Events | 2009.07.27
Game on to perfect Olympic ideal
Organisers of event face crucial decisions in the next 12 months about how to spend the £2bn budget
With exactly three years to go until the flame is lit at the Olympic Stadium – swiftly rising from a muddy building site in east London – organisers face a year of significant challenges. During the next 12 months the project will enter perhaps its most crucial period with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) moving from planning into operational mode as it makes crucial decisions about how to spend its £2bn budget. Meanwhile, the Olympic Delivery Authority that is responsible for constructing the venues will enter the busiest phase of the "big build" as the workforce doubles to 10,000. The key challenges include:
1 Keeping construction on time and on budget
Hopes that the ODA will be able to deliver the project within its £8.1bn budget despite the recession have been raised by good recent progress. The steel struts of the £538m stadium now dominate the Stratford skyline while the wavy roof of the £244m Zaha Hadid-designed Aquatics Centre, the signature architectural statement amid a sea of otherwise functional designs that will greet spectators as they enter the park, is beginning to take shape. According to a list of 10 promises released yesterday by the ODA, by next July the structure of the stadium will be finished, the two 50m swimming pools dug out and the Velodrome roof complete. The economic slump meant the ODA had to dip into its contingency budget to fund the £1.1bn athletes village and the £355m media centre after private investment dried up, but has also enabled it to cut costs elsewhere. Yet there remain fears about the ability of sub-contractors to weather the economic storm and ODA chairman John Armitt promised to guard against complacency. "The big challenge is the sheer scale of activity and the logistical challenge of managing the workflow," he said.
2 Find a home for some key sports
With less than three years to go, there remain question marks over some of the important venues. Locog is determined to hold the equestrian events in Greenwich Park, arguing that it will thrust the sport into the spotlight and provide a spectacular venue. But Nogoe, the local group set up to oppose the move, claims it will disrupt local residents and businesses. It will contest a planning permission application this autumn. A final decision will also have to be made on where to hold the shooting events. In March, Locog announced they would take place at the Royal Artillery barracks in Woolwich. But a back-up option in Barking has come back into play recently following Ministry of Defence concerns that there will not be enough room at Woolwich.
The final question mark surrounds whether or not Locog will be able to dispense with a £40m temporary venue originally planned for the Greenwich peninsula by moving boxing to Wembley Arena, then shifting rhythmic gymnastics and badminton to the Excel Centre. The International Boxing Association has made its opposition to the idea of bussing its athletes around the North Circular Road clear and Locog may yet have to build the temporary venue after all. Paul Deighton, Locog\'s chief executive, said all the outstanding issues would be "absolutely crystallised by the end of the year".
3 Devise ticketing plan
While they are unlikely to go on sale until July 2011, Locog has begun work on how the 9m tickets should be distributed and priced. It has started to draw up detailed marketing plans for each of the 26 Olympic sports, to work out how best to manage demand. For some sports, clubs will get priority while others with little traditional following in Britain, such as handball, will be marketed abroad.
Discussions with ticketing partner Ticketmaster have begun around how best to release tickets to ensure fair distribution. There are hopes to develop a Wimbledon-style system that will allow tickets from people who have left early or failed to turn up to be resold to those in the park or local schoolchildren in an attempt to avoid swathes of empty seats. There are also plans to sell tens of thousands of "non-event tickets" that will allow people entrance to enjoy the atmosphere of the park and to watch on big screens. "While there were some spectacular pieces of architecture in Beijing, it was difficult to create an atmosphere," said Deighton. "With the compact nature of what we\'ve got here, the undulations, the river and the features, we\'re very focused on creating that atmosphere within the park, rather than it just being somewhere where the venues happened to be plonked. People will be surprised at what a great destination it will be," he added.
4 Complete domestic sponsorship roster and choose a mascot
Locog announced yesterday it had brought in £530m towards its £650m domestic sponsorship target, but progress has been slower since the recession took hold. It has been praised for bringing in the majority of its £40m tier one sponsors before the full effects of the economic downturn took hold, but the final yards will be the hardest.
It is also heavily involved in helping the British Olympic Association and UK Sport attract backing from existing sponsors for their Team GB plan to raise money to help fill a £50m hole in the elite sport budget.
The appointment of licensees will also increase in the coming year, with 2012-related products becoming more visible as sponsors "activate" their investments and a range of merchandise goes on sale. The mascot will be chosen next year. Following the mixed reaction to the 2012 logo, Locog is putting its trust in the public to decide and will whittle down the contenders in the next few months before an online vote.
5 Get entire country behind the games
Ensuring that the Olympics effect is felt across Britain remains a priority. To date, much of the focus has been on the race to host training camps for the competing nations prior to the games, which will benefit local economies and boost interest.
Seventeen have been signed so far, most recently Manchester\'s deal to host Swimming Australia. Meanwhile, negotiations about the Olympic torch relay, which will tour landmarks in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland before returning to England and arriving in London in time for the opening ceremony, are continuing. Recruiting and training the army of 70,000 volunteers who will welcome visitors, chaperone VIPs and carry out other tasks will not begin until 2011 but planning is under way.
The "look and feel" of the games – from the branding on display to social networking projects – will increasingly become a priority over the next 12 months as marketing agency McCann Erickson gets to work on wooing the British public.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jul/27/olympics-2012-london-goals
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