The eyes of the world will be on London on 27th July 2012 for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Ceremony will mark the beginning of the XXXth Olympiad.

London will be the first official country to host the Olympic Games three times, having done previously in 1908, and 1948. London was selected as the host city on 6th July 2005 after it beat out bids from Madrid, Moscow, New York City and Paris, to prevail and win the right to host the 2012 games. The bidding process for the 2012 Olympics was considered one of the most hotly contested in the history of the IOC. Following three failed consecutive United Kingdom bids (Birmingham in 1992 and Manchester in 1996 and 2000), it was decided that London was the only city in the UK that had a chance of being selected as the city to represent the United Kingdom and bid for the games.

The 2012 Olympic Games will take place from 27th July to 12th August 2012, and will feature approximately 204 participating nations, with an estimated 10, 500 athletes taking part in 302 events in 26 sports, and an expected 8 million tickets to be sold to these events. The Paralympics will also take place after the Olympic Games conclude, and will run from 29th August until 9th September. Below is a schedule for all the Olympic Games events, and when they are being staged -

During the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics will take place at venues in the Olympic Park, across London, and at out of London venues. The venues will be a mixture of new venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities, some of them in well-known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. Some of the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form, while others will be resized or relocated.

The Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, will be the central venue for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The Olympic Park is made up of the nine Olympic venues, listed below, plus the Olympic Village.

Located at the south-east corner of the Olympic Park, the Aquatics Centre will be the venue for swimming,  diving, synchronised swimming and the aquatics discipline of the modern pentathlon. It was designed by Zaha Hadid and features a spectacular wave-like roof that's 160m long and 80m wide.


  


The Basketball Arena, at the north end of the Olympic Park, will host the basketball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and the final stages of the handball competition during the London 2012 Games. The arena is one of the largest temporary venues ever built for any Games, with a capacity of 12,000




 

Eton Manor will host the wheelchair tennis during the Games. There will be nine competition courts and four warm-up courts with capacity for 10,500 spectators. Eton Manor, which is located on the site of the old Eton Manor Sports Club will also host training pools for swimmers and water polo players.






The Handball Arena also known as the "Copper Box" in the west of the Olympic Park has a capacity of 7,000 and will host the handball, goalball and the fencing discipline of modern pentathlon during the London 2012 Games. After the games, the venue will be transformed into a community sports centre for indoor sports.

During the games, the Hockey Centre will host the hockey, Paralympic 5-a-side football and the Paralympic 7-a-side football. The main competition pitch will have 16,000 seats and the
 warm-up pitch will seat 300. After the games, the pitches will be moved to the north and become part of the Eton Manor sports facilities.




The Olympic Stadium is located in the south of the Olympic Park and will host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as the athletics and Paralympic athletics during London 2012. The stadium will seat 80,000 people; 25,000 in permanent seats and 55,000 in a removable upper tier.






The Velodrome hosts track cycling and Paralympic track cycling during the London 2012 Games. The Velodrome seats 6,000; 3,500 seats around the track and 2,500 seats in two upper tiers within the venue's roof. After the games, a mountain bike course and road cycle circuit will be added to create a Velopark for East London.




The Water Polo Arena has a competition pool and a warm-up pool and will host the men's and women's water polo competitions during the London 2012 Games. The temporary arena seats 5,000 and is located in the south east corner of the Olympic Village; next to the Aquatics Centre.

The BMX Circuit will host the Olympic BMX competition during the London 2012 Games. The daredevil riders race around a 400m circuit which has jumps and obstacles. After the games, the BMX Circuit will become part of Lee Valley's new VeloPark.

The Olympic Village is located in the Olympic Park, within walking distance of the venues – enhancing the experience of athletes and officials who will stay there during the Games. The Olympic Village has residential apartments for around 17,000 athletes and officials during the Games, along with shops, restaurants, medical, media and leisure facilities, and large areas of open space. There are 11 residential plots, each made up of five to seven blocks built around communal squares and courtyards, with water features accentuating the closeness of the River Lea. Each apartment provides comfortable accommodation and state-of-the-art communications facilities, including internet access and wireless networking. The Village also includes a ‘Village Plaza’ where athletes can meet with friends and family. The plan retains London's tradition of building homes around communal squares and courtyards, with water features accentuating the closeness of the River Lea. 


Outside of the Olympic, other locations across London such as, Parks, world-class sports venues, entertainment arenas and exhibition spaces will be used for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. While some, like Wimbledon and Lords, are familiar to sports fans around the world, others, such as Horse Guards Parade and Earls Court will be hosting sporting competitions for the very first time. Below are some of the London Olympic venues outside of the Olympic Park complex, which will be hosting Olympic and Paralympic events in 2012. 

The 2012 volleyball competition will be held at Earls Court, watched by up to 18,000 spectators. The existing exhibition space was first opened in 1937; at the time, its 40,000 square metres space was unprecedented. Earls Court is in west London, close to the Victoria and Albert, Science and Natural History Museums.

London 2012 events at ExCeL London include: boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling, boccia, paralympic table tennis, paralympic judo, paralympic powerlifting, volleyball (sitting), and wheelchair fencing. Test events will be held in 2011 to ensure the venue is ready.

Greenwich Park will host the equestrian events – jumping, dressage and eventing, paralympic equestrian – and modern pentathlon events during the Games. The main arena holds 23,000 spectators. Greenwich Park is London's oldest Royal Park, dating back to 1433. It has been a World Heritage Site since 1997.

Horse Guards Parade dates from 1745 and takes its name from the soldiers who have protected the monarch since 1660. The parade ground, which hosts Trooping the Colour on the Queen's official birthday each year, will host the beach volleyball competition in 2012, in front of a crowd of 15,000.

Huge and centrally located, Hyde Park will host the triathlon and marathon swimming during London 2012. Temporary seats will be built in June 2012 for the 3,000 spectators who'll watch the finishing area for these events. Hyde Park will also house music, theatre, film and cultural events throughout the summer of 2012.

Lord's Cricket Ground has been home to cricket since 1814 and hosts both test matches and one day international matches; during London 2012, however, archery will take central stage at this iconic venue. Comparatively little preparation will be needed to get this world-class 6,500-seater venue ready for the Games.

In 2012, the North Greenwich Arena will host artistic gymnastics, trampoline gymnastics and the basketball finals during the Olympic Games; then, a few weeks later, you can see wheelchair basketball during the Paralympic Games. The Arena will hold 20,000 spectators for the basketball finals and 16,500 for the gymnastics.

Four temporary indoor ranges for pistol and rifle shooting will be built with outdoor shotgun ranges for trap and skeet events at The Royal Artillery Barracks in South East London for both the Olympic and Paralympic shooting during the Games. The barracks will also host the Paralympic Games Archery competition.

Wembley Arena, a fantastic live music and sport venue in North West London will host the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events at the London 2012 Olympics. The Badminton World Championships will take place at the venue in August 2011, acting as a test event for the 2012 Games.




 

Wembley Stadium is a 90,000-seat stadium in North West London, which will host the football at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Wembley Stadium is around 10km from the city centre, its stunning arch is more than 130m high and it comes with a sliding roof to protect against bad weather.






 

Wimbledon is the home of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and the setting for the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament since 1877. It is the only remaining major grass-court tennis venue in the world. The tennis competition for London 2012 will be held here, in front of up to 30,000 people.




At the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the canoe, kayak, rowing and sailing events will be held on various waterways in and around the London area. Mountain bike cycling will take place on a new course in Essex, about 65km from Central London. There are numerous venues for the London Olympics, which are located outside of London, and they are listed below -

About 40km from London, near Windsor Castle, this area is home to both Eton College and Lake Dorney. The lake, where rowing and flatwater canoe/kayak and Paralympic rowing will be held, features a 2,200m, eight-lane course with a separate return lane recently constructed to international standards by Eton College. Eton Dorney will host up to 30,000 spectators each day during the Olympic Games. Eton Dorney is located next to the river Thames.

Hadleigh Farm is located to the east of London, in Essex. It's owned by the Salvation Army, and covers a 550-acre site including beautiful grassland and woodland, including Hadleigh Castle Country Park. The site is hilly with open grass land covered by low shrubbery, and offers fantastic gradients for mountain biking and great viewing opportunities for spectators.


 

The Lee Valley White Water Centre is 30km to the north of the Olympic Park, near Waltham Cross. During the London 2012 Games, the course will be used for canoe slalom events, hosting 12,000 spectators each day. The centre features world-class runs, including a permanent 300m competition course and a 100m warm-up course. It will be a major centre for white water rafting as well as canoeing and kayaking both before and after the Games, when it will be operated by Lee Valley 
Regional Park Authority.

Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour provide some of the best natural sailing waters in the UK, with facilities on land to match. This will be the venue for the Olympic and Paralympic sailing competitions. The site has already hosted numerous international sailing events, including the 2006 ISAF World Youth Championships, attended by more than 60 nations. 

There are also several venues outside London, that will host football matches for the 2012 London Olympics, these include Old Trafford in Manchester, City of Coventry Stadium in Coventry, Hampden Park near Glasgow in Scotland, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales,  and St James' Park in Newcastle.  


The 2012 Olympic Games will bring millions of people to the Capital to experience the excitement of the games. Public transport and the roads will need to operate differently. London's public transport was an element of the bid, which was scored poorly in the IOC's initial evaluation; however, they felt that if the improvements were delivered in time for the Games then London would cope. Transport for London (TfL) carried out numerous improvements in preparation for 2012, including the expansion of the London Overground's East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line and the introduction of a new "Javelin" high-speed rail service, using the Hitachi Corporation's "bullet" trains. The platforms at Stratford International Station (which are at a height designed for Eurostar trains) will be temporarily raised to accommodate the Javelin trains. According to network rail an additional 4,000 train services will run during the Games, with train operators putting on longer trains during the day.

More than £125 million ($200 million AUD) has been invested to treble the main Olympic station Stratford capacity and improve accessibility. The enhancements will help the station meet the demands of the Games and the growing needs of commuters and the local community for decades. It is believed that Stratford will be used by around half the spectators visiting the Olympic Park during the Games, with 10 different lines serving the station, which will make it one of the most connected stations in London. London 2012 is aiming for 100 per cent of spectators to get to the Games by public transport, or by walking or cycling. All the tickets purchased for events at the games include free public transport. Below is a picture of the new "Javelin Bullet" trains to be used at the games, and a map of London with 26 highlighted areas of expected congestion due to the games.

A total of £8.1 billion ($12.8 billion AUD) was made available to the budget for the 2012 London Olympics, according to recent reports, this has sky-rocketed to £11 billion ($17.3 billion AUD), £2.9 billion over the budget. Apparently the cost of security, has almost doubled to £553million, after initially it was believed that it would only cost £282million. Below is a breakdown of all the costs for the 2012 London Olympics:

Site preparation and infrastructure total: £1.94 billion
This includes work on: power lines, £282 million; utilities, £255 million; enabling works, £364 million; structures such as bridges and roads, £830 million, and other infrastructure, including landscaping, £206 million.

Venues total: £1.2 billion.
This includes: the main stadium, £496 million; other Olympic Park venues, £574 million, and non-Olympic Park venues, £101 million.

Transport: £897 million.
This includes: Stratford regional station, £119 million; contribution to DLR upgrade, £86 million, Thorntons Field relocation, £47 million; contribution to North London Line upgrade, £110 million; other transport capital projects, £178 million, and other transport operating expenditure, £357 million.

Other parkwide projects total: £868 million.
This includes: logistics for site construction, £337 million; section 106 and master planning, £127 million, and security for park construction, £354 million.

Other costs include:
The government is forecast to contribute £492 million towards the cost of the broadcast and media centres and Olympic village.
The programme delivery, including provision for performance-related payments, £647 million, and corporation tax and net interest, £73 million.

 
Strong partnerships with national and international businesses are a critical must for staging the Olympic Games. As the Olympic Games are one of the most effective international marketing platforms in the world, many organisations and companies jump on board to become partner. As the games reach billions of people in over 200 countries it is a great opportunities to showcase companies such as Coca Cola as a ‘leading brand’

Each level of sponsorship entitles companies to different marketing rights in various regions, category exclusivity and the use of designated Olympic images and marks. There are four categories in which are shown below:

The world Olympic partners (Coca Cola, Panasonic, McDonald's etc.) agreement requires a minimum of four years' commitment. As this is the highest level of Olympic sponsorship it provides the major sponsors with exclusive worldwide marketing rights to not only the summer games but also the winter and youth Olympic Games too. All levels of sponsors are able to develop marketing programmes with various members of the Olympic Movement and Organising Committees.
Worldwide Olympic sponsors and partners will receive and be able the:

• Use of all Olympic imagery, as well as appropriate Olympic designations on products
• Hospitality opportunities at the Olympic Games
• Direct advertising and promotional opportunities, including access to Olympic broadcast advertising
• On-site concessions/franchise and product sale/showcase opportunities
• Ambush marketing protection
• Acknowledgement of their support though a broad Olympic sponsorship recognition programme

The London Olympic Games commercial partnerships will accounts for more than 40% of revenues and these partners will provide vital technical services and product support to the whole of the Olympic organisation.

 
An incredible 70,000 unpaid volunteers will be contributing their own time to successfully help make sure the 2012 London Olympic runs as smooth as possible. These volunteers also known as ‘Games Makers” will contribute a total of around 18 million hours through the duration of in which the event will be running for.
The ‘Games Makers’ will participate in a variety of roles across all venues around London. Things such as welcoming visitors to the event, transporting athletes or even helping out behind the scenes in the Technology team to make sure the results get displayed as quickly and accurately as possible will all be roles some volunteer will embark in. After months of planning in September 2010 recruitment started to take place to find fill volunteers positions for the games. Looking for inspirational, open-mind, respectful, team-focused, people with a 'can do' attitude, they received over 240,000 applications and interviewed close to 100,000 candidates across venues around the UK. The 70,000 successful applicants are attending at least three training/development sessions to make sure they are as prepared as possible for their role during the games. Many volunteers have also taken part in the London Prepares series test events. Giving them invaluable experience and a greater knowledge on how a large sporting event is staged and run.
These volunteers come from range of communities and backgrounds, from across the UK and around the world. Most of the ‘games maker’ we will see are giving up at least 10 days to volunteer during the Games.
On top of these volunteers a further 2000 16-18 year old kids will also volunteer their time through the young game maker program. The young game makers will help out in roles on the field of play, for example raking the sand during the Beach Volleyball competition at Horse Guards Parade. Working in teams, each young game makers group will have a team leader (older volunteer) to guide throughout the games.

An estimated 8 million ticket will be available over the Olympic Games with a further 1.5 million tickets for the Paralympics games. Organiser believed 82% of available Olympic tickets and 63% of Paralympics tickets will be sold, looking to rise over 500 million dollars in ticket sales. Ticket prices ranged from $25 dollars for most events to the most expensive being the opening ceremony, which tickets were up to over $2500 for a seat.

There will also be free events, which the public can go see. Events for example marathons, triathlons, road cycling will be able to be viewed live with no expense, although for the 1st time in Olympic history the sailing events will be ticketed. Free tickets were also given military personal and children being able to win tickets towards the games. Olympic organizers also gave free tickets to survivors and families of those who died during the London bombings back in July 2005.

At first people were able to apply for tickets via a webpage from the 15th of March until the 26th of April 2011. There was a huge demand for tickets, with 1.8 million people applying for over 20 million tickets 3 times more than tickets available in the 1st round.  As a result of this wide demand for tickets over 50% of the tickets went to a random ballot leaving more than half the people who applied without any tickets. The process was widely criticized, with many customer group angered and in disagreement with the organizers of this system. However Lord Coe and the LOCOG insisted that this was the most fair and effective system of allocating tickets. A second round of ticket sales for events went to the public between 23rd of June through to the 3rd of July 2011. These tickets were the ones that failed to sell in the 1st round sales, with priority given to those who missed out in the 1st allocation process. With this 2nd round some events were sold out in a matter of 15 minutes when bidding open at 8am.