London 2012 bid organisers have released detailed plans for the next generation of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The blueprint for the London Olympic Games is based on extensive use of existing venues, rapid transport connections and state-of-the-art sporting facilities linked to sustainable community benefits.
The plans reflect current thinking within the IOC on the need for excellence without extravagance in staging the 2012 Olympic Games.
London's approach is outlined in the bid's Candidature File for the 2012 Olympic Games and includes the development of a new Olympic Park as the catalyst for a thriving new inner city community in east London.
"The London Games is a model for the next generation of athletes and for planning around the long-term needs of Olympic host cities and communities," said London 2012 Chairman, Sebastian Coe.
The Athletes Village planned for the Olympic Park will be the most spacious in Olympic history with 17,320 beds and an average 16 sqm floor space per athlete.
The Village will be surrounded by key Olympic venues also located within the Olympic park, including the main athletics stadium, aquatics centre, velodrome, hockey centre and multi-sport indoor arenas for basketball, volleyball, fencing, and other sports as well as the main press and broadcasting centres.
"This will provide significant security, time and transportation benefits for athletes, spectators and the Olympic Family," Coe said.
More than 50 per cent of athletes will live, train and compete in the Olympic Park, while 80 per cent of athletes will be within 20 minutes of their events.
The new Olympic Park will be served by 10 rail lines nine of which already exist ferrying up to 240,000 spectators an hour from central London to the Olympic Park in just seven minutes in high speed shuttle trains departing at 15 second intervals as part of the Olympic Javelin system.
Venues for the Paralympic Games will be fully integrated into the design of Olympic facilities for the benefit of all athletes, according to the File.
"This will be a truly inclusive Games, with the needs of disabled people built into facilities for the Games and beyond," Coe said.
The Candidature File highlights how London's position as the world's most visited city and a global destination for youth, culture, finance and the media would help to showcase the 2012 Games as the ultimate sporting experience and provides unique opportunities to market and increase participation in Olympic sports.
The File was unveiled at a special presentation in London that included a video message from the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who reinforced his Government's commitment to staging an Olympic Games for the next generation.
"Hosting the Games in 2012 will encourage future generations of young people," the Prime Minister said. "I believe that we can build a lasting legacy not just for our country, for sport in our country and for opportunities for young people, but also for the Olympic Movement."
"I strongly believe in London's 2012 Olympic and Paralympic bid. Sport matters hugely to this country. And when that passion is combined with London's excellent technical and legacy plans, I know we would make a great Host City. The competition will be tough but the prize is certainly worth the effort."
The new Olympic Park will leave London with much needed new facilities to stage local, national and international sporting events. "The Olympic Family is looking for cities to host future international competitions and we are going to have a wonderful new Olympic Park with great facilities," said Keith Mills, International President and CEO of the London 2012 bid.
The new Olympic Park will transform one of the poorest areas in the United Kingdom into an urban and environmental showpiece, creating one of the biggest new community parklands in Europe for decades along with thousands of new jobs and affordable housing as a model for sustainable inner city renewal.
The File highlights plans for extensive use of London's existing world class venues and iconic landmarks to reduce the cost and complexity of hosting the Games without compromising on the quality of the Games. "We will celebrate the world's biggest and most important sporting and cultural festival in world famous places like Wembley, Wimbledon and Hyde Park (for the triathlon)," said Coe, a dual Olympic gold medallist.
The next generation approach to planning of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is also reflected in the File, with Government approval for the Olympic Park Masterplan already secured along with an agreed funding package and the go ahead for new transport schemes which will finish well before the Games.
"The bid's planning for the London Games is unprecedented at the bidding stage. The London bid is already more advanced in key Games planning areas than previous Olympic organising committees three-four years before the Games," said Jim Sloman, Chief Operating Officer for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, who helped to prepare the Candidature File.
The British Government's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, said: "The Olympics have a unique ability to captivate a nation and I know they'll do that here in 2012. We saw how the people of Manchester took the Commonwealth Games to their heart - and we saw our fans in Athens this summer representing the best of British. That sort of enthusiasm will extend way beyond London if we get the Games - and the benefits will too. New sports facilities, new business, new champions, new inspiration. This is a bid for the whole country to support."
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: "Our Candidature File demonstrates how Britain would be able and proud to host a landmark Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012. Today is a great day for the capital and for Britain but there is still a long way to go until the IOC's final decision next July. I want all of us not only to get behind the bid - but to participate in it. This bid belongs to us all: support it and believe in it. It's our chance to renew, revitalise and re-energise our capital.
"Nothing could be more inspiring than to compete for the honour, to win it and go on to deliver the most successful Games in history."