One of the nice things about the Olympic and Paralympic world is meeting colleagues doing the same job as you but from other Host Cities. The IOC Sport and Environment Commission meets once a year and as well as general discussions around environmental initiatives of National Olympic Committees and various international sport federations, it is an occasion for the environment and sustainability representatives from the four current Host Cities to meet.
On this occasion we had a full house; we were joined for the first time by Natalia Onischenko, the new ecology advisor to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games....
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70 days to go until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing...
I'm off out to Beijing on 10th July (42 days and counting), I'll be heading up a team looking after Network Seven, the Australian Broadcaster during the
Games. Network Seven will be taking 184 clients in three waves out to Beijing and it’ll be my responsibility to look after their every need. My responsibilities will include pre-event planning and preparations of all hotel systems, hotel room and guest handling procedures, as well as being the key contact for any operational matter and trouble shooting....
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Although an employee of the London Borough of Newham, I have been working at the
ODA Planning Decisions Team (PDT) for about six months on the Stratford City development.
In almost all cases, the either the PDT or
ODA Planning Committee make the decision on planning applications within the Olympic Park and Stratford City site. Any planning applications that are not key to the delivery of the Games (for example, the shopping centre development) are passed back to Newham Council to make a decision.
The Stratford City site is broken into seven zones and I am most closely...
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Last week construction started three months ahead of schedule on the Olympic Stadium. To mark the milestone, an event was organised at the Team Stadium site offices which included the first visit by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as well as new Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
Have a read on to see a quick selection of images from the day.
John Armitt, Chairman of the ODA and Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair show the Olympic Stadium model to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Sarah Brown and the new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson:
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As one might imagine, there is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between London and the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is probably no surprise either that the usual means of travel is by air between London and Geneva. But is there a better way?
This week I'm at the annual meeting of the IOC’s Sport and Environment Commission, in Lausanne and felt this was an ideal opportunity to try the overland route by train. I knew the high-speed leg to Paris would be fine; for starters it is always a pleasure to see the new St Pancras International station....
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As many of you may know, one of my responsibilities here at LOCOG is to co-ordinate our disability arts, culture and sport programme. I've been in post for just over three months and was asked to attend a meeting with the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to discuss how we and other partners can make 2012 accessible to disabled people.
Sometimes in this job the sheer scale of 2012 and what we are all trying to achieve just hits you out of the blue. Last Friday was one of those mornings. Around the table were gathered representatives from MLA,...
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Did you know that you too could be part of the launch of a UK-wide programme of cultural events - the launch of the Cultural Olympiad?
The 26-28th September is a chance for people all over the UK to try something new and different, to encourage a real sense of community involvement, to think differently about the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and most importantly to demonstrate a creative UK.
The weekend will be the starting point of our journey to find exciting and innovative projects and events that are taking place across the whole of the UK. This will be...
Read more of “Taking part in the launch of the Cultural Olympiad launch weekend is easy!”
It is unusual for a blog to simply be someone else's message but the article below prompted me to reproduce some of it and to particularly reinforce the messages at the end from some of our leading ambassadors, Tanni and Mike Brace. Messages of progress and opportunity. Read it not with 'outrage' but with Mike's words in mind -
'The presence of a special guide denotes progress,' according to Mike Brace, the chairman of the British Paralympic Association. 'It's a clumsy attempt to override years of limited awareness. It's not ideal, but up to seven years ago, they might not...
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27 May 2008
It's not often you get an Olympic champion anywhere near the Eurovision Song Contest. However, this year, one helped win it. Meet Evgeny Plyushenko, the 2006 men's Figure Skating Gold Medallist and backing dancer for this year's Eurovision champ, Dima Bilan. At the after-party, Mr Plyushenko repeated his routine on dry land. Never seen a triple salchow on carpet before but the boy pulled it off beautifully.
It was only a matter of time before Russia won, and they picked a massive star this year to be their representative. Not his first time, either (he came 2nd in 2006). Just...
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Seat 9, Row P, Block K – National Stadium (Bird's Nest), Beijing: a great view straight down the 100 metres track, and we’re sitting – no, standing – right behind the ceremonial flag poles as the Union Jack rises to take centre stage. A sell-out crowd in this most remarkable of stadia claps and cheers politely then goes silent. The National Anthem rings out of the PA system as we celebrate a Brit taking Gold here in Beijing. Celebrate? And how!
No – not fantasy, this is reality. We're at the final test event – 'The Beijing Good Luck Games'...
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I've started to see and hear the images, sounds and thoughts about the 5 Host Boroughs from students involved in Welcoming the World. They're insightful and surprising - not least of all because they show images of contrast possibly found only in London.
Jonilda, from Windrush Primary, Greenwich appreciates the tranquility of the Thames and the graffiti art scene: 'It's really peaceful and calm and you can walk to the river and see all the swans and fish and animals. It is also the best because there are really nice people and lovely pieces of art on the walls and...
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I am passionate about supporting young creative talent. One of the greatest opportunities we have culturally is how we work with the creative industries. London's creativity is driven from small, independent artists and creatives. They range from magazines that celebrate different facets of the fashion industry to collective design studios that conceive of "Tofu" as cartoon characters; basements where digital grime is being sonically mastered, and mobile 3D rendered games and type fonts created. These practices support and encourage new talent and they are a lynch pin in the UK’s creative successes. I am working at the way the creative...
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Watch a video from the launch event which marked the official start of construction on the Olympic Stadium.
Read more of “Video: Olympic Stadium construction launch event”
It’s been a busy year so far across the Olympic Park site but yesterday was certainly one of the biggest and most high-profile milestones we have achieved on the project to date.
Starting construction on the Olympic Stadium, three months earlier than planned, was always going to be a big moment and to welcome the Prime Minister Gordon Brown on site to mark the occasion was an incredibly proud moment for everyone involved in the project.
It was a tremendous honour to take the Prime Minister around the site and to introduce him to the many faces and organisations that...
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While I was at the Olympic Park today for the official launch of the start of construction on the Olympic Stadium, I was trying to imagine exactly where the Long Jump pit would be and tried to visualise myself competing there.
The Stadium site looks amazing - I'm sure the London 2012 Games are going to be great and the Stadium is really going to provide the wow factor.
Meeting Prime Minister Gordon Brown and ODA Chairman John Armitt at the launch event with fellow athlete Goldie Sayer:
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Visiting the Olympic Park today to mark the official start of construction on the Olympic Stadium gave me a great feel for how the venue will be in 2012.
I discussed with Tessa Sanderson where the Javelin run-up and throwing area would be and even which direction the wind may be blowing in. Being a field athlete it will be great having the whole crowd clapping for me as I prepare for my throw. I can't tell you how excited I am about the Games in 2012.
I honestly think it is going to be the best Games ever, not just because of...
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I work as part of Team Stadium, responsible for contaminated ground monitoring. I have been actively working on the project for 12 weeks.
Originally from Dagenham, I was delighted to see the 2012 Games awarded to London. The Games themselves will be a great event and opportunity for the country. The regeneration of Stratford and surrounding areas will demonstrate to the world the skills, commitment and management expertise that exist within the UK, something we all know exists but do very little to shout about!
I recently relocated from the UK to live in France so I probably have one of the...
Read more of “Beating my daughter to the Olympic Stadium”
The area of Tower Hamlets served by Bromley-by-Bow Centre is one of the most deprived in the country, and also one of the most culturally diverse. The Centre provides vital services to the community, from health to social and cultural. It is one of few green spaces for many miles around. And it's also a stone's throw from the site of the Olympic Park.
Its development began some 24 years ago. Then it was just a small church with a congregation of 6 or 7, with no connection to the community. The then Minister (now Lord) Andrew Mawson kickstarted a...
Read more of “London Better Together Day – the Changing Rooms experience...”
It has become something of an urban myth: the Red Arrows have been banned from the Opening Ceremonies of London 2012. As the man responsible for delivering the ceremonies for London 2012, all I can say is: it's news to me.
We haven't actually started thinking about our ceremonies for 2012 yet; we're far more pre-occupied with the Closing Ceremonies for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing this year, where we have eight minute sections in each which mark the handover of the Olympic Flag from Beijing to London.
So let me put the record straight once and for...
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Today, the first test train arrived at the new Orient Way sidings facility - a huge milestone for the ODA Transport team.
After a weekend of intense activity and work by the Orient Way project team, we watched the12-carriage National Express East Anglia train pull into the new facility at 9.22am - and it all went without a hitch.
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