Planning the London Olympic Games 2012
A London Underground train decorated to promote London's Olympic bid. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The London 2012 Olympics will be a huge international event. If you’re planning a trip to London for the Olympic Games this summer, you should have all the essentials sorted by now, such as flights and accommodation. Make sure you don’t forget all the last-minute arrangements either, like your travel insurance. This will be a trip of a lifetime, and so it’s essential to be totally prepared. Planning a holiday is a big deal, but planning the Olympics is even bigger! The following are some of the major elements involved in planning the London Games.
The Games
The 2012 Olympic Games will consist of thousands of athletes competing in 26 sports, making the scheduling a huge organising task on its own. In order to coordinate heats, finals, press conferences, medal ceremonies and so on for the 10,500 Olympic athletes and over 4000 Paralympians, some of the world’s best event-organising talent will be required. On the busiest day of the Games, some 800,000 people will crowd 36 venues to catch a glimpse of the action, while hundreds of millions will watch the telecast sent around the world, making it one of the biggest stages ever set.
Volunteers
Up to 70,000 volunteers or ‘Games Makers’, will help make the London 2012 Olympics a reality, taking on tasks such as being airport welcomers, billets for athletes and their families, marshals during the Torch Relay, and many more. Volunteers don’t get to choose their job; instead, they will be assigned a task based on their skills and experience, making volunteer placement another huge undertaking. Without the volunteers, the Olympic Games simply could not happen.
Infrastructure
Providing venues for all of the events requires intricate timing and management. In order to accommodate every need, the London Games are building a host of new venues while also making use of some existing ones. For example, famous London areas like Hyde Park will play key roles in the Games, while an entirely new utilities infrastructure is being installed to service the Lower Lea Valley both during and after the Games.
Security
Organising security for an event as big as the Olympic Games is a truly mammoth undertaking. Safeguarding against acts of terrorism, public disorder and even natural disaster will involve thousands of police, soldiers, secret intelligence officers, medics and so on. London will likely be the safest place on earth during the course of the 2012 Games.
The Olympic Village
Consisting of 2818 apartments, the Olympic Village is an enormous undertaking in its construction, operation and management. The Village itself will be a shining example of world-class hospitalitymanagement, home to thousands of officials and athletes alike, and will be equipped with its own shops, restaurants, medical facilities and even a fitness complex. A special shuttle service, the High Speed 1 Javelin, will be established, enabling access from the Village to downtown London in just seven minutes. After the Games, these Olympic Village apartments will become homes for Londoners, with 1379 of them marked for affordable housing.
The Olympics is not just a sporting event, it is also a corporate and cultural gathering of massive proportions, making its planning and running one of the most challenging events on the planet. Considering the years of planning and work already done by the London Olympic Committee, this year’s Games look like being better than ever. Now all you have to do is get your passport, your tickets, some cheap travel insurance, and get ready for watching sporting history in the making!
