Olympic Park progress images released as IOC Coordination Commission visits London

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has today released new images showing the progress that has been made on the Olympic Park now that construction work has started on all of the ‘big five’ venues – Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Olympic Village, Velodrome and International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre (IBC/MPC).

The images are released as the International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission visits the capital for a progress update on London’s plans for staging the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The IOC visit will include a tour of the Olympic Park so that the delegation can see for themselves the progress being made on the ground.

ODA Chairman John Armitt, said: 'Construction has now started on all of the Olympic Park’s ‘big five’ venues and it is clearly visible how much progress has been made on the site since the IOC Coordination Commission visited last year.

'The Olympic Stadium has changed the east London sky line, the Aquatics Centre roof is starting to take shape and the first residential blocks for the Olympic Village are out of the ground.

'As well as constructing new world-class venues, work is steadily taking place on creating the new infrastructure that will be the backbone of the Olympic Park for both the Games and the development after 2012. New energy and sewer networks, roads, bridges and revitalised waterways and new urban parklands will join together to create a new part of London.'

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: 'Seeing the Olympic Stadium and other venues on the Olympic Park taking shape is really exciting. These are world-class facilities which will leave a lasting legacy for elite athletes and the community.'

The images released today show how much the Olympic Park has changed since the IOC Coordination Commission visited the site last May when construction started on the Olympic Stadium.

The latest set of aerial shots, taken earlier this month, show:

• eight sections of the Olympic Stadium’s roof in place and the concrete terracing slabs installed in the South and West stands
• the first section of the 2,800-tonne Aquatics Centre steel roof reaching across the temporary support trestles and the north-east roof supports reaching 12m out of the ground
• the pile caps of the foundations of the Velodrome
• the  first residential blocks and lift shafts coming out of the ground on the Olympic Village site
• piling rigs in the north of the IBC/MPC site which started construction work last Friday

Notes to Editors

The images can be viewed and downloaded for editorial use:
http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr123407786

A new fly-through of the Olympic Park, narrated by Jonathan Edwards, can be viewed on the London 2012 website.
 
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For further information please contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 700.

The construction of the venues and infrastructure of the London 2012 Games is funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency.

Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog.