London Bid 'Athletes Dream' says Olympic Champion, Cathy Freeman in special video message to Olympic Meeting
Brisbane, Australia - Catherine Freeman, hero of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, has sent a passionate video message to IOC members and Oceania National Olympic Committees for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be staged in London.
The highly acclaimed Australian Olympic gold medallist says in a video filmed earlier this week in Europe that London's combination of existing world famous sporting venues and cultural landmarks such as Wimbledon, the new Wembley, Lords and Hyde Park along with a new Olympic Park would provide the best venues and experience for athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Freeman, who used London as her European base in the years leading up to her historic gold medal winning performance at the Sydney Games, said the location of the Olympic Village inside London's Olympic Park was a key strength of the London bid.
"It's a dream for the athletes," Freeman says in the video, referring to the security, transportation and accommodation benefits from locating the main Olympic Stadium and other new competition venues no more than 500 metres from the Village.
The highly compact London Olympic Park will enable 50 per cent of athletes to compete and live inside the Park, just seven minutes by rail from central London. Eighty per cent of athletes would be less than 20 minutes from their venues.
The Freeman video was played at the start of a London 2012 Bid presentation to members of the Olympic Family, including IOC President Dr Jacques Rogge, IOC members and representatives of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) by dual Olympic gold medallist Lord Sebastian Coe in Brisbane, Australia.
The Olympic middle distance running legend promised that the London bid would provide the best Olympic Games conditions and facilities for athletes and team officials.
"We have put competitors at the heart of our plans and we will guarantee a place in the village at the heart of the Olympic Park for every athlete and official for the whole Games," said Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games bid.
"We will also make it easy for every NOC to undertake pre-Games training at state-of-the art facilities across the United Kingdom," he added.
Coe said staging the Olympic Games in London, one of the world's most popular and fashionable cities for young people, would also enhance the Olympic Movement by getting more young people across the world inspired and involved in the Olympic Movement.
"I've seen the Games transform lives. So the London Games will transform the lives of all those it touches not just in this generation, but in the next generation of young athletes and fans," Coe told delegates.
The presentation of the London 2012 Bid the fourth British Bid in 20 years - also included addresses from Craig Reedie, Chairman of the British Olympic Association and Keith Mills, Chief Executive and International President, who told delegates that the London Bid had negotiated legally binding agreements that would guarantee fixed and fair prices for hotel accommodation with no minimum stay requirements.
"We've been working hard to deliver the best ever experience for national Olympic committees," Mills said.
London's presentation also stressed that rooms for athletes in the London Olympic Village to be converted into private homes and affordable housing after the Games - would be the most spacious ever, with air conditioning, carpeted and properly furnished with broadband internet access and TVs carrying free feeds from national broadcasters.
The London Olympic Bid presentation also included a video message of welcome from London's Oceania communities, highlighting the passion within London's ethnically diverse communities for bringing the Olympic Games to the United Kingdom in 2012 and the 'home crowd' reception that would be given to Olympic athletes and teams.
-ends-
***Please Note: High quality broadcast digital video material and images of Cathy Freeman's video message of support for the London bid and other bid-related video information can be accessed by media FREE of charge by registering at www.thenewsmarket.com
Further images and information about the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Bid can be accessed by visiting the official website at www.London2012.com
For further information: please contact the London 2012 Press Office on + 44 20 7093 5100 or Michael Pirrie on +44 (0)7867 504856 (in Australia) or Jackie Brock-Doyle on +44 (0)787 678 5756 (in London).
Brisbane, Australia - Catherine Freeman, hero of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, has sent a passionate video message to IOC members and Oceania National Olympic Committees for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be staged in London.
The highly acclaimed Australian Olympic gold medallist says in a video filmed earlier this week in Europe that London's combination of existing world famous sporting venues and cultural landmarks such as Wimbledon, the new Wembley, Lords and Hyde Park along with a new Olympic Park would provide the best venues and experience for athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Freeman, who used London as her European base in the years leading up to her historic gold medal winning performance at the Sydney Games, said the location of the Olympic Village inside London's Olympic Park was a key strength of the London bid.
"It's a dream for the athletes," Freeman says in the video, referring to the security, transportation and accommodation benefits from locating the main Olympic Stadium and other new competition venues no more than 500 metres from the Village.
The highly compact London Olympic Park will enable 50 per cent of athletes to compete and live inside the Park, just seven minutes by rail from central London. Eighty per cent of athletes would be less than 20 minutes from their venues.
The Freeman video was played at the start of a London 2012 Bid presentation to members of the Olympic Family, including IOC President Dr Jacques Rogge, IOC members and representatives of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) by dual Olympic gold medallist Lord Sebastian Coe in Brisbane, Australia.
The Olympic middle distance running legend promised that the London bid would provide the best Olympic Games conditions and facilities for athletes and team officials.
"We have put competitors at the heart of our plans and we will guarantee a place in the village at the heart of the Olympic Park for every athlete and official for the whole Games," said Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games bid.
"We will also make it easy for every NOC to undertake pre-Games training at state-of-the art facilities across the United Kingdom," he added.
Coe said staging the Olympic Games in London, one of the world's most popular and fashionable cities for young people, would also enhance the Olympic Movement by getting more young people across the world inspired and involved in the Olympic Movement.
"I've seen the Games transform lives. So the London Games will transform the lives of all those it touches not just in this generation, but in the next generation of young athletes and fans," Coe told delegates.
The presentation of the London 2012 Bid the fourth British Bid in 20 years - also included addresses from Craig Reedie, Chairman of the British Olympic Association and Keith Mills, Chief Executive and International President, who told delegates that the London Bid had negotiated legally binding agreements that would guarantee fixed and fair prices for hotel accommodation with no minimum stay requirements.
"We've been working hard to deliver the best ever experience for national Olympic committees," Mills said.
London's presentation also stressed that rooms for athletes in the London Olympic Village to be converted into private homes and affordable housing after the Games - would be the most spacious ever, with air conditioning, carpeted and properly furnished with broadband internet access and TVs carrying free feeds from national broadcasters.
The London Olympic Bid presentation also included a video message of welcome from London's Oceania communities, highlighting the passion within London's ethnically diverse communities for bringing the Olympic Games to the United Kingdom in 2012 and the 'home crowd' reception that would be given to Olympic athletes and teams.
-ends-
***Please Note: High quality broadcast digital video material and images of Cathy Freeman's video message of support for the London bid and other bid-related video information can be accessed by media FREE of charge by registering at www.thenewsmarket.com
Further images and information about the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Bid can be accessed by visiting the official website at www.London2012.com
For further information: please contact the London 2012 Press Office on + 44 20 7093 5100 or Michael Pirrie on +44 (0)7867 504856 (in Australia) or Jackie Brock-Doyle on +44 (0)787 678 5756 (in London).
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