LONDON, 18 February 2005 — The Olympic commission inspecting London’s bid to host the 2012 Games toured the sites of proposed venues yesterday and saw plans to regenerate the deprived East End.
The 13-strong commission also heard plans for accommodating the fans and athletes.
One proposal called “Home Stay” would offer the families of Olympic athletes free accommodation with London families, touted by the London organizers as an important cultural bond that would enhance the Games.
“This is going to be a voluntary program where we are going to ask Londoners to make accommodation available free of charge,” Simon Clegg, British Olympic Association chief executive, told reporters yesterday.
“This worked very well in Sydney and proved to be very popular. We will try and match up people’s cultural and sporting interests and language skills to offer a unique cultural experience for athletes’ families visiting London.”
Since starting their inspection on Wednesday, the commission have heard presentations on the Games’ likely legacy, transport and lodging.
Yesterday they visited proposed venues such as the main Olympic site in Stratford, east London, Wembley Stadium and the Dome. The commission also drove through the tunnel that will link Kings Cross in central London and Stratford when the Channel Tunnel rail link is complete.
If London wins the right to host the 2012 Games, the Olympic village will be within the Olympic park, making it one of the most compact Games ever.
“With the accommodation we wanted the efficiency of Sydney, the quality of living and accommodation in Athens and to create a carnival atmosphere as in Barcelona in 1992,” Clegg said.
“Athletes are here to compete not commute.”
Today, the commission will have dinner with Queen Elizabeth and meet Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The inspectors, who began their five-city tour in Madrid, will next travel to New York, then Paris before finishing in Moscow in mid-March.
The IOC will announce the winning city in Singapore on July 6.
The 14-member International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation commission were visiting existing London venues, as well as the Stratford site, which would stage events in 2012 if the city won the right to stage the Games.
These included the new Wembley Stadium (football), the Dome (gymnastics), Lord’s Cricket Ground (archery), Horse Guards Parade (beach volleyball), Wimbledon (tennis), Eton Dorney (rowing), Greenwich Park (equestrian) and the Excel Center (boxing table tennis weightlifting and martial arts).
Although they were traveling around London mainly by coach, part of their journey was to take place on the London Underground’s Jubilee Line.
Earlier this week Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, admitted: “My nightmare scenario is that we all get on a Tube and it breaks down.”
Among the British sports stars who were due to meet the evaluation commission at various venues were England football great Sir Bobby Charlton and four-time Olympic rowing champion Sir Matthew Pinsent.
The commission is led by Moroccan Nawal El Moutawakei, the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal when she won the 400 meters hurdles at the same 1984 Los Angeles Games where London bid chief Sebastian Coe claimed his second 1500m gold.
The commission completes its assessment of London tomorrow, having already visited one of its four rivals in Madrid.
