London 2012 Olympic Games 'to cripple capital transport'

Transport for London highlighted the issue by calling on small businesses to avoid using transport hotspots completely while the Games are on.

A million extra passengers a day are expected on train and bus services during next year’s event, which was intended to be a ‘public transport Games’, according to Boris Johnson.

The mayor’s transport commissioner, Peter Hendy, was quoted as saying: ‘I am not going to be responsible for a transport mess like Atlanta’ – referring to the 1996 competition where an overstretched travel network buckled and caused athletes to miss events.

RMT union head Bob Crow warned that the capital risked ‘a global Olympics travel embarrassment on a massive scale’.

Mr Crow added: ‘It could be like New Year’s Eve every night for three weeks. We support the Olympics but we’re in a situation where we’ve got rid of 600 staff from ticket offices and they are now searching for volunteers.

‘If there was a Mumbai-type bomb attack, what would happen? Stations will close, roads will be cordoned off, lorries won’t be able to make deliveries. We need to work out a plan where there is flexibility for staff.’

London’s transport system, described as ‘obsolete’ by the International Olympic Committee in 2004, has been undergoing a series of upgrades in response.

But Mr Hendy expressed optimism last night, saying the billions of pounds invested in the network was creating a better service for users.

He said: ‘We’re already working with businesses to manage demand. We’re confident we will get all athletes, officials and spectators to their events on time and keep London moving.’

Via: Metro

Pamela Anderson London 2012 Olympics

Pamela Anderson was brought up to date with all things Boris Johnson – and Olympics – when she attended the Vivienne Westwood catwalk show at London Fashion Week on Saturday night.

Her date for the evening was the Mayor of London's head of marketing Daniel Ritterband, who was overheard convincing her the athletic action at Stratford would be well worth returning for.

The breakdancing Business secretary

Boris was so upbeat about the economic impact of the London 2012 Olympics he said Business Secretary Vince Cable would not only be smiling, he would be breakdancing down Whitehall.

Johnson didn't give any hint as to which sectors would boom, but noted of previous Games: "In Beijing people made money out of the vast types of beers and in Sydney, I am told, they made money out of flat screen televisions and sales of condoms".

Read More: Telegraph.co.uk

London Summer Olympics 2012 Tickets Online

Preparations for the London Summer Olympics 2012 Games are moving forward and the new main venues and infrastructure in the Olympic Park is soon finished. The organizers of the London Summer Olympics 2012 estimate that some 8 million tickets would be available for the Summer Olympic Games in London 2012. Reserve your tickets for the great event now with our secure online ticket reservation service.


Click here to book your Ticket


or Click here for Buying Tickets.

Coaching for London 2012 Olympic gold

A leadership development company is helping train some of Britain’s top sports coaches in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.

The Inspirational Development Group has been enlisted by UK Sport, the UK’s high performance sports agency, to work with the coaches to unlock their potential and develop leadership skills that can be applied within their own sport and the wider sporting community.

The group of coaches on UK Sport’s Elite Coach Programme, who are drawn from sports such as hockey, swimming and athletics, will also undertake part of their training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, where IDG has a partnering agreement.

Gemma Morgan, IDG’s programme director said: “We are proud to be working with the UK’s top sporting coaches. The parallels between the sporting, commercial and military arenas are very evident and holding elements of the Elite Coach Programme at Sandhurst will allow us to provide the coaches with a first-class and inspiring environment.”

The organisation, which draws on the military experience of many of its team, believes it is unique in the way it teaches leadership - by incorporating the military ethos of followership in its programmes.

“The concepts behind sport and warfare in one way go hand in hand – there is a very close relationship between the principles of war and the mindset needed by elite athletes to operate under extreme pressure and in situations were not everything is within their control,” said Morgan, herself a former Army Officer in the Royal Logistic Corps. 

Source: 

http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/2149.html

Olympic Park london 2011

London Olympics: 50 weeks to go: Bikes and Basketball open first

• Olympic Park holds test events this week
• Surrey hosts road practice event

The Olympic Park will hold test events this week,
including cycling and basketball. Photograph: Rex Features

A big week ahead for the Olympic Park as it holds inaugural test events ahead of the games, the first chance for competitors to use the facilities and for spectators to attend the venue.


Basketball goes first on Tuesday, with an invitational tournament, but perhaps more interesting for youngsters not looking for a confrontation with plod is the first go on the brand new, purpose-built BMX track at the World Cup event that starts on Friday.


It marks the first step at the end of a very long journey for James Bulley who began working on London's bid in 2003 and is now Locog's Director of Venues. "To have spent all this time planning and preparing, to get your hands on a venue and actually put some sport on at the Olympic Park and seeing the event take place is going to be a pretty thrilling moment for us," he said.


When the riders start down the eight-metre ramp on to a track made of approximately three Olympic swimming pools worth of dirt, it will be a satisfying moment for the director: "I look back over these last eight years, and this has not been something that we have just been quietly and happily ploughing away at there's always challenges … But to get to this stage, where we're putting on events in venues that have been built on time and to budget – it's really quite exciting."


In legacy terms, there is much to be excited about here as well. The BMX track will be reconfigured to suit all ages and abilities, then joined with the Velodrome, a road cycle circuit and mountain bike course as part of the new "VeloPark" a public hub for the sport.


But that remains a long way off. For Bulley, this is the start of the home straight. "In January we take over the Olympic Park in its entirety. Whereas it's been a building site for the last four years, it becomes a living breathing operational site for us," he said. "We're absolutely now on a countdown."


Read more at: Guardian

London Olympics Tweet Map

There is one year to go to the 2012 London Olympics. A number of events are being held in London to celebrate the occasion (including the flying of musical hot air balloons).

CASA is tracking all of today's Twitter messages that include the hashtag '1yeartogo' and have created a nice heat map of all the Tweets.

The map is actually a little sneak preview of a new heat map visualisation that will be made available to the general public in the next few weeks on MapTube. CASA are responsible for some of the best Google Maps tools (for example the CASA Image Cutter) so I can't wait to play with this new heat map tool when it is released.


GoogleMap Mania