During the London 2012 Games, the Velodrome will host Track Cycling and Paralympic Track Cycling events
An 8m-high start ramp was installed
as well as temporary grandstands (3,000 capacity), event offices and spectator facil- ities, which were all in place in the weeks leading up to the test event. The start ramp will remain in place but
the temporary structures will be taken away until Games time when more exten- sive temporary overlay will be installed at the venue – including grandstands with a capacity of 6,000. The UCI BMX Supercross World Cup
was categorised as a full LOCOG test event, which meant that all relevant functional areas were provided close to full Games time service levels – to maxi- mise our cross functional learning. This fits well with the profile of this event, which is significant in its own right on the world BMX racing calendar.
How did you tackle the challenges relating to this event? We go through extensive planning cycles for each of the events to ensure that no major issues are discovered at the event time, however it is inevitable that there will be glitches from time to time which is accepted as a part of the process.
Issue 3 2011 © cybertrek 2011
We gather information that can benefit other test events and ensure issues are addressed quickly
From a ticketing and media interest
perspective, cycling is on an all time high in the UK with great interest in the British athletes and the build up to 2012. Ticket sales have therefore been strong for the events that have gone on sale so far. Likewise the broadcast ar- rangements in place will showcase the sport well and also provide observer opportunities at brand new venues for OBS (Olympic Broadcast Service). We developed detailed operational
plans around each functional area of operation and have been working to overcome any identified challenges. The events taking place on the Olympic
Park presented unique challenges in that they were effectively held in the centre of one of Europe’s largest con- struction sites. This had an impact on access routes, security levels and the gen- eral spectator experience that were all
slightly different to an event held in an existing well-established sports venue.
How is the test event feedback used to benefit the hosting of next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games? A debrief programme was in place to ensure that feedback and learnings were captured effectively. The first phase of this was to gather any information that is relevant and can be directly beneficial to other test events that are happening within the same cluster, and to ensure that issues are addressed as quickly as possible to improve other events. The second phase of this is more reflec-
tive to ensure that all venue/event specific issues are logged, that the views of the UCI, athletes and other stakeholders are captured and worked through in prepa- ration for London 2012. ●
Read Sports Management online
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