SPORTS ANALYSIS
Ease of access to Olympic Games John Goodbody reports on
T
here is less than a year to go to the opening of the London Olympics and the excitement is palpably mounting. This is only
matched by the recognition and sur- prise that there are few major obstacles, apart from concern over the recent riots, to overcome before the Opening Cer- emony on 27 July 2012. With a year to go, the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) gave an initial seal of approval when its president, Dr Jacques Rogge, toured the Stratford com- plex, which may be a building site but there are still sufficient venues existing to demonstrate what a success this has been for the British construction industry. Much credit must go to the Olympic
Delivery Authority (ODA), which has been responsible for building the stadia and Olympic Village, and especially to the chair, John Armitt, who ultimately has been taking responsibility. The latest venue to be completed
was the aquatic complex and the first swimmers were allowed to try out the 50m competition pool on 27 July. I was one of the lucky ones chosen and it was invigorating to look up at the banks of seating and realise that in a year’s time the world’s greatest swimmers, such as Michael Phelps, will be doing the same. It appears that little can go wrong with
the building of the facilities. The velo- drome is ready and so is the £31m white water centre at Broxbourne, which was opened last December. It’s true that the Village is incomplete and I remain con- cerned about the post-Games economic viability of the main stadium, but else- where the work seems to have restored the international standing of Britain, af- ter the fiasco of Wembley, to finish major sports projects on budget and on time. I recall laughing at The Daily T
ele-
graph cartoon on the day after London got the Games. It showed a builder speaking into a mobile phone: ”Lord
Many train lines go to Stratford, which allows for alternative routes to the Games
London organisers are keen to persuade as many spectators as possible to use trains and tubes to get to the venues
Coe? Can we make that 2013?” He should have said 2011 given the way it has gone. The IOC could not be happier with the
progress, especially after the worries over Athens in 2004 and the early criti- cism of the Sydney organisers in 2000. Apart from a recurrence of rioting, what could prevent these Games from being a massive success? After all, Britain has enormous expe-
rience in staging major sports events, such as Wimbledon, the London Mara- thon, world championships in a wide number of sports and important foot- ball matches by the thousands. At this stage, the IOC has only one sig-
nificant worry – the road transport. The London organisers are keen to persuade as many spectators as possible to use trains and tubes to get to the Olympic Park, the Excel Centre and the other venues. Given the fact that there are so many different lines going into Strat- ford, if there is a problem, such as the breakdown of a train, it should be pos- sible for alternative routes to be used. At the Sydney Olympics, there was just one main railway line going to the main
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complex and if that had been closed, the Games might almost have come to a halt. Travelling by road in London, which
is how many athletes and officials will reach venues, is more tricky, even if the two biggest sports in numbers of com- petitors – athletics and swimming – are within walking distance of the Village. Denny Oswald, chair of the IOC inspec- tors, recently pointed out that traffic is difficult in every Olympic host city be- cause thousands of extra people have to move from one part of the city to another but there is a bigger problem in London because, he accepts, ”London is a difficult city for traffic anyway.” There will be Olympic lanes, which
will be used by about 75,000 people, such as athletes, officials, the media and the sponsors and their guests, who will largely move around in buses and private cars. Some side-roads will be blocked off and traffic light sequences altered when necessary. Will all this work well? I do hope so. ●
John Goodbody has covered 1 1 successive Olympic Games for the Sunday Times Issue 3 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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