London Olympic Logo
When
the logo for the London Olympics was unveiled in June 2007 at the cost
of £400,000 there was significant public uproar due to both the cost
and how terrible it looked.
Despite public pressure, the International Olympic Committee stood fast on keeping the logo, with no flexibility. In other words, this particular logo was very important. Why?
There are many interpretations spread about the net, all intended to dissolve the true symbolic meaning behind the logo. It has been claimed to look like a swastika, a runner and even Lisa Simpson but these are all ridiculous diversions.
On first glance you can easily make out the numbers 2012, but why the random 'dot'?
Here's why (image credit: Ian Crane):
Are the London 2012 Olympics are going to facilitate the implementation of Zion - the 'New Jerusalem'?A British-Only Torch relay?
April 14 2008
Amidst the nightmare that has followed the Olympic torch as it has toured the globe leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, organizers for the 2012 London games are considering having a British-only relay.
"No decision has been made," Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said. "This is something that will be the subject of very careful consideration over the next four years. We do not have to make a decision until after the dust has settled over Beijing. Our aim is to host the best Games ever."
"It is too early to say," London 2012 deputy chairman Keith Mills said Monday. "We are committed to a relay domestically and it will definitely go around the regions but it (going internationally) has not been ruled out or ruled in. It is something we will have to discuss with the International Olympic Committee."
Wouldn't it be sad to see the relay reduced to touring the host country only. The whole spirit of the Games is to bring people together from all around the world. Part of that magic stems from having the torch globetrot its’ way to the opening ceremonies.
Katie Price, aka Jordan, eyes London Olympics 2012 after sixth place on dressage debut
"Jordan, the model, made her debut in competitive dressage today, finishing in sixth out of 27, and has her eyes set on the Olympics in 2012"
The star, whose real name is Katie Price, scored 153 out of 240 and got an overall score of 63.75 per cent.
Jordan, 30, is planning to invest on her sports career, having her eyes set on the 2012 Olympics.
After being told her result, she said: "Oh excellent, brilliant, that's quite good isn't it? I'm pleased I finished without the bells ringing."
******************
13 Jun 2008
Blair jump starts to London Olympics
HE may not have made it to the Beijing Olympics, but Inverell’s Rodney Blair is jump-starting to London for 2012. The 18-year-old has been chosen for a talent and identification program for Indigenous coaches and athletes. For the next four years the program, Jump Start to London, has the goal of increasing he number of indigenous athletes participating at the London 2012 Olympics.
*******************
10 Jun 2008
London mayor's dismay at blank legacy
LONDON (AFP) — London Mayor Boris Johnson slammed organisers of the 2012 Olympics that will be held in the British capital in an interview published Tuesday, saying they were clueless about what legacy the games would leave behind. Johnson, elected mayor on May 1, said there was no "legacy masterplan" for the Olympics venues and insisted it was pointless ploughing money into the east London site if no-one knew "what on earth we're trying to achieve". The Conservative Party politician took over from Labour's Ken Livingstone, who spearheaded the bid to secure the games for London. He has previously expressed concern at the spiralling costs of the project.
Olympics 'will boost sex trade near stations'
16th June 2008The 2012 Olympics will spark an influx of prostitutes to key transport hubs, a Labour MEP claims.
Mary Honeyball fears areas like King's Cross, once synonymous with the vice trade, will again be targeted by people traffickers hoping to cash in on the hundreds of thousands of people arriving in the area on their way to the Games.
She cited reports that up to 3,000 women were sold into the sex trade and smuggled into Switzerland ahead of Euro 2008. Ms Honeyball, of Bloomsbury, said trafficking of women through King's Cross and St Pancras International was set to rise ahead of 2012 and could lead to more prostitution in the area. "Most prostitutes take drugs and that leads to crime," she added.
Terry Stacy, Islington council's executive member for community safety, said: "Levels of prostitution in Islington have significantly fallen in the last two years and the area around King's Cross has improved. But we know there is still work to be done."
********************
London's 2012 Olympic venues to cost another £106m
The estimated cost of the main Olympic stadium has now hit £525 million, Boris Johnson's Olympics watchdog revealed today.
It is a £29 million increase since November and part of an estimated
£106 million increase in venue costs for the London 2012 Games over the
same period.
The
figures form part of business tycoon David Ross's high-level review of
London's preparations for the Games commissioned by the new London
Mayor.
Mr Ross, the millionaire founder of the Carphone
Warehouse, carried out a three-week review in light of the current
global economic downturn. He was chosen by the new London Mayor to keep
an eye on the Olympic purse strings and sits on the London Olympic
organising committee board as Mr Johnson's nominee.
He
identified questions over the security of the 2012 Games, its legacy
and the Olympic Village as key areas which need to be "focused on", he
said.
In the report, Mr Ross notes: "The extent of cost
pressures affecting the venues can be seen in the £106 million increase
in the anticipated final cost of the venues since November 2007.
"As
an example, the ODA's (Olympic Delivery Authority) current estimate of
final cost for the stadium contract has risen from £496 million in
November to £525 million."
He notes that the rise in the venue
budget has been offset by savings elsewhere meaning there "has only
been a very small increase in the overall anticipated final cost of the
total programme of £16 million."
The report said: "Containing
cost pressures and avoiding further calls on the contingency will be
difficult and require sustained effort to manage contractors
effectively.
"This process must be overseen from the top by the Olympic Board on the basis of the best possible information."
The
original venue budgets were not based on detailed designs and assumed
there would be "competitive tension" in the market place.
This
was not the case with either the showpiece stadium, which will be
shrunk from an 80,000-seater venue to a 25,000-seater track-and-field
arena after the Games in east London, or with the Aquatics Centre.
The
ODA, which has contracts with McAlpine on the stadium and Balfour
Beatty on the Aquatics Centres, found itself in a single bidder
situation.
The ODA is "realistic about the significant level of
risk that remains within these contracts", the report says while noting
that the target cost contracts were probably the best deal that could
be driven as a fixed price may have been too high.
The ODA has
previously said it is confident about the stadium budget announced,
stating it contained provision for inflation, VAT and conversion down
to legacy.
The stadium was originally priced at £280 million in London's bid document in 2005.
The
squeeze on the banking system, falling house prices, the rising cost of
oil and raw materials and the terror threat will add "significant
pressure" to the aspects of Olympic project, Mr Ross predicts.
Armed with a £9.325 billion Games budget, Britain's Olympic organisers need to alert to these pressures, the report states.
Mr Ross is a chartered accountant who once served on the board of Wembley Stadium.
Mr
Johnson, who has been fiercely critical of the mounting Olympic bill,
has vowed that Londoners would not be saddled with an "unreasonable
bill for generations to come".
Of the security issues, Mr Ross
notes: "The security plans are at a very early stage and significantly
behind the rest of the planning.
"It is absolutely vital that
significant progress is made quickly on security planning so that
necessary facilities are identified early enough to be provided cost
effectively.
"As was seen with Wembley, there will be
significant cost implications if security consideration have to be
built into the Olympic facilities/logistics at a late stage.
"It is also difficult to have confidence in cost estimates in the absence of a full, costed security plan.
"Failure
to catch up and complete this work satisfactorily will have serious
implications for Londoners as they will be the people most exposed to
disruption and security risks."
The report states that the ODA
is working with Lend Lease, the developer of the Olympic Village
Project, and its banks to secure private equity and debt funding to
fund the project. Other options are also being explored.
"In all
scenarios some significant additional public sector funding is likely
to be required to deliver the project," according to the report.
There will be transport and regeneration benefits from London's hosting of the Games.
But
in terms of legacy, Mr Ross said: "I am concerned about how far there
is a clear vision for legacy and whether it has the right profile and
sufficient resources devoted to it... I am disappointed that we find
ourselves at an advanced stage of the procurement process without clear
and agreed plans for legacy for a number of important venues."
Despite
the cautionary notes Mr Ross said he is "heartened" about the chances
of a successful and cost-effective London Olympics.
This is due to the "amount of work, effort, endeavour and energy" which had been put in the preparations, he said.
Mr Ross said: "I am more heartened. There are clear areas of risk that need to be focused."
Progress on site preparation and infrastructure, ready for the Olympic build, was praised.
********************
Seb Coe slams Dwain Chambers' Olympic bid
By John Cross 4/07/2008
Dwain Chambers (Pic:Getty Images)
Chambers began his legal fight to be allowed to take part in Beijing yesterday after filing papers to the High Court against the British Olympic Association.
He is challenging their bylaw which imposes a lifetime ban on athletes who have failed drug tests from competing in the Olympics.
But Lord Coe, chairman of the London Games, claimed Chambers' actions were in danger of tarnishing the sport and the future stars aspiring to take part in four years' time.
"I do not think there is any lack of clarity about what the rules are - if you do that and you get caught, you get kicked out of the sport.
"The good athletes and the young athletes and the novice athletes that are clean need protection."
**********************
Olympic faking: Naked pictures of athletes 'were doctored'
It may have taken naked ambition for Rebecca Romero to clinch medals in two Olympic sports, but when Britain's rower-turned-cycling champion posed for a set of revealing photographs, she did not quite bare all.
The 28-year-old, who became the first British woman ever to win Olympic medals in two separate disciplines, raised eyebrows recently when she appeared in a striking set of advertising photographs, crouched over the handlebars of her bicycle wearing nothing but a determined look.
But her mother Beverley, 48, has revealed that the image, taken to advertise sports drink Powerade, was airbrushed to hide the cyclist's underwear.
Mrs Romero said she took the billboard campaign, which has been turning motorists' heads since it first appeared earlier this month, in her stride.
"Rebecca is 28, she's old enough to make decisions to do things like that," she said.
Some controversial, inspirational and funny Youtube clips - well worth a look
2012 logo
The 2012 Olympic Stadium design
London 2012 Olympic Aquatic Centre Animation
London 2012 Inspiration
Bremner, Bird & Fortune
