Here is an article I read today about the next Olympics written by Sebastian Coe, who is Chairman of London 2012. Some of my family and friends have already started saving, I think that is sweet of them, especially considering the economic climate we are in.
I am keen on seeing how London will compare to Beijing, based on the fact that I got to see the Olympics in a totally different way. Beijing was my third trip to one, and in the previous two, as a competitor I was so zoned in on my mission, there was little time to study anything else.
Game operations, architectural design, security, cultural relevance, etc. of an Olympics are not really on the radar screen, until much later. But with the new perspective from this past summer, I am following the lead up to London carefully and using Beijing, Athens and Sydney as my bench marks.
Ciao,
Perdita
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
By Line: Sebastian Coe (Chairman of London 2012)
Date: 1.9.08
One of the proudest moments of my sporting life came last Friday when I stood outside London's City Hall and watched the Olympic and Paralympic flags being raised high into the sky.
The flags will remain there, fluttering above the capital, until the Games in 2012. As experiences go it was right up there with the moment I walked into an Olympic stadium wearing a British vest for the very first time.
Now that we are the next host city of the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, there are five areas we want to focus on in the weeks and months ahead.
One: Put the athletes first. This hasn't changed since the day we submitted the bid and, if anything, my commitment has strengthened after visiting Beijing this summer. Put simply, there are no Games without the athletes, no breathtaking moments of sporting brilliance, no spine-tingling magic that lives in the memory long after the Games are over.
By the time you will have celebrated these extraordinary feats, the athletes will have dedicated half their young lives to achieving them. Putting athletes centre stage is not just about building world-class venues. It is about creating an environment where they have everything they need to perform to their limits.
Two: Give everyone a chance to be part of London 2012. We have to make sure the spectator experience lives longer than the events themselves and is available to all. Last week we released new details about venues within the Olympic Park and how they will be the most inclusive and accessible the UK has ever seen. We will set new standards for accessibility and sustainability.
We need ever-changing technology to enhance the way spectators receive information. We also want to bring the action to the whole of the UK, not just the spectators inside our stadiums. Our project of live screens around London and the UK is just the beginning.
Three: Construction. Exceptional progress has been made by the Olympic Delivery Authority on the venues in the Park and 2009 will see construction begin on the athletes' village and the media centre. The construction budget is £9.3 billion. This is not just a big budget to host the Games. It is an investment in the East End of London – 75p in every £1 of the £9.3 billion is committed to regeneration.
The Games will leave world-class sporting facilities, for use by elite athletes and participators alike, new parks and homes and, most of all, new opportunities.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games will continue to raise funds from the private sector to stage the Games. Our money comes from sponsorship, broadcasting rights, selling merchandise and tickets.
So far we have seven major sponsors, more than any other organising committee at this point, which shows the level of shared enthusiasm and commitment in the commercial sector.
Four: Listen to the experts. The International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, international sporting federations and individual national governing bodies are experts in their fields. We need to heed their advice, and experience, especially as 80 per cent of the delivery of each Games is transferable from one four-year cycle to the next.
Five: A legacy we can all be proud of. Our Games will be the first in a new era where legacy is integral to Games planning. I want to ensure we leave London and the UK, at the end of 2012, in better shape than we found it. And that's a team effort. It means encouraging, inspiring and motivating young people to take up sport and enjoy a healthier, more focused lifestyle. That is what legacy is all about.
We want to feel just as proud, if not more so, in two years' time when our athletes compete in the Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, in the Youth Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games; in four years' time when we host our own Games; and in the many years after those flags have finally come down.
