Austin's Travel Blog

As the excitement surrounding London 2012 develops, attention turns to the incredible venues that are going to host all of the sporting action for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. From London’s well-known sports venues like Lord’s Cricket Ground, to the new, state-of-the-art Olympic Stadium, London 2012 will certainly impress.

The 2012 olympics and paralympics will even make full use of a number of London’s famous landmarks, providing an amazing backdrop for this momentous occasion.

Current Sports Venues for London 2012

London is home to many of the most well-known sporting locations and sport venues on earth, and London 2012 is the perfect opportunity to see them at their very best.

Usually linked to conferences and exhibitions, ExCel London is going to be used during the 2012 olympics and paralympics to host a variety of sports activities, such as:

* Boxing

* Fencing

* Olympic and Paralympic Table Tennis

* Wheelchair Basketball

Olympic Volleyball is going to be organised at the 15,000-seat Earls Court, another well-known London convention center.

London’s renowned sporting institutions will of course be called into action for The london 2012 olympics. Lords Cricket Ground will host the Archery, while Wimbledon is going to welcome the Tennis to its world famous grass courts.

Wembley Stadium, aka the home of football, is going to host the Olympic football events during The london 2012 olympics. The main difference between Olympic football and FIFA football, which is usually played at Wembley, is the fact that all players are amateurs.

As one of London’s latest venues, The O2 has by now firmly established itself as a world class multi-purpose venue. Along with lots of extraordinary concerts, The O2 has hosted several renowned sporting events, such as boxing, basketball, netball and tennis.

During London 2012, The O2 will be renamed North Greenwich Arena 1, and will host the Basketball and Gymnastics finals. Next door, North Greenwich Arena 2 (a brand new, short-term venue), will feature Volleyball, Badminton and Rhytmic Gymnastics.

Completely new Olympic Park Will open for London 2012

The brand new Olympic Park in Eastern London is definitely the main location for the 2012 Olympic games. In it, some amazing, purpose-built venues will build a long lasting sporting heritage for London. The brand new venues include:

* Aquatics Centre

* Basketball Arena

* VeloPark

* Handball Arena

* Hockey Centre

The innovative 80-000-seat Olympic Stadium is going to be the central venue within the Olympic Park. It will host all the athletics events during London 2012 and is also going to be the location for the opening and closing events.

London Landmarks Turn into Sporting Locations for London 2012

Greenwich Park is set to become a spectacular location for the Modern Pentathlon, Olympic Equestrian and Paralympic Equestrian events. A beautiful World Heritage Site, it will be converted into a cross-country course with arena for 23,000 spectators for The london 2012 olympics.

The historical Royal Artillery Barracks, which dates back to 1776, will provide an ideal location for the Olympic Shooting events. Temporary outdoor and indoor ranges are going to be constructed specifically for London 2012, together with grandstands for 7,500 spectators.

The Road Cycling course will make use of a number of London’s very best open spaces, including Regent’s Park and Hampstead Heath, where it’s going to reach its exciting conclusion in front of 3,000 seated spectators.

Elsewhere in Hyde Park a non permanent construction will be built for spectators to enjoy the Open Water Swim and Olympic Triathlon in the Serpentine. Among London’s largest open areas, Hyde Park will also host a series of cultural events to accompany London 2012.

Well known as the home of the annual Trooping The Colour ceremony to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday, Horse Guards Parade will provide an unconventional venue for The london 2012 olympics! The 250-year-old courtyard will be filled up with sand and a temporary arena is going to be built to host the Olympic Beach Volleyball competition.

Get more info about London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games venues

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• London 2012: over a million people sign up for Olympics tickets (telegraph.co.uk)
• Organizers able to develop London 2012 venues (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Technorati Tags: london, london 2012, lympics games, Travel

This entry was posted on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 2:04 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.