchange views and get better acquainted. Jonquil has been instrumental in the development of Paralympic equestrianism and she and Bobby have a wealth of knowledge and experience derived from decades of involvement in the sport and in attending the Games all over the world.

Para-equestrianism is a multi-disability sport open to athletes with a physical disability or visual impairment. Until 2006, it was governed by the International Paralympic Committee. Last year, IPEC joined the Federation Equestre Internationale as FEI’s 8th discipline, meaning IPEC is now known as FEI-Para. In the United Kingdom, British Dressage is the national governing body.

At lunch we had a great time talking horse. Team GB’s Paralympic equestrians have a fantastic record. In Athens, we took team and 3 individual gold medals. Many of the Paralympic stars will be competing (and hoping to qualify for the Beijing Paralympics) at the 6th World Para Dressage Championships in Hartpury next week (see www.hartpury.ac.uk for more information about the Championships). For the first time, this competition is under the governance of the FEI. And in 2010, the FEI’s World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky will include para-equestrian events for the first time.

We also spoke about the recent election of Paralympian Lee Pearson as chairman of the new FEI Athletes Committee, and the exciting French-led initiative to add showjumping to the existing Paralympic equestrian disciplines.

After lunch we showed Jonquil and Bobby around the LOCOG offices. Fortunately the day was clear, so they were able to enjoy a wonderful view of the Olympic Park and other Games venues from our windows, with Piers pointing out key landmarks.

Piers and Jonquil plan to meet periodically as we move forward towards 2012. Meanwhile I’m stockpiling mints in anticipation of heading to Hartpury on Friday for the Championships. I look forward to telling you about it next week.
Defining a different set of accountancy rules – a Games first

Posted: July 16th, 2007, 7:41am CDT by Phil, Environment and Sustainability team

There hardly seems to be a day that goes by when you don’t stumble across the phrase ‘carbon footprint’ in the press or media. London 2012 is very aware of this heightened public interest in climate change issues and we are committed to delivering ‘low carbon’ Games.

One of our first challenges, however, is to define what we mean by our carbon footprint. In June we appointed two specialist consultants to help us with this task. Last Monday marked a significant point in the project as their initial recommendations were presented to a special workshop at our offices with invited experts from Government, the GLA, the London Development Agency, Transport for London, the British Standards Institute, several environmental organisations, and the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, as well as the in-house sustainability team and several interested colleagues within London 2012.

We had a lively and constructive discussion on how to set the boundaries of our carbon footprint. Potentially there are a wide range of activities with some link to the Games which can generate carbon emissions. But many of these are way beyond our control or influence. Where we can be more precise is in measuring the carbon emissions of activities which we pay for or commission, such as building venues, providing local transport, Games merchandising, and catering, etc. In all these examples, we can specify products, materials and / or services with lower carbon impacts and thus reduce our carbon footprint overall. In effect, this is another form of accounting; just with carbon rather than money as the currency.

The hardest part in setting our carbon footprint boundaries is in areas where we have some degree of influence but no financial control, such as how people travel to the Games, or cultural projects inspired by the Games. Another issue is how we account for legacy impacts – indeed over time it is quite likely we will have a net positive situation as the long-term benefits of new low carbon infrastructure and behavioural changes kick in.

While there are many complexities, uncertainties and emerging methods, it is also really exciting as we are breaking new ground – no previous Games or other major event has undertaken such a complete analysis of its carbon footprint. Indeed one of our key stakeholders who attended the workshop described what we were doing as “trailblazing”.

It is nice to think that we will not only minimise our environmental impacts but provide some thought leadership as part of the knowledge legacy of the Games.
Energy, creativity, passion: it’s the PanAm Games

Posted: July 14th, 2007, 4:48am CDT by Bill, Culture and Events Chief

Rio is full of hangovers this morning – indeed for some the party’s still going on – and this is a city that knows how to party. But if ever there was an excuse it was last night.

The opening ceremony of the Pan American Games is the talk of the town – the talk of Brasil and much of the Americas. It managed to bounce the footballers out of the world famous Maracana stadium – a temple to the greats of Brasilian football. Built in the 1950s, it was once the largest stadium in the world. Before it installed seats the old stadium could take 200,000 passionate Brasilian football fans – but I’m not sure I would have wanted to be right in the thick of it.

Now it has its PanAm carnivale costume on as a mere 100,000 people gathered for the opening ceremony of the 2007 Games. This wasn’t just a good show – it managed to capture the energy that drives Rio – the creativity that thrives in the favelas and the passion for life that’s obvious everywhere. Instead of high-tech wizardy and theatrical toys, this show drew on local talents, brilliantly choreographed (by Bryn Walters from the UK), and vividly costumed.

A cast of four thousand volunteer performers was assembled by a predominantly local Brasilian team, led by the experienced US Exec. Producer, Scott Givens. We saw vast tableaux representing the energy of the sun, the energy of water (and Brasilian beach life) and the energy of man. The team drew heavily on the local talents of carnival producers and costume creators, massed samba schools and the seemingly inate Braslian ability to dance. The production moved at a healthy pace and wisely chose to go for quality rather than quantity. It arrived at its traditional climax with the lighting of the cauldron after less than two and a quarter hours. The cauldron itself was one of the biggest ticket items in the budget – and well worth every Brasilian Real it cost – a huge ball of fire representing the sun and standing at stage level like a radiant energy source for the sports which will take place in its presence over the next couple of weeks.

Away from the fantastic artistry for a moment, I couldn’t help noticing that popular reactions to leading politicians are the same the world over. But here in Brasil they are even more up front than most. Such was the jeering for Brasilian President Lula that at the last minute he decided to forgo the traditional opening proclamation for the games, leaving the President of the Organising Committee to hastily extemporise an opening announcement.

Of course there is so much else about Rio and its games that are different from London’s 2012 plans but if ever you wanted a demonstration of the successful meeting of vivid local culture and passion for sport this was it – and judging by the party atmosphere it hit the button.
Presenting to FIFA Masters

Posted: July 13th, 2007, 10:04am CDT by Seb, the Chair

Today I have been in Switzerland with Denis Oswald, Chair of the Coordination Commission, where I was Guest of Honour at the FIFA Masters Degree Ceremony.

The “FIFA Master” is a one year Masters degree in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport taught by three prestigious European universities: De Monfort University (Leicester, UK), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Milan, IT) and Neuchâtel University (Neuchâtel, CH). It was created by FIFA in 2000 and is coordinated by CIES (International Center for Sports Studies). Every year, approximately 30 postgraduates from 15 to 20 different nationalities, take part in this full-time course, which covers all the major issues that sports organisations face today, from social and ethical issues to the more traditional legal and business matters.

The Ceremony was held at Neuchatel University where Denis Oswald is the CIES Director and President of the International Scientific Committee. As Guest of Honour, I made a short speech and presented the students with their awards. The highest grade amongst the whole group went to a fellow Brit! The ceremony was followed by a reception with the students in the beautiful castle setting of Neuchatel and I was pleased to exchange the English rain for the hot and sunny Switzerland.

This new and highly qualified group will be looking to take up posts in sports administration. They will be much better equipped than the generation before to deal with the growing global complexity of sport.
Getting involved in the drama of the Tour

Posted: July 13th, 2007, 7:54am CDT by Jeremy, ODA Transport team

On 1st July I was part of the London 2012 team that cycled the Tour de France stage from Greenwich to Canterbury. I learnt two things… 1) it is quite scary going fast on a bike with nothing but lycra to break your fall, and 2) sitting on a sharp, pointy seat for over nine hours gives you a nasty combination of a graze and a bruise. It raised my curiosity about how the professionals cope, so the following weekend I went to watch the Tour de France prologue time trial in central London.

London was full of people in buoyant mood. There really is nothing like a free event and a dash of sunny weather to draw out the British public. Picnics were laid out, chilled Chardonnay was uncorked, and the real enthusiasts reserved their space along the barriers. The time trial started at 3pm and before long a succession of brightly coloured lycra and oddly shaped helmets flashed past - each on travelling on a Mexican Wave of cheering and clapping. The raw speed and seemingly effortless grace of the riders was in sharp contrast to my efforts the preceding week. All the riders were tucked carefully into their neat aerodynamic positions and took a precise racing line around the track, legs pumping furiously, thumbs flicking through the gears. I tried to take some snaps but only succeeded in photographing a blurred back wheel and some tarmac.

To really enjoy the event you needed information – i.e. who keeps cycling past you, what’s happening on the rest of the circuit, and who’s winning. The big screens & commentary (live sites) were a big success and crucial to feeling involved in the full drama of the competition. They also provided a nice area to relax on the grass and enjoy a cooled beverage. This soon led to my next pleasant surprise which was the availability of temporary al fresco urinals for the Gents – a far better option than the traditional dingy and odorous portaloo.

Of course, there were a couple things that could be improved on. Namely, the control of overcrowding around a couple of pinch points e.g. the bridge in Hyde Park (admittedly, I was pushing a bulky double buggy) and the availability of crossing points for spectators. With some simple measures spectator congestion could definitely be reduced - something that will be looked at carefully as we plan for the Games.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable family day out watching world class sport.

Myself and LOCOG colleague Mark (foreground) trying out the Tour route. Slightly less blurred than the riders the following week:
Finding out what it’s all about

Posted: July 12th, 2007, 10:06am CDT by Shaun, Legacy planning

On Sunday, I jumped in the car and headed off round the M25 and up the M11, as the 2012 Roadshow was in Bury St Edmonds at the Suffolk Youth Games.

As someone new to my job at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and who had not visited the Roadshow before, this was a great introduction to the work being done to promote 2012 and sports participation right across the UK.

As well as meeting members of the Roadshow team and key stakeholders from Suffolk and the East of England region, I saw children participating in a wide range of sports, enthusiastically supported by families and friends; met Olympic athletes past, present and future; regretted I’d lent my camera to my daughter and therefore missed out on the Goldie Sayers – Shaun Cove photo opportunity; donned a 2012 t-shirt and tried my hand at the dream statistics test (grip strength 52 kg – not bad, I thought); talked at length to Steve Crawford, whose Ipswich-based boxing club is thriving and making a real impact with local kids; handed out leaflets; and made a pledge.

Already looking forward to my next visit…
Combatting poverty with culture: Rio

Posted: July 12th, 2007, 4:38am CDT by Bill, Culture and Events Chief

I’ve never been to South America and never experienced an emergency landing before. So when the pilot urged as all to adopt the “Brace – Brace – Brace” position for a rather hasty landing at Rio International, it was new territory in more ways than one.

The suspected fire in the hold turned out to be a suspect warning system, but the dramatic arrival was not a bad metaphor for a crash landing into this most dramatic of cities. Rio is hosting the Pan American games and clearly relishing the opportunity. It’s a city of the most astonishing contrasts. Great wealth cheek by jaw with profound poverty – cutting edge technology and rapid development alongside the most laid-back-in-the sun beach life – sporting passions and cultural drive fueled from inspiration to live life beyond the vast “favelas” – or shanty communities.

I’ve come to learn from the very strong team mounting the Opening Ceremony and Torch Relay, but whilst here I’m taking in a couple of the ground breaking arts projects that have emerged from the “favelas”. This morning my taxi crawled throught traffic along the famous Ipanema beach – its boutiques and restaurants serving the world’s beautiful people. Just as the beach runs out we take a sharp right up a single track road clinging on to what felt like a mountainside. Within seconds we’re in the favela – one of the oldest and biggest in Rio. Its patchwork of breeze block shacks hang on to every square meter of hillside like barnacles on a ship wreck. Only months ago this favela was at “civil war” with its neighbouring community – rival drug gangs fighting over territory with running gun battles and many young casualties.

Today, however, it is bustling but peaceful. I’ve come to the Nos de Morro (“We of the hillside”) Project – right in the heart of the favela. Here in the 1980s a local journalist, Guti Fraga, decided that the community’s youngsters needed an alternative to drugs and poverty. He set up a small drama, dance and performing arts centre – free to those taking part and run by volunteers. Twenty years later, and now supported by sponsorship, it trains hundreds of young people in acting, theatre skills and film making. I’m shown around the labyrinth of studios and workshop spaces – each a level above the other as the centre continues to climb up the steep hillside. Everywhere there are young people from the community reading, deep in animated debate and preparing for their next performances. The centre has now spawned many a successful actor for Brasilian soap opera and much of the cast of the film “City of God”.

As we emerge at the very top of the centre there is a small terrace clinging bravely to a cliff edge. The view says it all – one way sees the the worlds most famous expanse of sand – first glamorous Ipanema and then wild Copacabana beach, but look thirty degrees to the right and you see the sprawling favela, still pock marked in places by bullet holes. I’m greeted with a bear hug by Guti Fraga himself – still here, and still inspiring new generations to see a different future. He exudes warmth and positive energy like the best kind of sports coach.

This is not a man who who’s going to be put off by a few local difficulties. He tells me about the work of the centre and in particular how a small group of his students were helped by the British Council to travel to the UK last year. They were invited by the Royal Shakespeare Company to join a very special production of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” at Stratford as part of the “Complete Works” season. It was clearly as life changing for the young Brasilians as it was rich in cultural resonance for the RSC. Fraga is effervescent about the experience. He compares it to the impact of the Pan American Games in Rio. Although there is not a formal culture programme, he is convinced that the games will offer inspiration and opportunity for many of the centre’s youngsters. Some are lined up to join in the major ceremonies. He tells me he hopes that London 2012 can do the same thing and he’d love Nos de Morro to be involved in some way.

Two years ago when Seb addressed the IOC Congress and won the games for London he talked about 2012 inspiring the young of the world. . The examples don’t come much more graphic than this…
Taking a walk down Green Lane

Posted: July 11th, 2007, 1:18pm CDT by David, Head of Environment and Sustainability at 2012

It’s always great news to hear another major company has come on board London 2012 as a Tier 1 Partner. Today’s launch in Greenwich Park by EDF was doubly special as they announced their support for London 2012 as a Sustainability Partner*.

To mark the occasion EDF set up a small village called Green Lane in Greenwich Park, with demonstration houses featuring some of the latest in energy efficiency devices and low carbon technologies – and a London 2012 house containing a model of the Olympic Park and some simple graphics highlighting our sustainability messages. On stage Colin Jackson was Master of Ceremonies to introduce the Chairmen and CEOs of EDF and London 2012 who presented the new partnership to an invited audience of over 1000 business guests and media.

Colin Jackson, MC, with fellow athletes Sharron Davies (left) and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompsonjust visible through the ticker tape:

There were two sessions; in the morning under leaden skies matching the suits of the assembled corporate guests was the formal launch announcement. The afternoon session was reserved for EDF employees, many from the local communities of East London and who formed an even larger crowd than the morning one.

The sun came out and we sensed a real thrill and excitement amongst the EDF employees. Our house (stand) was besieged by people eager to know more about the Park and venues and clearly expressing their delight at being part of the Games.

I have often heard it said that companies value sponsorship for the positive effect it has on their workforce. For a couple of hours this afternoon I saw that for real and it was really heartening to speak with so many people willing us to succeed.

One man confessed he found his actual job a bit boring but he valued being able to take part in environmental projects for the company, and he was absolutely bowled over by the prospect of EDF working with us to make the 2012 Games sustainable.

Seb with our plans for a sustainable Games:

* Sustainability Partner is a special designation for London 2012 Commercial Partners who will play an important role in contributing to the delivery of our sustainability goals. Together with our Sustainability Partners, London 2012 aims to be an agent for change, using the Games to make people aware of key sustainability issues such as climate change and to encourage companies, suppliers, employees and customers to contribute individually to tackling these issues.
Learning in Ancient Olympia

Posted: July 10th, 2007, 12:18pm CDT by Erin, Education Officer

The opportunity to spend 14 days in Ancient Olympia with 180 other Olympic Junkies from all around the world isn’t something that comes your way every day, so when the British Olympic Foundation invited me to be one of two British representatives at the Young Participations session of the International Olympic Academy (IOA), I leapt at the chance!

Kitted out in a GB tracksuit (and the closest I’ll ever come to feeling like an Olympic athlete) we left Heathrow to spend 2 days in Athens and 12 days in Olympia studying the history of the Games, exploring the theme ‘From Athens to Beijing’ and meeting people from the widest possible range of cultures.

I was ashamed to admit to myself that I was relying on all the other delegates speaking English as my knowledge of other languages is limited to “Ou sont les toilettes?” and as a result I was a little concerned that I might struggle to communicate with many of the other participants. I realised that there was no need to worry (and was even more ashamed of my appalling language skills) when the first person I met spoke 4 languages fluently! It was on the first night, talking to those first few people, that I set my 2012 challenge to join in and learn another language before the London Games!

Two days and a good deal of Athenian sight-seeing later we made the 5 hour journey to the International Olympic Academy. The IOA is a permanent complex which specialises in Olympic Education and spreading the Olympic spirit around the world. The Academy is based in Ancient Olympia, the birth place of the Ancient Olympic Games, where whole sections of the 2000 year old original structures as well as the track still remain today – quite a credit to Olympic heritage as well as Greek engineering.

Over the next ten days we attended a number of lectures by Olympic experts from all over the world, shared our thoughts and opinions in mixed discussion groups, took part in a huge range of cultural and sporting activities (Testing our abilities to demonstrate fair play - I played in my first every volleyball match!) and shared countless personal experiences and aspirations with each other.

With so many people representing so many different countries I wasn’t sure I could realistically expect us all to get along – but how wrong I was. Never before have I met such an accepting and welcoming group of people, entirely free from discrimination and arrogance, I truly have made friends for life. What united us was sport – whilst our individual involvements in sport and the Olympic movement are varied (our group comprised Olympic and Paralympic athletes, coaches, medical staff, teachers etc…) we have all been inspired by sport and have our own unique stories to tell.

Hearing so many different stories and experiences forced me to examine my own opinions and reflect on how the Olympic Movement has and can impact on London, the UK and the rest of the world from now, through to 2012 and beyond.
Roadshow comes to le Tour

Posted: July 10th, 2007, 5:26am CDT by Alex, Roadshow team

The London 2012 roadshow, with all its exciting sporting activities was, for me, the highlight of the Tour de France People’s Village at the weekend. Attracting crowds of over four million with its carnival atmosphere, the Tour de France celebrated cycling and aimed to get more people interested in taking up the sport.

To capitalise on the enthusiasm and excitement, London 2012 and Sport England ran a series of sporting taster and demonstration sessions in the Village to show Londoners, and those around the country, that there is a sport for everyone. The sporting sessions drew interest from hundreds of people to join in and try new sports - this time it included Tai Chi, boccia, rowing and fencing.

Those who found a sport they liked were able put in touch with their nearest sports club by speaking to the Sport England representatives and accessing the website www.sportengland.org/getactive. Fingers crossed for a new Olympic or Paralympic medal winner in amongst the crowd somewhere.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the day was watching Jonathan Edwards duck and dive with Sally Gunnell and cyclist Victoria Pendleton when trying fencing for the first time. The kids and cameras loved it and it certainly got the crowd jumping.

Can’t wait to go again in Waltham Forest.
Impressing in Guatemala

Posted: July 9th, 2007, 3:57am CDT by Seb, the Chair

I have just returned from a week in Guatemala for the 119th IOC Session.

My week started off with huge delays when our plane got struck by lightning as it came in to land over Mexico City. This was a pretty nerve-wracking experience for all on board and our plane ended up being diverted to Acapulco where we had to spend the night. The next day consisted of more delays while our plane was checked by an engineer and I eventually landed in Guatemala City at 3am on Tuesday morning – nearly 36 hours late. This unscheduled stop-over reminded me of being back in the Bid days when planes frequently went to wrong destinations and bags were regularly lost!

Once in Guatemala, I was driven to my hotel, part of a zone consisting of all of the hotels and conference centres involved in the Session. I was very impressed with the volunteers working with the Guatemala NOC who were remarkably friendly and very effective.

The main objective of our trip was to update the IOC Session on London 2012’s progress to date. Our presentation seems to have gone down very well and there was wide-spread approval of our new logo. It was an excellent opportunity to explain to international partners the thinking behind our logo and we are therefore pleased by the reaction.

The highlight of the week was, of course, the selection of the host city for the 2014 Winter Games, which Sochi won. Sochi’s Bid was supported by Russia President, Vladmir Putin, who was in attendance in Guatemala. Sochi also brought an Ice Rink to Guatemala on which ice-ballet took place on most nights in the build up to the vote. We enjoyed the hospitality party on the night of the celebration. It is only when you have been through a bid that you can truly recognise the relief of winning after the years of hard pounding. Now their real work starts!