Allen, Kayaker, 29 December 2006
A deserted Dorney Lake at dawn on a bitterly cold December morning, as the sun breaks through the freezing fog, is an evocative sight for any eyes.
It’s a Christmas card scene and festive thoughts are forefront in most people’s minds right now. That’s not so much the case for us paddlers – especially those of us dreaming of glory at the 2012 Games.
One thing’s for sure, it gets seriously windy out on the lake at this time of year. Hopefully it won’t be like that in the summer of 2012. But, even if the British climate does decide...
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The 2012 Editor, 29 December 2006
Look out for Seb Coe's appearance on
A Question of Sport tonight at 8.30pm on BBC1. Also taking part are Will Carling, Phil Tufnell and Greg Rudeski.
Read more of “Seb's Question of Sport”
The 2012 Editor, 28 December 2006
Listen out for BBC Radio 4's 2012
You and Yours programme today at 12 noon GMT. The special programme will feature Paul Deighton, Sir Roy McNulty and others.
Read more of “You and Yours: 2012 special”
The 2012 Editor, 28 December 2006
Britain’s Beth Tweddle is the talk of the online gymnastics community. She gave the sport’s home profile yet another boost at the weekend, by adding the prestigious World Cup title to the World Championship crown she won in October.
But, she told the BBC in an audio interview posted on Tuesday, performing at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show was the greater challenge.
TV presenter Gabby Logan – a former Commonwealth rhythmic gymnast – reflected on the impact of this prime-time appearance in her column for The Times Online. Bloggers...
Read more of “Olympic Sports in the Blogosphere: #1 Gymnastics”
The 2012 Editor, 27 December 2006
Our chairmen, Sebastian Coe and Roy McNulty, sum up progress this year and give a taste of what we are planning in 2007 in their
joint 2012 New Year message.
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During a visit to a school in east London, Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener told me how he took up sprinting:
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I work at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, a Hindu temple in north London.
Yesterday we visited the 2012 HQ to meet organisers and share a traditional Indian lunch with them.
As a community, we are very excited about the 2012 Games. We believe that spiritual and physical development are closely linked and will be encouraging our young people to take part in sport. We have many members in Newham and are so proud to have the Games in our neighbourhood.
Read more of “A lesson in culture and cuisine”
Yesterday I travelled to Lausanne with two of my colleagues from the legal department to meet with our counterparts at the
International Olympic Committee.
On the agenda were digital rights. The fast-changing media landscape is very challenging for both us and the IOC. Our games are five years away, which may seem a short time to the team at the ODA building the Olympic Park, but in digital media terms it's an eon.
Read more of “On a bicycle made for two...”
School children in East London received a special gift last week from the Winter Olympic city of Lillehammer in Norway: a giant tree. See their welcoming ceremony and watch what happens when they challenge Olympic sprinter Jason Gardener to a race:
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Yesterday I took part in a discussion with 90 people from the UK’s Turkish communities on how they can benefit and become involved in 2012 Games. The Turkish community has a significant presence in the UK, especially in London. Anybody who knows areas like Hackney, Waltham Forest, and Islington in London will be fully aware of the social and cultural influence the Turkish community has. What was noticeable from last night's event was the hunger for information on the Games and the desire for the Turkish community play an integral role, whether it be through employment, business, volunteering, or contributing...
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James, 2012 father, 20 December 2006
It was a 6am start for us as the whole family made its way down to Canary Wharf from the West Midlands for the 20/12 toddler's birthday party.
We were chuffed to get the call on Friday inviting us to this party and brought Liam, his two sisters and his grandad. Liam loved it. He knew he was coming and was so excited to see Bob the Builder. For us it was great to meet Seb - I remember his race against Steve Ovett.
Obviously, the older he gets, the more Liam will appreciate being a part of all this...
Read more of “A very happy birthday for our 20-12 baby”
Terry, Headteacher, 19 December 2006
It was a great day for my school last Friday when we accepted a massive Christmas tree from Lillehammer on behalf of London 2012.
We're very pleased to have the tree - the kids are so excited. And they're so excited to have the Games coming to London too - they're obviously part of London as well, so it's going to be great for them.
The children made pledges in the form of Christmas decorations for the tree - there are messages about joy and the future and about the Olympics as well, their hopes for 2012.
The Olympic medal you can...
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The 2012 Editor, 19 December 2006
Games organisers were today granted
Compulsory Purchase Order rights to the Olympic Park land - meaning work can start on schedule in July 2007.
Read more of “Right to Olympic Park land granted”
The 2012 Editor, 18 December 2006
Twelve-year-old Kieran from St John Wall Roman Catholic School in Birmingham spent a fabulous night last week interviewing top sports stars at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year on 10 December. Kieran was reporting on the event for BBC News School Report.
Read Kieran's report and find out who he met.
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I've always been a busy person, but since starting work at the ODA at the end of July life has just got even busier. I'm Vivienne Ramsey and I’m the Head of Development Control.
My team is responsible for processing all the planning applications for the Olympic Park and the Stratford City development.
The ODA became a planning authority in September, meaning we had to get ourselves ready to receive and process planning applications. It was a bit of a tall order to set up a planning authority in such a short time but we did it.
We’ve been receiving planning applications since...
Read more of “A planning committee and a chat with the Queen”
Demolition work started yesterday in Eton Park, in the north of the Olympic Park area. I turned out to find out more about it:
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It was a great day today at St Paul’s Primary School in Tower Hamlets.
A Christmas tree was delivered to the school from the Winter Olympic Host City of Lillehammer as a token from one Host City to another.
The children were just so inspirational. When I came here today they were just so excited, singing their carols. They had spent a lot of time designing their decorations and writing their pledges for 2012 on them.
As soon as I switched on the tree lights, the kids spontaneously asked for a race. So we went to the playground and had a run around....
Read more of “Oh, Christmas Tree”
The 2012 Editor, 14 December 2006
Demolition work started on the Olympic Park this morning, with the destruction of an old, disused sports hall on Eton Manor, in the north of the Olympic Park. Seb was on site to see it happen, together with Sir Roy McNulty, Olympic Delivery Authority Acting Chairman.
Read more of “Let the demolition commence ...”
The 2012 Editor, 14 December 2006
Top sports stars turned out with their equally sporty dogs for the launch yesterday of the new 2012 Lucky Dog Lottery scratchcard. Watch them put their pups through their paces:
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That’s me in the photo, on the right, with Seb Coe today, showing off my prize possession – a jar of cinders from the London 1948 Olympic track at Wembley Stadium, which was later re-laid at Eton Manor Boys Club to form the first floodlit athletics facility in the whole of England.
I was pleased to discover that Seb was aware of Eton Manor’s historic significance. And, as he said, another important chapter is now beginning.
For some of my fellow old boys, it was a real lump-in-the-throat moment as that digger tore into the...
Read more of “A moment of history”
