London 2012 Celebrates 'Year To Go'

With exactly one year to go until the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, organisers confirm that preparations for the Games are on track and London’s vision to host Olympic and Paralympic Games that inspire the world and acts as a catalyst for lasting change, is set to become reality.

Offering Londoners a small taste of the atmosphere the Games will bring to the city in the summer of 2012, the President of the International OIympic Committee Jacques Rogge will today join organisers and formally invite the athletes of the world to the Games next summer and unveil the Olympic medals at an event in London’s Trafalgar Square.

The Games next year will mark the end of a decade-long project, with London winning the bid in 2005 based on a vision to stage Games which would have athletes at its heart, inspire young people to choose sport, showcase iconic London and be a catalyst for transformation and lasting change. With just 365 days to go, London is on track to deliver on its promises, host spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games and lay the foundations for significant social, sporting and economic legacies.

London’s progress in the last six years has been closely monitored and endorsed by the International Olympic Committee and construction of the Olympic Park, undertaken by the Olympic Delivery Authority, is now 88% complete. More than 3.5 million tickets have been sold so far, setting the scene for full venues at Games time and a sensational atmosphere for competing athletes.

A quarter of a million people have applied to volunteer and interviews are now taking place to fill up to 70,000 roles. London 2012’s mascots Wenlock and Mandeville have been unveiled to the world, the Olympic sport schedule published, design of the Olympic Torch finalised, the initial route of the Olympic Torch Relay announced and London was given a snapshot of what it feels like to be an Olympic Host City when the giant Olympic rings were unveiled at St Pancras International station earlier this year.

Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), Sebastian Coe said: “With a year to go we are inviting the athletes, spectators and visitors from around the world to come to the UK next summer – it’s ‘London Calling’. Waiting for them will be a spectacular festival of sport and culture in the world’s greatest city, which will be more magical and vibrant than ever. There is much to do in the next twelve months, but we can take huge comfort in the progress that has been made so far. We are absolutely on track and determined to stage Olympic and Paralympic Games which will deliver on the promises we made in Singapore, inspire the athletes and make the nation proud.”

(BMcN)