In 1936 Dhyan ‘Chand’ Singh won his third consecutive Olympic gold meal in hockey. Hitler walked off the field in a huff – the Indian team had beaten Germany 8-1 and Chand had scored six of the goals. The next day, Hitler offered Chand a position in the German army that was considerably higher than that which he held in India. Chand politely declined. Or so the story goes.
I must admit that, prior to working at a desk that sits about 3 metres away from the corner office that carries his name, I didn’t know who Chand was. Yet,...
Read more of “Olympic Icons: Dhyan Chand, Hockey”
2 Comments on this postFancy designing a garden for the Olympic Park? Then watch my video and find out about the Great British Garden Competition. Entries need to be in by the end of July and the two winners will work with landscape designers and architects and see their garden grow within the Park in time for the Games in 2012. For an entry form and further details please visit the Royal Horticultural Society website.
Read more of “Design a Great British garden”
0 Comments on this postThe first anniversary of construction starting on the Olympic Stadium was a real celebration for London 2012 and I was proud to join our teams showing it off to the world.
The progress has been amazing. Our time-lapse webcams show how the Olympic Stadium is transforming the London skyline today and how it will become the heartbeat of the Olympic Park in three years time.
For an athlete there is no greater feeling than coming down the home straight in an Olympic final.
Read more of “Seb Coe: A proud first birthday for the Olympic Stadium”
0 Comments on this postA lot of my projects involve faintly ludicrous premises that take a long time to explain, but the Animation Decathlon beat every single one of them.
'Kensington and Chelsea council,' I told my housemates, 'have seventy pictures of athletes drawn by young people from schools in the borough.'
'Mm-hm,' my housemates said.
'An animator,' I said, 'is going to turn the drawings into 3D animations.'
'I see,' they said.
'And the programmer, Alex May, is going to use the animations in a decathlon game which will be projected onto the external walls of Kensington Town Hall, and controlled,' and I took a breath, 'by...
Read more of “Transforming Kensington Town Hall into an ‘Olympic’ arena”
0 Comments on this postAfter a year of solid progress on the construction of the Olympic Stadium watch my latest video to see how far we've come.
Read more of “Olympic Stadium one year on”
0 Comments on this post
Klaus, president of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon, 21 May 2009
Modern Pentathlon has been part of every Olympic Games since Stockholm 1912, which means we will be celebrating our centenary in three years' time. I have seen the plans for how London will stage our sport in 2012 and I am confident that athletes and spectators alike will be very impressed.
Read more of “2012's Modern Pentathlon venues are fit for the people”
0 Comments on this post
Anna, Nations & Regions, 21 May 2009
What a day! In the East Midlands and Brazil today - but more on that later...
We were on one of the visits which Seb Coe does to the nations and regions to meet with young people and those running projects inspired by the Games in London in 2012.
Read more of “Seb Coe, and International Inspiration from Nottingham to Brazil”
0 Comments on this post
Craig, Government Relations team, 21 May 2009
All aspects of 2012 are steaming ahead – venues appearing out of the ground and dramatically changing the skyline around the Olympic Park, cultural celebrations such as Open Weekend at full tilt, the education programme Get Set now in thousands of schools and colleges across the country, businesses winning 2012-related contracts and sub-contracts and creating jobs – vital in the current economic climate. Public support remains high, partly due to all our work with local MPs across the country to ensure they are up-to-date with everything going on, and are encouraging constituents to get involved...
Read more of “Talking progress and priorities with London 2012 Host Borough MPs”
0 Comments on this postIn 1975 Olga Korbut was named Athlete of the Year and Mother of Gymnastics by the Women's Sport Foundation. An impressive title. She was 20 years old.
The careers of Olympic and Paralympic athletes are recognised in countless ways: they win medals, they awe spectators, they feature in parades, are inducted into halls of fame, and given such titles as 'parents' of their sports. Here in the offices of London 2012, we name meeting rooms after them.
It doesn't take much time before you learn to navigate your way around the office by these famous names. If you arrive a few...
Read more of “Olympic icons: Olga Korbut, Gymnastics”
0 Comments on this postFor our ceremonies, our audiences, wherever they are - in the stadium, at a live site, watching on telly at their house or on their phone - are active participants. Not so this weekend's Eurovision Song Contest at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
I know these events are not the same thing but they share similarities in scale, ambition and reach. Spending shed loads of money does not always guarantee the desired effect.
This is the most expensive Eurovision ever, apparently. The rumour is 45m dollars. There were apparently in excess of 30,000 people in the...
Read more of “Eurovision and putting a price on ceremonies”
0 Comments on this postIn this video, our British Swimming team enjoy their first visit to the Olympic Park and the Aquatics Centre site.
Read more of “British Swimming team visit the Park”
0 Comments on this postDoes the use of advanced technologies in Paralympic sports equipment simply widen the gap between resource rich nations and those where disability and inclusion are only just on their national agenda?
Last month The Daily Mail ran a head-line 'The baby blade runner'. The article reported how 5-year-old Ellie Challis, having lost her hands and lower limbs to meningitis, had been fitted with flex-run feet. She had started out with conventional prosthesis but 'had complained that she could not keep up with her twin sister, Sophie.'
Ellie is the youngest child ever to be fitted with such prosthesis - 'she can walk twice...
Read more of “Paralympic technology: a curse or benefit?”
0 Comments on this postDoes the use of advanced technologies in Paralympic sports equipment simply widen the gap between resource rich nations and those where disability & inclusion are only just on their national agenda?
On Sunday April 11th The Daily Mail ran a head-line ‘The baby blade runner’. The article reported how 5 year old Ellie Challis having lost her hands and lower limbs to meningitis had been fitted with flex-run feet. She had started out with conventional prosthesis but ‘had complained that she could not keep up with her twin sister, Sophie.’
Ellie is the youngest child ever to be fitted with such prosthesis...
Read more of “test blog taken straight from Word”
0 Comments on this postThe Eurovision Song Contest is the third most-watched TV show in the world, after our Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the Football World Cup.
However, rarely is there as much simulated wildlife at those.
So, it's voting time at the second semi- final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest held at the former 1980 Olympic stadium. It's a vast auditorium and all 38,000 of us want to be impressed. But, as with our Opening and Closing Ceremonies, is this a show for the TV audience, or for us?
Read more of “Eurovision - on song from the Olympic Stadium?”
1 Comments on this postCheck out the London 2012 webcams where you will see a new exciting feature! Now you can view progress on the Olympic Park over time by watching a timelapse video of the images taken since the cameras launched.
So how do you use them? First you select the time of day you want to view:
Read more of “New feature: Olympic Park webcams show progress over time”
0 Comments on this postWatch my video blog to see how we're clearing and improving the waterways in and around the Olympic Park.
Read more of “By water and rail”
0 Comments on this post
David, Head of Environment and Sustainability at 2012, 8 May 2009
This week sees the publication of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012's annual report. CSL are the independent assurance body, set up to keep an eye on how well London 2012 is doing in terms of sustainability. On the whole, it's a pretty good summary of where we're at – and I'm especially pleased with two of their main conclusions.
First they acknowledge that sustainability is firmly embedded within both the organising committee and the Olympic Delivery Authority. In particular the report states: '...We are pleased to report that the sustainability standards...
Read more of “London 2012 breaks ground in sustainability”
0 Comments on this postMelanie, Project Manager, No man is an Island, 7 May 2009
We are a group of artists and craftspeople who all live with autism in our families. In fact, as often happens in families like ours, we also live with other so-called 'hidden' disabilities. We met a few years ago on the Isle of Wight, when we were struggling to get our children access to education.
When we discovered the Cultural Olympiad we were very excited about the opportunities and challenges it brings. We saw a great opportunity to celebrate the good things we share, showing so-called 'hidden disabilities' in different and unexpected ways. We decided that if others are striving their utmost...
Read more of “John Donne teaches us people with autism should not be an 'island'”
0 Comments on this post
Comfort, Community Relations Executive, 7 May 2009
Last Sunday we spent the day in Trafalgar Square at the Vaisakhi celebrations handing out information on the 2012 Games. Vaisakhi is the celebration of the Sikh New Year Festival; this year has the added importance that the event commemorates 300 years of the consecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Guru.
The day included performances of traditional music such as Shabad Kirtin (religious hymns), as well as modern Asian music and dance. Awards were presented to young achievers from the Sikh community for their achievements in the arts, sport...
Read more of “Vaisakhi celebrations finds infectious enthusiasm for the Games”
0 Comments on this postLast week, we held a briefing for all MPs from the South-West, supported by colleagues from the South-West 2012 team, the Olympic Delivery Authority and Olympian Jonathan Edwards.
It's important to get the benefits of London 2012 communicated around the country, in every nation and region – and to engage people as we plan for the greatest sporting event on Earth coming here in three years' time.
As every event organiser in Parliament knows, turnout from MPs is absolutely dependent on Parliamentary business at the time. This time we ran up against a major unexpected vote on the Ghurkhas, which took place...
Read more of “South West MPs and Joanna Lumley”
0 Comments on this post
