Ioc’s Rogge Makes U-turn On 2012 Olympic Stadium

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has performed a major U-turn by stating that the Olympic Stadium being built for London 2012 does not need an athletics legacy.

London 2012 organisers had outlined in the initial winning bid document for the Olympics that the stadium would retain its athletics track once the Games had finished but they have struggled to find anyone to take on the running of the arena in its current format.

A number of Premiership football clubs based in London have been approached to move to the new stadium with little success.

Rogge has now relieved this pressure by stating that the main concern for London 2012’s organisers should be to avoid leaving behind ‘white elephants’ as opposed to sticking resolutely to the plan that the stadium must retention its athletics legacy.
 
He said: ‘If the best solution is to transform the track into something else then we would be in favour of that. We had the same situation in Atlanta where the Olympic Stadium was changed into a baseball stadium, which kept an interest for sport.

‘We don’t have problems with that. I don’t want to enter into specifics but we don’t want to leave white elephants.’

Concerns about the implications of the promise of an athletics legacy have grown since 2005 and negotiations with potential ‘anchor tenants’ – professional teams who would make the venue financially viable – have failed to find a solution.

Talks with a number of different London-based football and rugby clubs have been dragging on for some time with the issue of keeping an athletics presence at the stadium is the main sticking point.

Tottenham were one of the clubs frequently suggested as a potential tenant but the Premier League outfit’s interest in a move east petered out long before they announced their intention to build a new ground next to their existing home.

The depth of opposition from football clubs to having an athletics track at the stadium presents a major headache for London 2012’s organisers, specifically the London Development Agency, which takes control of the Olympic site the moment the Paralympics finish.

John Armitt, the chairman of Olympic Development Agency (ODA), the body responsible for building the Games, has already admitted it is very unlikely a Premier League club will move to the stadium.

Armitt maintains a Football League or rugby club could use the venue as long as it kept its athletics track.

Commented Armitt: ‘We had a legacy commitment to ensure the stadium was to be used for athletes and athletics.

‘You then have to say, is it possible to mix a Premier League club with an athletics stadium? That’s not easy. I think the likelihood of those two things coming together was always slim because we have this commitment to athletics.

‘The plan is to reduce it in scale from an 80,000 to a 25,000-seat stadium. That’s how it is being designed, that’s how it is being built.

‘If you wanted to use it for a Premier League club you would have to completely redesign it and I think we have gone past that point.’

Rogge’s comments will please London Mayor Boris Johnson, who has voiced concerns about the long-term viability of the 2012 venues, but disappoint LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe and UK Athletics (UKA), who both wanted the Stratford site to become a focal point for British athletics.