London Unveils Unique Olympic Hockey Pitch
London 2012 has unveiled the first pitch at the Olympic Park’s Hockey Centre, set to welcome more than 780,000 spectators for next year’s Olympic hockey and Paralympic 5 and 7-a-side football competitions.
The competitions will be played on pink and blue pitches, with a yellow ball used for the first time in Olympic history. The colours are designed both to update the sport’s image and to make following the ball easier both live and on television.
The 16,000-seat Hockey Centre is a temporary stadium based at the northern end of the Olympic Park. It will include two pitches, one for competition and one for warm up. The main pitch will stage all of the 76 hockey matches which will be spread over 14 days of competition from 29 July to 11 August. There will be over 380 competitors from 24 teams competing in the men’s and women’s competitions.
The Hockey Centre will also be used to host both the 5 and 7-a-side Paralympic Football Competitions. The warm up pitch at the Hockey Centre will host the 5-a-side competition. The main pitch will host the 7-a-side competition.
David Luckes, head of sport competition at London 2012 organisers LOCOG, said: ‘We are delighted with how the main pitch at the Hockey Centre looks. The blue and pink pitch combined with the yellow ball will not only make following the ball easier, it also has a fantastic London 2012 feel. The player feedback has been excellent and we will continue to work together to ensure the pitches are perfect for the Games next year.’
Alex Danson from the Great Britain women’s hockey squad, who trained on the pitch at its opening, added: ‘It is great to be able to train on the pitch that we will be playing on during London 2012. Coming in to the Olympic Park makes everything very real and the excitement is really building within the squad.’
Jeff Davis, the FA’s national development manager for Disability Football, commented: ‘We’re hoping that Paralympic Football will be a big draw at London 2012 and I’m sure the brand new pitch and Hockey Centre will help create an exciting atmosphere for fans and players alike.’
