Looking forward to July 27, 2012

Yesterday marked the year-to go milestone in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Hundreds of sports fans gathered in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the start of the Olympics countdown while London Mayor Boris Johnson unveiled an Olympic countdown clock in the square.

He also announced that the aquatics centre was open and several past Olympians had christened the pool to mark the ‘one year to go to the Olympics’ anniversary.

The main stadium, velodrome, handball arena, basketball arena and international broadcast centre are all ready; this means that almost 90 per cent of building work at the main Olympics Park in Stratford, east London, is now complete.

According to the Prime Minister David Cameron, London 2012 organisers are in this good position of facilities being completed a year in advance that it will be possible to test and make sure everything is perfect.

Despite the excitement over such results, there are still challenges that lie ahead: transport, security and legacy.

London warren-like road system means that chaos could prevent athletes getting to the Games on time; this is why there will be banned turns, phased traffic lights and suspended parking bays. Mr Johnson is also urging Londoners to work from home, cycle or walk to work to ease pressure on public transport.
Security is also under the spotlight and even though there have been some changes at the Met, following the hacking scandal, Mr Cameron, who chairs government emergency committee Cobra, assured people that London has a good set-up for dealing with terrorism.
It is still unclear, instead, whether the £9 billion Olympics will give a long term value for money. By the way, ministers hope that London 2012 will be a showcase for British businesses, as more than one hundred heads of state and many CEOs will be in town during the major sport event.

Meanwhile Londoners and sports fans from all over the world are wondering what Danny Boyle, who is in charge of London’s opening spectacular, has up his Oscar-winning sleeve for July 27 next year.