London 2012 celebrates World Olympic Day

London 2012 is using the occasion of the official World Olympic Day on the 23rd June, to celebrate the excitement and inspiration the Games will bring to our city.

London 2012 is opening the doors of its Canary Wharf headquarters to young people in the London area. Schoolchildren have been invited to take part in an inspirational and informative Q&A session with Paul Deighton, CEO of London 2012, Olympic and Paralympic athletes Jade Johnson and Giles Long and the London 2012 Youth Ambassador, Amber Charles.

The students also inspected the Olympic Park site in east London's Lower Lea Valley from the same observation platform used by members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Her Majesty the Queen to view the landmark site last year. The Olympic Park will be the centre-piece of the London Games, housing several of the key Games venues, including the Olympic Village, Olympic Stadium and Aquatic Centre.

The meeting at London 2012 headquarters provided the young Londoners with the opportunity to share their thoughts and aspirations for the London 2012 Games with senior London 2012 staff. The meeting also provided the young students with the chance to learn about the Olympic movement and the London 2012 Games and learn how they can get involved and make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity. The group were also given the inspirational opportunity to meet Olympic and Paralympic athletes and learn about how they got involved in sport and the ways in which it has shaped their lives.

The schoolchildren are from the Capital City Academy in London and their own personal enthusiasm and passion for sport has led them to be chosen for today's event. A number of these schoolchildren hope to make sport their career, so having the opportunity to meet and question the key people involved in winning the Bid and organising the London 2012 Games, as well as speaking with elite athletes is a truly unique and exciting opportunity.

Seb Coe comments: "I am delighted that we can celebrate World Olympic Day with some of the young people we wish to inspire through the London 2012 Games. Their input and enthusiasm will be important ingredients in ensuring that the Games deliver its promise of inspiring children around the world through sport."

Paul Deighton, CEO London 2012 said: "We fully believe that the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will capture the imagination of young people all over the world. We also want young people to have a voice and to share their visions for the London Games with us, which was the purpose of today's event."

Amber Charles, London 2012's Youth Ambassador said: "I love sharing my Olympic Bid experiences with other young people. Being in Singapore as part of the London 2012 team was a once in the lifetime experience. To meet and actually celebrate with sporting heroes such as Denise Lewis and David Beckham has to one of the most inspirational moments a young athlete or anyone - could have. I hope, now that London has won, everyone can be inspired between now and the year 2012."

Giles Long MBE, Triple Paralympic Gold Medallist Swimmer gave his comments from the athlete perspective, "To be part of an Olympic or Paralympic Games is the ultimate achievement for any athlete. This is not only completing for the highest accolade in your sport but it is also the friends you make from all over the world during the Games, all of this combined makes all the training you have done over the years feel worthwhile. To encourage other young people into sport, to have these amazing experiences is very important to me, that is why it is great to be here today to support London 2012 in its vision to embrace the enthusiasm of the next generation."

Jade Johnson, Olympic Long Jumper adds "It takes many hours of training to become an Olympic athlete, but once you are there experiencing the atmosphere of a Games, it is all more than worth it. I was completely behind the Olympic Bid for London, I was there to help inspire young people to imagine what it would be like to hold the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in their own country. I want to continue with this work during the build up to 2012 and help encourage young people to get involved in sport and most of all to enjoy it. Who knows I maybe even compete against some of them."

London 2012 also celebrated World Olympic Day with the launch of a new youth section on the London 2012 website www.london2012.com/celebrate. Called 'Be Part of It,' the site helps young people to learn how they can do just that be part of the London 2012 Games - and get involved as volunteers, via school project, as participants, as spectators and more!

-ENDS-

Notes to Editor: World Olympic Day marks the official establishment in 1894 of the International Olympic Committee, which oversees the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Olympic movement.

***Please Note: Photos of London 2012's Olympic Day celebrations will be made available through the Press Association in the usual way or by emailing pictures@pa.press.net

Today's Olympic Day celebrations will be followed by other activities next month to mark the one year anniversary of London's Olympic Bid win in Singapore on July 6th 2005. The excitement and achievements in the past year will be brought to life with sport and cultural activities in Trafalgar square on July 6th. A nationwide 2012 Roadshow will be launched from the square to begin its 3,000 mile journey visiting towns and cities across the whole of the UK. Its finale will be in Liverpool on the 27 July, exactly six years to the day before the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Games.

For further information please call the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100