The '12 London Games will begin one year from today, and organizers are "pleased with what they've done and confident they'll put on a great show," according to a sports section cover story by Traci Watson of USA TODAY. LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe said, "We stand exactly where we want to be. We've met every deadline. ... We're in good shape." Three of the Olympic Park's "five entertainment venues for Olympic competition are done," and the aquatics complex opened today during the official one-year-out ceremony. Former U.K. Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell noted that construction is "running ahead of schedule and below" its $13B budget. Watson notes U.K. officials "will discuss few details of their security plans, except to say that on the busiest days of the Games, there will be 9,000 police officers at work in London, many imported from departments across the country" (USA TODAY, 7/27). In London, Robin Scott-Elliot reported the Olympic Park is "now 88 per cent complete." Test events "around the city have begun, with the first one in the Park itself scheduled for 16 August in the basketball arena" (London INDEPENDENT, 7/26). In a special to the LONDON TIMES, Coe writes the Games are "absolutely on track." Coe: "The Olympic Park has already transformed the east London skyline and construction has been completed on several venues. ... Record fundraising is in place to stage the Games and we have a world-class team of experts working on the delivery of London 2012" (LONDON TIMES, 7/24). Coe added, "One year to go is a pretty defining moment. There is a mountain of work still to be done to turn the venues into sporting theatres" (London INDEPENDENT, 7/27).
VENUES ON SCHEDULE: NBC News' Peter Alexander appeared on "Today" this morning outside the Olympic stadium and reported officials "are saying that while the countdown is under way, they are also bang-on schedule in terms of construction for next summer's Games." Among the "heavily anticipated venues woven into the British capital, the Royal Horse Guard's parade -- the very site where billions watched William and Kate ride home on their wedding day this spring -- will host beach volleyball next summer." More than 4,000 tons of sand "will arrive just in time for what's being touted as the Games' crown jewel, right on the Queen's doorstep.” When asked what kind of challenge setting up the beach volleyball venue, LOCOG Volleyball Manager Bob Clarke said, “Putting it on the White House lawn, maybe, is about the same challenge” ("Today," NBC, 7/27). CNBC's Rebecca Meehan also was in London, reporting live from the Olympic aquatics center. She called the center “amazing” and noted the Olympic Stadium is “pretty much finished” ("Worldwide Exchange," CNBC, 7/27).
GUARANTEED SUCCESS? AROUND THE RINGS' Ed Hula wrote "only unforeseen calamity could throw these Olympics into trouble." A series of test events are "one of the acid tests of preparation," and they are "passing without significant incident." Hula: "Tribute must be handed to LOCOG for hiring staff who know sport and understand how each fits into the Olympics. With English as the mother tongue at LOCOG, we are hearing few complaints about the communication so essential between sports and the federations which supervise each competition" (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 7/26). But the GUARDIAN's Owen Gibson writes LOCOG "still has a huge task ... despite outward appearances." Each venue "must be 'fitted out,' a task that includes the laying of track in the main stadium, and several major temporary venues must be built from scratch." Those "include a 15,000 capacity hockey stadium, a 23,000 capacity arena for the equestrian events at Greenwich Park and a 15,000 seat bowl on Horseguard's Parade for beach volleyball" (GUARDIAN, 7/27). Still, Gibson yesterday noted London's preparations "have been well ordered compared with the rush to finish" venues for the '04 Athens Games and the "protests that preceded" the '08 Beijing Games (GUARDIAN, 7/26).
SECURITY A "HUGE ISSUE" IOC President Jacques Rogge said that security was a "huge issue" facing London. He noted security "has been the number one priority for every organising committee" since the '72 Munich Games. Rogge added that he "had been 'reassured'" by U.K. Minister for Sport & Olympics Hugh Robertson that the "resignations of the London Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, and the assistant commissioner John Yates would not affect the force's preparations for the Games" (GUARDIAN, 7/26). In L.A., Helene Elliott reports though the venues are "largely done, the security plan continues to evolve." Elliott: "Planners must guard against known threats and those they can only envision, requiring multinational cooperation and staggering costs." Plans are "based on the national terror threat during the Games being 'severe,' meaning an attempted attack is highly likely." Rogge said that he "trusts organizers' security strategy for the Olympics and subsequent Paralympics." Robertson added that security officials "will reexamine their plans following a bomb and shooting attack in Oslo by a radical anti-Islam Norwegian that killed more than 60 people" (L.A. TIMES, 7/27).
