London 2012 bid details are unveiled
Half of all tickets for the London 2012 Olympics would cost less than £30, ensuring the Games were accessible to all, Lord Sebastian Coe promised today.
He also pledged the Games would transform some of London’s most deprived areas and provide desperately needed sports facilities.
It would be one the most compact and “best-connected” Games ever, he said.
Lord Coe was speaking as the London 2012 bid team unveiled the full details of the 600-page bid document, which was submitted to the International Olympic Committee on Monday.
London is vying with Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.
Under the plans ticket prices for the London 2012 Olympics would start at £15 to allow people of all ages and all social backgrounds to watch Olympic athletes. Tickets for the Paralympics would start at £10 and virtually all would be less than £30.
The Games would be based around an Olympic Park in the East End, including the Olympic Village, which would house 17,000 athletes. 80 per cent of the athletes would be within 20 minutes of the village – making it one of the most compact Games ever.
The Games would also involve a massive investment in London’s public transport that would make the Games “the best-connected ever”. Ten rail lines would run into Stratford carrying 25,000 people an hour. Among them would be the “Olympic Javelin” rail line covering the distance between St Pancras and Stratford in seven minutes.
Lord Coe also promised Londoners the Olympics would leave “no waste, no white elephants”. No stadium or sports venue would be built unless it had an independently audited 25-year business plan.
“Londoners will not be left with facilities they can only press their noses up against,” he said.
After the Games, some stadiums would be packed up and moved to other parts of the country where they were most needed, he added. Equipment would also be given to those most in need.
