Mayor Reveals Year To Go Plans

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has announced that London will mark one year to go until the 2012 Games with a unique ceremony in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday 27th July which will be broadcast live in the UK and around the world on BBC One.

The ceremony will be attended by the Mayor, IOC President Jacques Rogge, LOCOG Chairman Sebastian Coe, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson among others.

The ceremony will include an official invitation from the IOC President to the world’s athletes to compete at the 2012 Games and the Mayor inviting the world to come to London to celebrate the Games next summer.

Audiences will also get the first glimpse of how London will look when key buildings and parts of the city are ‘dressed’ for the 2012 Games.

In a unique moment, televised live as part of the ceremony and beamed into living rooms and onto screens in Trafalgar Square, Olympic hopeful Tom Daley will make the first dive into the pool at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park.

The ceremony will close with the unveiling of the design of the medals for the 2012 Games.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: ‘With the London Games just a year away this ceremony marks the most important milestone to date on the journey to the London Games’.

‘We will be looking forward to next summer with great excitement. Our venues are nearly all complete and our preparations to ensure all our visitors can experience the Games wherever they are in the capital are well advanced. With a year to go we can safely say we are ready to welcome the world’.

The ceremony and live broadcast on BBC One will begin at 7pm, and last for approximately half an hour. LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe added: ‘The one year to go mark is London’s invitation to the world to come to the Games in the summer of 2012’.

‘It is a chance to look forward to the next twelve months, a crucial time for the athletes who want to take part, for us as the organisers as we test our venues and build excitement through moments such as the Torch Relay and of course sports fans all over the world, who will be looking forward to a world class festival of sport next summer’.

‘The countdown to London 2012 is on, we share the nation’s excitement – and we won’t let you down’.