London was to mark the two-year countdown to the 2012 Summer Games yesterday by throwing open venues to star athletes, issuing a call for 70,000 volunteers and opening the first official Olympic store for sale of mascots and other souvenirs.
A series of activities were planned across the city to celebrate the buildup to the opening ceremony on July 27, 2012, when London will welcome the world to the greatest sports show on earth.
The spotlight will be on the Olympic Park site in east London, where athletes will test out some of the key facilities that are still under construction but well on track to be completed next year.
PHOTO: EPA
Michael Johnson, a former Olympic 200m and 400m champion from the US, will race against youngsters on a specially laid track in the 80,000-capacity main stadium. British cyclist Chris Hoy, a four-time gold medalist, will be the first to try out the velodrome. Former NBA player John Amaechi will shoot a few hoops at the basketball arena.
“We’re not just the next games,” organizing committee president Sebastian Coe said in an interview. “We’re the next big global event. The World Cup is out of the way. That’s where the world is coming. There’s nothing else between us and the games.”
Organizers were launching the Olympic volunteer program and urging people to apply for specialist positions such as doctors, anti-doping personnel and scoreboard operators.
PHOTO: EPA
Organizers also urged fans to keep registering their interest in tickets, which will go on sale next year. So far, more than 1.4 million have registered. On sale will be 8 million tickets for the Olympics and 2 million for the Paralympics.
The London 2012 committee was opening its flagship store at St Pancras International station in central London where, for the first time, soft toys of the child-friendly one-eyed mascots Wenlock and Manderville will be available for purchase.
It’s also from St Pancras where Olympic organizers, athletes and dignitaries will ride the Javelin bullet train for the seven-minute journey to the Stratford International station at the Olympic Park.
From there, the group will walk across the new main bridge or “front door” to the Olympic Park and get a firsthand look at the progress on the 2.5km² site. A once-deprived industrial area of the capital is being transformed into a new complex of venues and parkland that will be turned over to the public after the games.
While the Olympic project is on track and on budget, organizers are under scrutiny as the coalition government carries out £40 billion (US$61 billion) in public spending cuts to trim the record budget deficit.
The government recently ordered relatively modest cuts of £27 million in the budget of the Olympic Delivery Authority, the body responsible for building the venues. The overall construction and infrastructure budget stands at £9.325 billion.
Coe’s separate privately financed organizing committee budget is £2 billion, raised from sponsorships, television fees, ticket sales and merchandising.
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