London 2012 Olympics

Thursday, 24, Apr 2008 12:00

What is the London 2012 Olympics?

The International Olympic Committee voted in July 2005 for London to hold the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, with the majority of facilities centred in the capital but many other locations hosting events, training villages and support facilities.

Prime minister Tony Blair's support for the bid was seen as a major boost for London and a significant factor in it beating Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow, as was the support of former South African prime minister Nelson Mandela.

The key message behind the London 2012 bid was that the Games would provide Britain with a legacy: transforming people's lives through the regeneration of one of the poorest areas of London; inspiring a new generation to greater sporting activity and achievement; and supporting the Olympic movement of the future.

A 500-acre Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, will form the centre of the Games. It will include the main 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held as well as the athletics events, and the Aquatics Centre, which will include two 50m swimming pools and a diving pool.

Existing facilities at Wimbledon and Lord's Cricket Ground, the lake at Eton Dorney and the historic Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich will all be used, as will the Dome in Greenwich.

The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) promises to carry a high-speed shuttle service between central London and the Olympic Park in just seven minutes. This will also link up to the Eurostar and carry on to continental Europe. When combined with improved Underground services, the Olympic team intends to have a train arriving at the Olympic Park once every 15 seconds.

The four key stakeholders entrusted with the delivery of the 2012 Olympic Project are:

The Government with Tessa Jowell as Olympics minister.

The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone

The British Olympic Association (BOA) chaired by Lord Moynihan

The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) chaired by Lord Coe, who chaired the London 2012 bid

The Olympic Board oversees the entire delivery of the 2012 project with each of the four stakeholders making up the Board.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), chaired by John Armitt, is the public body responsible for developing and building the new venues and infrastructure for the Games and their use post-2012.

Background

The Olympic Games were last held in London in 1948. The only other time the Games were held in London was in 1908.

The decision for London to bid for the 2012 Games follows the successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and the Euro '96 football competition. These events reassured the UK's sporting authorities and the government that the country could successfully stage major successful international sporting events.

Work on the 2012 London bid began as far back as 1997. In late 2000, the British Olympic Association delivered a report to Parliament, the Greater London Authority and Ken Livingstone outlining the proposed bid.

During 2002, the Commons' culture, media and sport committee conducted an in-depth report into the bid, published in January 2003. The prime minister indicated his backing for a London bid in April 2003, but it was not until May 2003 that the government officially threw its weight behind the bid and allocated £2.375 billion to the costs of staging the Games.

The British Olympic Association formally notified the International Olympic Committee that London was bidding for the Games in July 2003 and the details of the bid were officially launched in the following January at a ceremony at the Royal Opera House in Convent Garden, London.

Controversies

The cost of staging the Olympic Games is colossal, and many fear that - with memories of the Millennium Dome and Wembley Stadium as present as the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games - it will not be well spent. In addition, there are fears that the proposed cost will spiral out of control.

Many people were, and still are, concerned that London's fragile and crowded transport infrastructure will be unable to cope with the added pressures of the Games. Although the government is determined to complete major improvements before the Games, the record of British governments and their contractors in completing transport projects on time and to cost has not always been encouraging.

By the time of the IOC vote in July 2005, however, there was huge public support for the UK bid. Some of Britain's top athletes and sportsmen, including David Beckham, Denise Lewis and Kelly Holmes, also threw their weight behind the bid.

Prime minister Tony Blair attracted controversy in late December 2003 when he was accused by the International Olympic Committee of violating a ban on engaging in promotional activities regarding the 2012 London bid. He brought up the "extraordinary success" of the Commonwealth Games hosted by Manchester in 2002 at a 'sports breakfast' in Abuja.

The IOC subsequently wrote to the nine cities bidding for the 2012 games warning them of their responsibilities.

In April 2005, the promoters of the London 2012 bid were forced to withdraw a £15 million package of incentives for athletes and sports' administrators only five days after it was proposed. It was feared the package, which included free flights, would constitute a breach of bidding regulations and the bid team decided to withdraw the offers before an investigation by the IOC's ethics committee reported back.

Other controversies are overshadowed by that of the Olympic logo, however. Taking ad agency Wolff Olins over a year to design and costing around £400,000, the unveiling of the logo at a specially convened press conference featuring Lord Coe and Kelly Holmes was followed by near-instantaneous criticism.

While figures connected to the project did their best to put a brave face on the reaction, objections to the logo remain widespread and vociferous. An online petition calling for the logo to be replaced received over 50,000 signatures.

Things went from bad to worse when it emerged that an advert promoting the logo could trigger fits in people with photo-sensitive epilepsy. Epilepsy Action claimed 22 people had already contacted them to say the advert had triggered a fit and the Olympic Organising Committee quickly re-cut the video.

Ken Livingstone went on record saying the company who made the video should not be paid but later softened his stance in a belated attempt to downplay the controversy.

Statistics

At the time of the bid the estimated cost of the Games was £4 billion: £3 billion for the Olympic Park and an element for elite and community sport; and £1 billion as part of the wider Lower Lea Valley regeneration (excluding tax and wider security costs).

Following a review by the Government a revised funding cost was announced in March 2007 of £9.32bn.

The reasons given for the difference were as follows:

A new provision of £2.7bn contingency to manage programme and unforeseen risks. This was over and above the project contingency included at the time of the bid.

An increase in core Olympic costs of £1.1bn resulting primarily from the appointment of a delivery partner, additional inflation, and levering contribution to the cost of the Olympic Village.

Contribution for VAT and corporation tax. At the time of the bid it had been uncertain whether ODA would be liable.

An indicative provision of £0.6bn for policing and wider security included in the wake of the tragic events of July 7th 2005.

A reduction of around £600 million in the anticipated private funding directly available.

As a result, within the overall funding package of £9.325 billion, the budget for the ODA to deliver the Games and associated legacy benefits is £6.1 billion, of which £0.8 billion relates to tax (which is recoverable by the government).

(Source: DCMS London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Annual Report January 2008)

It has been proposed that the £675 million additional Lottery funding announced on March 15th 2007, together with the £410 milion from the original funding package, is transferred from the National Lottery Distribution Fund to the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund between 2009 and 2012, as set out in the draft Payments into the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund Order. The Order is subject to an affirmative resolution of both houses of parliament.

(Source: DCMS London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Annual Report January 2008)

Quotes

"We are not complacent. As we enter 2008 the focus now turns to the challenges ahead. There are many challenges still to come, as well as opportunities. As we enter 2008 the preparations are in good shape and I look forward to the next 12 months with confidence and excitement."

Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, Minister for the Olympics and London - January 2008

"We believe that as important as our success in the 2012 Games is the sports legacy and inspiration which the Games has the ability to deliver to everyone, able bodied and disabled, the length and breadth of our nation."

"The Games and the Olympic movement give us an opportunity to deliver real benefit to all young people, practical value in terms of sport and recreation about which one day I hope our children will reflect, 'Our parents never had the chances we have today'. That must be our goal for London’s Olympic sports legacy."

BOA chair Lord Moynihan, House of Lords debate 17/01/08

"I have kept my commitment to ensure that Londoners only pay 38p per week towards the Games, and I look forward to watching the regeneration of east London over the next five years."

Ken Livingstone in his Mayor's Annual Report summary 2006/07