Olympic Testing Reaches Final Stages
UK Sport has been praised by the International Olympic Committee for its programme of events staged over the past six years in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as the final batch of official London 2012 test events get underway.
UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme, backed by £3.5 million per year of National Lottery funding (set to increase to £5 million post-2012), expanded in 2007 following London’s successful bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games to help ensure the UK’s athletes, officials and volunteers would be best prepared come 2012.
Over 100 major international events will have been brought to the UK as part of this 2007/12 programme, to help British athletes prepare for competing at a home Games.
UK Sport has worked in partnership with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to ensure that a number of the major international events on this programme will be staged in Olympic venues, providing LOCOG with the opportunity to test certain aspects of those events ahead of London 2012.
In 2011, UK Sport supported five major international events in Olympic and Paralympic host venues; the World Badminton Championships (Wembley), World Junior Rowing Championships (Eton Dorney), World Triathlon Championships Series (Hyde Park), BMX Supercross World Cup (Olympic Park) and the Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final (Greenwich Park).
This month, as this six year programme reaches its conclusion, two more major events will be taking place in Olympic Park venues; the Track Cycling World Cup (Olympic Park) which starts on Thursday, 16th February and the Diving World Cup (Olympic Park) from 20th to 26th February.
Gilbert Felli, IOC Olympic Games executive director, said: ‘Through their effort to proactively benefit from the London 2012 Games in the long term, UK Sport’s initiative is the proof that legacies of the Olympic Games do not simply happen by themselves.’
‘They require careful planning and a permanent focus. The positive result of UK Sport’s plans is now an example other host countries of the Games will be able to follow.’
Liz Nicholl, chief executive of UK Sport, added: ‘We believe we have set a blueprint for how a host nation can prepare for a home Olympic and Paralympic Games, and are very proud that this has been recognised by the IOC.’
‘The last few events to be staged ahead of the Games, such as the upcoming Track Cycling World Cup and Diving World Cup, offer further opportunities for the British public to help give our athletes, volunteers and officials the best possible final preparation for their home Games in 2012.’
‘Our focus now is on continuing this momentum into the next Olympic cycle, by staging an even more ambitious programme of events. We have made a great start, having already secured five World Championships for the 2013/19 period, including the 2017 World Athletics Championships, the sport’s most prestigious event.’
Aside from the performance benefits for British athletes and the boost to the UK’s capacity to attract major sporting events, it is estimated that for every £1 of National Lottery funding invested into these events, an average of £4.90 of additional direct economic impact is generated for the host city and region.
The full events programme from 2007/12 is therefore estimated to have generated in the region of £105 million of direct economic benefit to host cities and regions across the UK.
