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The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, will be held in London, United Kingdom from 26 July to 12 August 2012. London will become the first city to host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and 1948.

The bidding process

By the bid submission deadline of 15 July 2003, nine cities had submitted bids to hold the 2012 Olympics. These cities were Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro.

On 18 May 2004, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as a result of a scored technical evaluation, reduced the number of cities to five: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, and Paris. Throughout the process, Paris, after trying for three times, was widely seen as the favourite to win the nomination with London a close second.

On 6 July 2005, the final selection was announced at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore, where the 117th IOC Session was held. Moscow was the first city to be eliminated, followed by New York and Madrid. The final two cities left in contention were London and Paris. At the end of the fourth round of voting, London won the right to host the 2012 Games with 54 votes, defeating Paris's 50. Numerous celebrations took place in London whilst crowds of supporters in Paris dispersed quickly after hearing that the 2012 summer games would be hosted in London. However, the celebrations in London were overshadowed when London's transport system was attacked less than 24 hours after the announcement.

2012 Summer Olympics bidding results
Bid NOC Name Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
London 2012 22273954
Paris 2012 21253350
Madrid 2012 203231-
New York City 2012 1916--
Moscow 2012 15---

London victory over Paris

The IOC's decision to hold the 2012 Games in London was a massive blow to France due to this being Paris' third failed attempt to host the Olympic Games in the last twenty years. There had been many sceptics amongst the British population about London's capability to host a successful Games, whilst rival Paris remained a firm favourite throughout most of the bidding process. Whilst Paris always remained confident from the outset, London gradually gained itself support but there was still not a great deal of optimism about the bid. It was not until the final decision was between London and Paris, the capitals of the United Kingdom and France, two nations which throughout history had always been rivals, that the British people realised that London would be able to host a successful Games, and support for London 2012 continues to grow as excitment grips the British capital. The decision of either Paris or London for 2012 would also be historic as either city would have become the first ever city to host the Olympic Games three times (London hosted the Games in 1908 and 1948, whilst Paris played host in 1900 and 1924). Applause and celebration erupted in London's Trafalgar Square when London was announced as the winner, whilst there was a huge outcry in Paris when the French capital was rejected. The media portrayed the celebrations in Trafalgar Square as being the perfect place to celebrate a victory over the French, referring to the Square and Nelson's Column symbolising the British victory over France at the Battle of Trafalgar 200 years previously. At a time when relations between the UK and France are at a particularly low point, due to conflicting views on the War in Iraq, differences on the future of the European Union, and the cool relationship between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac, the decision to host the 2012 Games was yet another element to sour British-French relations. But many see it as the latest chapter in the centuries-old rivalry and one-upmanship between two old and bitter friends who were once sworn enemies.

Olympic development and preparation

Details of the bid

The 2012 Olympics will use a mixture of newly built venues, existing facilities, and temporary facilities, including the 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium and the new Wembley Stadium. The majority of venues have been divided into three zones within Greater London: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. Some additional venues are, by necessity, outside the boundaries of Greater London.

The Olympic Village will have 17,320 beds and provide each athlete with 16m² floor space, a TV, Internet access, and a private courtyard. The dining hall will be able to feed 5,500 athletes at a time.

Public transport will undergo a massive redevelopment, including the expansion of the London Underground's East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line, and the new "Olympic Javelin" service.

There will be 8 million tickets for the Olympic Games themselves, and a further 1.6 million for the Paralympics. Organisers say that 75 per cent of all tickets will cost less than £50 and offer free travel on London transport, with the cheapest tickets for the athletics starting at £15. Additionally, there will be 20,000 £10 tickets for the Olympic Park to watch events on big screens.

Developments after the bid

The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) was put in place to oversee the development of the Games after the success of the bid, and held their first board meeting on 7 October 2005. The committee, chaired by Lord Coe, are in charge of implementing the games, while the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) are in charge of the construction of the venues.

Various aspects of the Games have developed since the time of the initial bid. Some of these were in light of terrorist attacks in London on 7 July 2005, and there were other unforeseen problems. The clarification of details and the announcement of new information has seen the plan develop further.

Venues and infrastructure

The 2012 Olympics will use a mixture of newly built venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities, some of them in well known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. In the wake of the problems that plagued the Millennium Dome, the intention is that there will be no white elephants after the games. Some of the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form, while others will be reduced in size and several will be relocated elsewhere in the UK. The plans will contribute to the regeneration of Stratford in east London which will be the site of the Olympic Park, and of the neighbouring Lower Lea Valley.

However this will require the compulsory purchase of some businesses and this has caused controversy, with some of the business owners claiming that the compensation offered is inadequate. The purchased buildings would be demolished to make way for Olympic venues and infrastructure improvements.

The majority of venues have been divided into three zones within Greater London: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. In addition to these are those venues that, by necessity, are outside the boundaries of Greater London, such as the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on the Isle of Portland in Dorset (which will host the Sailing events) and various stadiums across the UK.

Public transport, an aspect of the bid which scored poorly in the IOC's initial evaluation, will see numerous improvements, including the expansion of the London Underground's East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line, and the new "Olympic Javelin" service.

The claimed aims of the organizers include making 90% of venues accessible by at least three forms of public transport, whilst allowing 93% of training facilities to be within 30 minutes' travel of the athletes' housing. Park and ride schemes also feature amongst the many plans aimed at reducing traffic levels during the games.

There have however been concerns expressed at the logistics of spectators travelling to the venues outside London. In particular, the sailing events on Portland are in an area with no direct motorway connection, and with local roads that are heavily congested by existing tourist traffic in the summer. There is also only limited scope for extra services on the South Western Main Line beyond Southampton, without new infrastructure.

Financing

The principal items in the budget are listed below. All of these figures are estimates and they may change. The lists are incomplete:
Costs
  • £560 million for new venues, including £250 million for the Olympic Stadium.
  • £65 million for the Olympic village.
  • £1.5 billion to run the Games.
  • £200 million on security.
Revenue
  • £1.5 billion from a special Olympic National Lottery game.
  • £625 million from a council tax surcharge of £20 per year for London households.
  • £560 million from IOC television and marketing deals.
  • £450 million from sponsorship and official suppliers.
  • £300 million from ticket sales.
  • £250 million from the London Development Agency.
  • £60 million from licensing.

The government will also rely on private investement.

Further expenditure, notably that on infrastructure, will be counted as outside of the olympic budget.

Sports

The 2012 Summer Olympics programme will feature 26 sports and a total of 35 disciplines. London's bid featured 28 sports, in line with other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games two days after it selected London as the host city. The IOC reinforced their decision to drop both sports during the Turin Games after they lost votes for reconsideration. They will be Olympic sports for the last time at Beijing in 2008.

The UK's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday 28 October 2005 that open-air swimming disciplines will be added to the Beijing and London Olympic schedules. The paper also reported that women's boxing may be added to London; the IOC confirmed that women's boxing would not be including in Beijing because they "did not feel it merited inclusion in 2008".

Before the removal of baseball and softball the organisers planned to issue 8 million tickets for the Olympics and 1.6 million for the Paralympics. It is planned that three quarters of all tickets will cost less than £50. Tickets to the Olympic Park, where events will be shown on giant video screens, will cost £10. It is estimated that 82% of available Olympic tickets and 63% of Paralympic tickets will be sold.

Broadcasting

Continuing the IOC's commitment to providing over-the-air television coverage to as broad a worldwide audience as possible, London 2012 will be broadcast by a number of regional broadcasters. Though reduced dramatically since 1980, the United States television rights currently owned by NBC still account for over half the rights revenue for the IOC. Many television broadcasters granted rights to the games have bureaus and studios in London, but since at least the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, rights-holder operations are hosted in the dedicated International Broadcast Centre (IBC). London's IBC is planned to be inside the security cordon of the Olympic Park.* Confirmed regional broadcasters include:

See also

References

External links

2012 Summer Olympics | 2012

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "2012 Summer Olympics".

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