London 2012 chiefs visit Sydney Olympic Park to learn Games lessons

The senior leadership team of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) has inspected the Sydney 2000 Olympic Park site as part of a fact-finding mission to help deliver the best ever Games.

LOCOG Chairman Sebastian Coe, Deputy Chairman Sir Keith Mills and new Chief Executive Paul Deighton were escorted around the Olympic Park venues and facilities by former Sydney Games Chief Operating Officer Jim Sloman who also was a technical adviser for London's successful bid.

The Olympic Park played a key role in the success of the Sydney Games, transforming an industrial site in western Sydney into a new suburb equipped with modern sports facilities as well as retail, business and hospitality services.

London has already appointed Park designers for a similar Olympic Park which will house key venues including the Athletes' Village, the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre, which will provide London with much needed new sports facilities whilst also regenerating deprived communities around the Olympic Park site.

"The Sydney Olympic Park helps to bring many of our plans alive," said LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton.

"The sheer scale of the project is impressive and challenging it's like building a mini city. It's also very exciting to know that in six years something like this (Olympic Park) will be in the Lower Lea Valley which will benefit the local communities as well as London and the UK in different ways.

Deighton said there were a variety of lessons from the Sydney Olympic experience including balancing out what is needed to be built for the Games and what works afterwards.

"You need to get the balance right of building facilities for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and the long term use or legacy of venues after the Games for the city as well as the surrounding communities."

In addition to visiting the Sydney Olympic Park site the London team also held meetings with several former senior programme directors from the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and high-ranking New South Wales government officials involved in planning and staging the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

"Sydney is the high watermark for organising the Olympic Games and Paralympic Parks and we need to learn the lessons from Sydney's experience so that London is in the best possible position to stage the best ever Games for the athletes, spectators and the Olympic family," said London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe.

Former Sydney Olympic Games officials also praised London's early planning and progress for the 2012 Games.

"London's plans are already hugely advanced," said David Richmond, Chairman of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority and former Head of the Olympic Coordination Authority responsible for the construction of venues for the Sydney Games.

"The key delivery authorities for the Olympic Games in London including the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Delivery Authority have already been set up at the earliest possible stages and this will help to maximise the time available to build and develop such a major project."

The London 2012 leadership team will also observe the operations of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, with 4,500 athletes and officials from 71 nations attending the multi-sport event.

- Ends -

For further information contact the LOCOG Press Office on + 44 (0)203 2012 100 or Michael Pirrie on +44 (0) 7867 504 856