London 2012 blog

This morning I was shown around the Dome - they've just announced they're due to open in June, ahead of schedule.

We have a great view of the building from London 2012 HQ, but I had no idea the scale of what they've done inside - it's quite extraordinary, there's a whole city under there.

For us the centrepiece in 2012 will be the arena, hosting the 2012 Gymnastics and Basketball events. But surrounding the arena will be a whole community, with shops, restaurants and entertainment.

It really struck me that they've created another magnet pulling people to the east of London, which had until recently been so underdeveloped. Now we have Canary Wharf, Greenwich and the Dome.

Then further to the north west is our Olympic Park site, another step in strenghthening that pull to the east, regenerating a whole area.

Seeing the Dome really gave a focus to our work, a sense of scale to what we're going to achieve in terms of construction between 2008-2011.

It also made me realise that our aims are realistic and we can achieve remarkable things.

View from the 23rd floor, two 2012 venues - Excel on the far left of the picuture, Dome on the right: