tagged w/ London 2012
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London is preparing to host one of the world's greatest sporting events. The 2012 Summer Olympics kick off later this month, followed by the Paralympic Games. But at what cost?
The bill for the host city is estimated to be in the region of 12 billion euros, which critics say is too high a price to pay.
Organisers argue that the investment will "regenerate" areas and the Games themselves will boost tourism and other business incomes.
Euronews takes a look at why the Olympic legacy remains controversial.London is preparing to host one of the world's greatest sporting events. The 2012... more
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Capturing the essence of a 24-hour period in this country is no easy task but it’s one that director Morgan Matthews has set himself for the Britain in a Day project, taking place on November 12th 2011.The ambitious project aims to create a portrait of British life by compiling footage submitted by the citizens of the four countries that make up our nation.The resulting film will have legendary director Ridley Scott on executive producer duties and will be shown in cinemas and on BBC2 in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic Games.Fancy being a part of it? Go to the Britain in a Day YouTube channel to get all the details and find out how to get involved.
Capturing the essence of a 24-hour period in this country is no easy... more
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There are still more than nine months ahead of us till London 2012 gets started but some of the Olympic athletes are getting into the spirit already. England long jump hopeful J J Jegede has been showing off his skills by performing an impressive stunt in London.
He completed a long jump over the top of three Minis parked up side by side alongside Tower Bridge - at a specially-organised promotional event as opposed to on a whim, you'll be pleased to hear.
Here's hoping he can put in a similarly winning performance when the games begin on July 27th 2012.There are still more than nine months ahead of us till London 2012 gets started but... more
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Earlier today the British Olympic Association (BOA) announced that players from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would be eligible for selection to a Great Britain Olympic football team.But the announcement was greeted with surprise by both the Scottish and Welsh FAs.
Scottish FA president George Peat said: "I am absolutely astounded that they have put out this statement. I know nothing about any such agreement and we want nothing to do with this tournament."
Welsh president Phil Pritchard said the FA had no right to speak on behalf of other associations. He denied that any conversation had taken place, saying "we have not discussed this at any time recently."
Jim Boyce, Britain's Fifa vice-president and former president of the Irish FA, said he knew nothing about the agreement.He said: "The three associations have made it clear to me they will not be changing their decision about a British Olympic team."
Football officials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have long been opposed to their players taking part in a British team as they fear that it could end up with global governing body Fifa not recognising them as independent football nations.
The statement from the BOA quoted FA general secretary Alex Horne as thanking other FAs for their "understanding", he said:
"We're delighted there will be football teams representing Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics."It's important as the host nation, football plays its part in what is sure to be a fantastic spectacle."We will look to confirm coaches of the men's and women's teams in due course to allow them to plan and prepare their squads for the games."
If a team GB was created history would be made during the London 2012 Olympic Games as it would be the first time in 52 years such a team would return to the pitch in men’s Olympic football and the first time ever a British women’s Olympic football team would ever play in the tournament.
Source: British Olympic Association, Sky, BBC
Earlier today the British Olympic Association (BOA) announced that players... more
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It's a tough choice picking your tickets for the London 2012 Olympics - too much choice and it feel so wrong parting with your cash when you don't know what you'll end up getting if any tickets at all, but still having to part with your hard earned cash.
Sigh.
But today is the day you'll have to get your rear end in gear as the deadline for ticket applications is tonight at 23:59 BST.
There are 6.6 million tickets up for grabs and it doesn't matter if you applied today or weeks ago - you still have the same chance of getting one.
Prices range from £20 to £2,012 - the top price for the opening ceremony - and oversubscribed events will be decided by a random ballot.
Applications will be processed in May and June and those who have been successful will be notified by 24 June.
Before tickets went on sale on 15 March, more than 2.5 million people had signed up to the official website, but in the last few days there has been a huge surge in applications, including mine.
London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said the "massive surge" in ticket applications happened over the sunny weekend and that people should try for the "less obvious" sport events, he conceded that about half of the tickets for big events would be available for ordinary people. The rest will annoyingly go to the corporate sponsors of the games.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13187438It's a tough choice picking your tickets for the London 2012 Olympics - too much... more
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The Sochi Olympics of 2014 will be the 150th commemorative year of the Circassian Genocide. Choosing Sochi as the site of the Winter Olympics, in such an auspicious year for the Russians, represents the perpetual celebration of Imperial Russia’s oppression and systematic murder of the Circassian People. Building the Olympic Village over the mass graves of the victims symbolizes the virtual erasing of this atrocity!
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/14-reasons-for-opposing-the-sochi-2014-olympics/The Sochi Olympics of 2014 will be the 150th commemorative year of the Circassian... more
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The Olympic Games literally and symbolically ‘take place’ in major cities. They represent the mega-event par excellence which not only physically transforms areas of cities beyond recognition but also shifts the urban place imaginary. City growth coalitions eagerly bid against other cities to win this world-class spectacle primarily for the boost it is supposed to impart to the local politics of urban regeneration. Researchers and activists over the last thirty years have highlighted how such grandiose visions and accelerated development projects produce spectacular but also highly inequitable outcomes for urban citizens. As with other neo-liberal regeneration programmes, the vital question of ‘who really benefits?’ is highly pertinent. However, many of the texts which researchers have produced are not well known or well understood outside the various academic specialisms within which they circulate. We are setting up a reading group open to students, academics, activists and other individuals interested in exploring the social, economic and political processes of these spectacular urban mega-events from critical perspectives.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/uncategorized/olympic-city-critiques-a-birkbeck-reading-group/The Olympic Games literally and symbolically ‘take place’ in major cities.... more
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The Welfare-to-Work Programme has been described as “set to fail” by Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham – the host borough for the 2012 London Olympics. In a fortnight, the winners of contracts are due to be announced, putting the unemployed and people on disability benefits back to work. However, Sir Robin believes that there is “a serious risk that some of the best prime providers may walk away”. Out of 11 bidders for the East and South London contract, 3 will be appointed in order to provide competition. Sir Robin said that he is yet to be convinced that ‘three prime contractors each delivering across 17 boroughs will do anything other than lead to confusion amongst job seekers and contractors’.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/financial-times-reveal-welfare-to-work-programme-chaos/The Welfare-to-Work Programme has been described as “set to fail” by Sir... more
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The London Olympic 2012 Games Organisers promised £20 million in airfares to pay for the travel of athletes and officials. They attempted to quietly withdraw from this commitment by the use of price caps and a distance formula. Countries without direct flights to London will be out of pocket having a greater effect on poorer countries especially those from Africa and the Pacific, who like Londoners are finding out that Olympic promises are easily broken. Zimbabwe’s Olympic committee secretary general Robert Mutsauki said the African nations would hold the London organisers to their promises. Good luck!
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/olympic-organizers-back-out-of-promised-air-fare-for-athletes/The London Olympic 2012 Games Organisers promised £20 million in airfares to pay... more
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Olympic chiefs are having a luxurious beano in handily located Acapulco Mexico to hear progress reports on the preparations for London 2012. British Olympic Association chief executive Andy Hunt was jubilant that the Con-Lib coalition government had excluded the games from the recent drastic spending cuts.
Hunt told the audience that the Olympic budget of 9.28 billion pounds included “7.3 billion pounds for the regeneration of east London.”
“I think a two billion pound investment for staging the games feels about right and appropriate for what’s going to be a fantastic games.”
Why Acapulco? Well you have to travel a long way to find an audience who will believe that the London Olympic budget is being spent on anything other than the London Olympics. I dare Hunt to come here and tell East Londoners that nearly four fifths of the Olympic budget is being spent on them and only £2bn is going on the games.
Fancy a dip? Or getting your figures massaged? Or are you happy just lying on the beach?
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/british-olympic-association-pretends-olympic-budget-is-for-regenerating-east-london/Olympic chiefs are having a luxurious beano in handily located Acapulco Mexico to hear... more
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Grass roots sports lose- Olympics win
Schools and community sports will be the biggest losers under the Comprehensive Spending Review while the London Olympic project is likely to avoid major cuts to its budget or contingency. Losses of local sports amenities like Hackney Marshes and Drapers Fields as a result of the Olympics will now roll out across the nation as non-Olympic cuts hit.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/london-2012-olympics-saved-from-cuts-in-comprehensive-spending-review/
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is understood to have reached a settlement with the Treasury that will see about 30 per cent cut from its annual £1.6 billion budget. However London 2012 will escape significant cuts to its £9.3 billion budget, and is expected to have its remaining contingency fund left largely untouched, partly out of necessity and partly expediency.
It is claimed that most of the major Olympic contracts have been awarded, so it is too late for major savings. The games are predicted to be completed with surplus contingency of £700 million. However the DCMS and the Olympic bodies have argued that is politically better to leave the contingency in place rather than take it back, and risk having to pay out in the event of an unforeseen crisis in the project.
The cuts to the DCMS budget will make it unlikely that the government can deliver on its promise of an abiding participation legacy from the London 2012 Olympics.
Sports minister Hugh Robertson will prioritise protecting funding for elite athletes in the run up to the London Games, and grass roots initiatives and projects run by UK Sport and Sport England’s will be cut.
Shadow Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell who told the nation the Olympics would only cost £3bn when it was nearer £10bn now claims she is concerned school sports initiatives will be hit by the cuts. So clearly nothing to do with her.
The details of the Olympic funding will not be announced by the Government on Wednesday. The cuts are likely to be made public on Thursday.Grass roots sports lose- Olympics win
Schools and community sports will be the... more
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Glastonbury 2012 has been cancelled due to the London Olympics procuring all available portable toilets in the south of England. In addition, the organisers have also been told that all the 600 strong police force which patrols the event will also be redirected to patrol the Olympics.
Michael Eavis spoke of a price hike in 2012 for any spare toilets due to their scarcity, which would also inevitably lead to problems. “I can see it getting very expensive,” he said. “So we looked at the timing and thought that a year off seemed sensible.”
Sadly, yet somewhat unsurprisingly, the Glastonbury Festival has become another casualty of the ever increasing collateral damage inflicted by the controversial 2012 Olympic event.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/glastonbury-cancelled-due-to-london-olympics/Glastonbury 2012 has been cancelled due to the London Olympics procuring all available... more
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The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) has warned that the 2012 Olympic games would be harmful to Britain’s tourism industry. The ETOA has published research from cities who previously hosted the Olympic Games, which shows it has a “profoundly disruptive” effect on local tourism. They describe the official estimates for the number of visitors as “exaggerated”. The association warned: “Normal tourist businesses suffer during the Games period . . . The region around the Games can suffer more than the host city . . . The impression that everything will be overcrowded and overpriced blights a region . . . [and] these difficulties are exacerbated by exaggerated claims of the benefits derived from the Games.”
Meanwhile Boris Johnson is drumming up a further 8000 voluntary positions for the role of “London Ambassadors”, which would involve helping the vast increase of tourists and visitors in 2012 to find their way around the city. So no paid tourism jobs there.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/etoa-claims-2012-games-bad-for-tourism/The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) has warned that the 2012 Olympic games... more
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Residents of Basildon are beginning a petition against yet more prospective public land sales to private developers in the wake of the agreed Sporting Village project. The public-private partnership between the council and construction company Morgan Sindall is part of the ‘Olympic Games’ Legacy’, and has already claimed a substantial piece of Gloucester Park, the town’s gymnastics club and Markham’s Chase Leisure Centre.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/basildon-is-latest-signing-to-disgruntled-first-xi/
However, despite funding from sizeable organisations such as Sport England, there is an outstanding £19 million of the £38 million projected cost still to be paid, which means that other public areas have now been targeted by the council as expendable, notably including the Pound Lane Recreation Ground which is used by local clubs and youngsters.
With the land in the hands of private developers, it will not only be used for the promised top-grade sporting facilities, as planning permission has already been sought for 73 homes on the former Markham Chase Leisure Centre site, and also 25 new houses on Northlands Park playing fields. This story is becoming a familiar sub-plot in the narrative of London 2012, with Hackney Marshes and Drapers Field in Waltham Forest also conspicuous casualties of the Olympic legacy.
Although the actions appear reactionary in frantically (and apparently reluctantly) trying to raise money for the benefit of the local area, the significant gap in funding suggests the opposite; that these areas of public use have been previously marked out for redevelopment at the expense of affordable – and often free – opportunities for local residents to play sport with the ultimate product being private gain. Many residents are also anxious that the planned facilities will be too expensive for them to use, and will only be exploited by elite sportsmen and women.
500 signatures have so far been garnered by those organising the petition, underlining the top-down approach to so-called public land.Residents of Basildon are beginning a petition against yet more prospective public... more
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Drapers Field, a park in Leyton that consists of all-weather football pitches, playing fields and an arts centre, is to be tarmaced over to serve as a storage depot for the London Olympics. While Waltham Forest council admitted that this would be a significant loss to the community – the park is used by around 100,000 people every year, including the Norlington School for Boys as well as 23 clubs – it still went ahead with the proposal, in the hope that the community will be granted substantial compensation.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/olympics-2012/park-to-be-tarmacked-for-olympics/Drapers Field, a park in Leyton that consists of all-weather football pitches, playing... more
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Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed plans to open a cable car in time for 2012 Olympics, operating 50 metres above water between the Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Docks. The cable car is to transport up to 5,000 passengers (cyclists and pedestrians) per hour, between the two Olympic venues (the O2 arena and ExCel exhibition centre). The duration of the trip will be approximately 5 minutes one-way, cars running every 30 seconds. According to the Guardian, the system will be privately funded, costing £25 million provided by a number of potential operators.
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Barcelona, Cologne, Hong Kong, Lisbon, New York and Singapore are amongst the cities
currently employing a cable car. Does TfL feel that London is lagging behind? After the Olympics, will the public want to use the cable car as an every-day mode of transport? Not only does it sound unrealistic to think that the public will choose to “take the cable car” to work, but the route (from one place in the middle of nowhere to another) seems extremely Olympics-centred. Will the cable car be purely used as a way to impress the masses of tourists organisers claim will visit London in 2012? (In fact most host cities experience a drop in tourism during the Olympics) Quoting Tfl analysts, it certainly seems so: “A cable car would bring excitement and iconic importance, which would generate interest in tourist visits.” Let’s go fly a kite.Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed plans to open a cable car in time for 2012... more
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