London Olympics 2012 general presentation

Introduction

After the Euro 2012 championship, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games is the second major event of the summer. Officially named the Games of the XXX Olympiad, the event will take place in London, United Kingdom, starting on 27 July until 12 August 2012.

The location was selected during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore on 6 July 2005, where London defeated the bids from other important cities like: Paris, New York City, Moscow and Madrid. Ken Livingstone, then Mayor of London, and former Olympic Champion Sebastian Coe played an important role in London`s selection.  After hosting the event two times in the past (in 1908 and 1948, London will become the first city to officially host the Olympic Games three times in the modern era.

Even though many of the hosting venues were already in place before the bid was accepted, London had made great efforts in order to construct a new 200 hectare Olympic Park. The new venue was created in the east side of the city, on a former industrial site. Sustainability was a key factor in the redevelopment process.

Here is the official song the 2012 London Olympic Games

Event`s venue and infrastructure review

Popular locations, like Horse Guards Parade and Hyde Park, will offer their new, historic and temporary venues for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games. While some of these venues were resized or relocated for the event, the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form.

The Central Zone, the River Zone and the Olympic Zone are the three zones within Greater London where the majority of venues have been divided. But there are some events which will take place outside the boundaries of Greater London. For example, Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, which is located on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, 125 miles southwest of London, will host the sailing events.

The torch relay

The traditional torch relay, which is held before the games, was scheduled to accomplish its route from 19 May to 27 July 2012. On 18 may 2011, the officials announced the torch-bearer selection after planning the relay in 2010-2011. On 18 May 2012, The Olympic Flame arrived on the United Kingdom`s ground on flight BA2012 coming from Greece. The relay was started from Land`s End in Cornwall and it will last 70 days until it reaches his final destination. There are almost 8.000 people who will have the opportunity to carry the torch on its 12.000 km journey, which contains six island visits and 66 evening celebrations.

On June 6, the torch leaved the United Kingdom for one day to a visit in Dublin. Besides the National Heritage Sites, the relay also includes green spaced and biodiversity, places with sporting significance and key sporting events.

Here are some highlights from the first day of the relay:

The medals

The medals for the Olympics Games were designed by David Watkins, while Lin Cheung was selected to create the medals for the Paralympics Games. Royal Mint, a government-owned company in United Kingdom, was selected to create the 4.700 medals. With a diameter of 88 mm and weighing 375-400g, the medals are 7 mm thick and present the sport and discipline engraved on the rim.

On the obverse side of the medal, we can find the Greek goddess of victory, stepping from the Parthenon, while on the reverse the medals present the River Thames, the Games logo and a series of lines representing “the energy of athletes and a sense of pulling together”.

On July 2012, the medals were stored in the vaults of the Tower of London.

The opening and closing ceremonies

Named “The Isles of Wonder”, the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics will be help on 27 July 2012. The artistic part of the ceremony will be directed by Danny Boyle, while Karl Hyde and Rick Smith will deal with the music. Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II will officially open the games, while at the end of the ceremony, the fans will be able to watch Sir Paul McCartney`s performance.

The closing ceremony, in which Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, will receive the handover from Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, will take place on 12 August 2012. Brazil will host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The Logo and Mascots

Both the bidding process and the Games themselves have a logo of their own. Kino Design created the first logo, which contains the River Thames from East London in its shape. The second logo was created by Wolff Olins, and it represents the number 2012, with the Olympic Rings embedded within the zero. The logo costs £400,000 and was revealed to the public on 4 June 2007.

On 19 May 2010, the officials unveiled to mascots for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympics Games. It was the second time in which the mascots were unveiled at the same time, after Vancouver. The mascots represent two drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton, and they are represented by the Wenlock and Mandeville animations. Wenlock comes from a small town in central Shropshire, names Much Wenlock, while Mandeville was named after a village from Buckinghamshire, Stoke Mandeville.