On August 24th next year, during the Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, there will be a moment when the Olympic Flag is passed from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London. That moment marks the official start of the London Olympiad and its four year programme of Cultural, Educational and Ceremonial events.
I was delighted, therefore, to have the opportunity to join Bill Morris, Director of Culture, Ceremonies and Education and Martin Green, newly appointed Head of Ceremonies on a visit to Beijing for meetings with our counterparts in the Beijing Organising Committee of the...
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I have been despatched to the wonderful city of Berlin for the day on a fact finding mission. Earlier in the year the International Paralympic Committee invited me to come and have a look at the festivities to mark Berlin's International Paralympic Day.
It's the first time I have been back to Berlin since my student Inter-Railing Days back in 1990 - what a truly transformed city!
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Last week I took a trip down to the Greenway, the public walkway and cycle route between Stratford High Street and the Hackney Cut Towpath to view the first installation of London 2012 branded hoardings.
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For the second Sunday in a row, colleagues from across London 2012 volunteered in droves to staff the London 2012 information stand at the Capital Age festival on London's Southbank.
Anyone who was in London will know that the forecast weather (24C and sunny intervals) didn't occur, but thousands of older Londoners turned out and mingled with the usual flow of tourists along the South Bank between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges visiting stalls providing information or services to older people.
LOCOG's information stall was at the Capital Age festival for the second successive year as part of our wider commitment to keep...
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Following what was reported as a very successful PanAmerican Games in Rio the first ParaPanAmerican Games is being held (12-19 August) using the same facilities and Village.
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Working in a calm, quiet, air-conditioned office in Churchill Place, my 'normal' life as a secondary school teacher, seems very far away! Since September 2006 I have been a Languages Teacher in a North London Comprehensive on the 'Teach First' programme. The chance to complete a summer internship is one of the highlights of the programme, and I was delighted to be selected to work at LOCOG, in the Education Team.
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Last week I was lucky to be in Beijing as to mark one year to go to Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony.
This was the first time that this event had taken place in the host city as it is usually marked with a small ceremony at the IOC in Lausanne. On this occasion the event was held in Tian’anmen Square in downtown Beijing and was attended by the President of the IOC, IOC Members, Beijing and BOCOG dignitaries.
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With performances on six stages, a funfair and hundreds of stalls selling food, clothes or other services, four members of London 2012 staff joined an estimated 75,000 revellers to enjoy a sunny Sunday afternoon at the London Mela this weekend.
Organised by the boroughs of West London and the Mayor of London, the London Mela offers the most wide ranging programme of any Asian festival anywhere outside the Indian sub-continent and shows off the richness of South Asian culture in London.
People visiting the London 2012 information stall came from all over London and the UK - our...
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London really turned on the style at the World’s largest triathlon last weekend with temperatures reaching 30 degrees under a beautiful blue sky. It was so hot, that the Royal Victoria Dock actually looked really inviting!
This was my second year competing in this great event and after surviving a very physical 1.5km swim leg in the sub-2.30 category, it was a real privilege to be able to cycle the 40km route along the Embankment to Big Ben on closed roads and with such a supportive crowd.
The heat meant that conditions were tough for the 10km run, but with...
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Woke up this morning to the most amazing views of the Cornish coastline from our hotel in Newquay. Why Newquay? Because that's where the Roadshow is this week. I know, it's a hard life.
The location for this week's stop (one of 27 during the 10-week tour) is truly amazing. Technically it's a hotel car park, but a more accurate description would include grassy slopes (perfect for some of the sports people are trying out today) overlooking the beach and sea. Just incredible.
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Do you fancy spending a week in an outdoor pool, in Spain in July? Well, of course, my answer was yes, (although when I left last Sunday the whole of UK was like an outdoor pool!)
I have just returned from the Junior European Synchronised Swimming Championships in Calella, a small beach resort on the Costa Brava, where I was the Great Britain judge. The excitement of travelling with the British Junior Synchro Team where many of the athletes were competing in their first major meet, was almost tangible.
Jaz, Asha, Helen, Ellie, Jenny, Beth, Vicky, Tash, Lisa & Emily...
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Last night I was in an enviable position: my wife had a spare ticket to the Prince concert at the Dome and I was recruited to the ranks to make the numbers balance.
This might be a controversial statement, but I've never really understood the whole Prince 'thing', and on the tube to the venue I couldn't think of more than four songs that I was confident were by him and that I liked, but duty calls. In fairness I was, at least, interested in seeing the Dome a few weeks after opening, having been lucky enough to see parts of...
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There was a certain sweet irony in the sun blazing down on the London 2012 Road Show in Chester. The event had been relocated from the racecourse to the Town Hall Square thanks to the dismal, wet, and very English summer turning our site into a marsh.
However, luck was on our side as for one day, the rain held off, the sun came out, and tourists and locals alike were out in force for a busy Chester Sunday.
The event kicked off with three of the National Lottery Dream Stats team taking on each other and a Sport England representative...
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Last Friday I was at the Crystal Palace London Grand Prix, the Athletics annual event. It’s always a sell out with world class athletes in abundance – 100m world number one Tyson Gay, Pole Vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva and 400m legend Jeremy Wariner.
There was also a special ‘On Camp with Kelly’ 800 race – featuring the young athletes being mentored by Kelly Holmes - they’re all future hopefuls for 2012 and this was an excellent chance for them to compete in front of a large crowd.
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When I asked for work experience, I was given a placement in the ODA’s communications department. To get this straight, it was a good thing! I was -sometimes literally- lead by Tim Daniels from the ODA, who organised my days, buzzed me in every time I went through those annoying security checks and introduced me to the 20 or so other people I would be working with (or just sitting near!).
The most prominent memory I have of my first day, was the sheer amount of food that everyone kept by their desks - I almost wondered where all the stationary...
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In our staff meeting this week, we held a boxing match! Well, not quite, but we did get a fantastic demonstration from some of our 2012 hopefuls.
Between now and 2012 we'll be having a series of briefings on all the sports that will feature at the 2012 Games - Olympic and Paralympic: it’s important for us to understand the sports we’re delivering in 2012 and to remember what we’re about.
The rules of boxing are some of the least understood in Olympic sport yet boxing itself has given us some truly inspirational heroes – from Cassius Clay in 1960...
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Last Wednesday, I travelled to Sunderland, Gateshead and Newcastle to meet some of the individuals and agencies who are working together to ensure the North East makes the most of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities the 2012 Games offer.
I also met lots of very enthusiastic children from local schools who had come along to the Tyne and Wear festival of sport. Having addressed a lunch meeting of Local Authorities about the sorts of opportunities we believe the Games will generate, it was great to then go out into the stadium and see so many young people being encouraged to try out...
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