| XIV Paralympic Games |
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| Host city |
London, United Kingdom |
| Teams participating |
166 (estimated) |
| Athletes participating |
TBD |
| Events |
503 in 21 sports |
| Opening ceremony |
29 August |
| Closing ceremony |
9 September |
| Paralympic Stadium |
London Olympic Stadium |
| Summer: |
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| Winter: |
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The 2012 Summer Paralympic Games will be the fifteenth Paralympics and will take place between 29 August and 9 September 2012. The Games will be held in London, United Kingdom, after the city was successful with its bid for the Paralympics and Summer Olympic Games.
Even though 2012 will be London's third Olympic Games, it will be the first Paralympic Games to be staged there, as the event was created after the last time the city hosted in 1948. It is however the second time that the United Kingdom hosts a Paralympic Games. The 1984 Summer Paralympics were hosted in both Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom and Long Island, New York, United States. Also, the first organized athletic event for athletes with a disability that coincided with the Olympic Games took place on the day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. Dr. Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital[1] hosted a sports competition for British World War II veteran patients with spinal cord injuries. The first games were called the 1948 International Wheelchair Games, and were intended to coincide with the 1948 Olympics.[2] Dr. Guttman's aim was to create an elite sports competition for people with disabilities that would be equivalent to the Olympic Games.[2] The games were held again at the same location in 1952, and Dutch veterans took part alongside the British, making it the first international competition of its kind. These early competitions, also known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, have been described as the precursors of the Paralympic Games.[3]
By the bid submission deadline of 15 July 2003, nine cities had submitted bids to host the 2012 Olympics. These cities were Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.[4]
On 18 May 2004, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as a result of a scored technical evaluation, reduced the number of cities to five: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, and Paris.[5]
By 19 November 2004, all five candidate cities had submitted their candidate file to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC inspection team visited the five candidate cities during February and March 2005. The Paris bid suffered two setbacks during the IOC inspection visit: a number of strikes and demonstrations coinciding with the visits and a report coming out that Guy Drut, one of the key members of the Paris bid team and IOC member, would face charges over alleged corrupt party political finances.[6]
On 6 June 2005, the International Olympic Committee released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities. Although these reports did not contain any scores or rankings, the evaluation report for Paris was considered the most positive, now followed closely by London which had narrowed down most of the gap observed by the initial evaluation in 2004 regarding Paris. Also New York and Madrid obtained very positive evaluation reports.[7] In their evaluation report, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated that "With its rich history, the capacities of UK Paralympic Sport are among the best in the world."
Throughout the process and up to the vote at the 117th IOC Session, Paris was widely seen as the favourite to win the nomination, particularly as this was its third bid in recent history. Originally London was seen lagging Paris by considerable margin; however, this started to improve with the appointment of Sebastian Coe as new head of London 2012 on 19 May 2004. In late August 2004, some reports started emerging predicting a London and Paris tie in the 2012 bid.[8] In the final run-up to the 117th IOC Session, London and Paris appeared to be increasingly in a neck-and-neck race. On 1 July 2005, Jacques Rogge, when asked who the winner would be, told the assembled press: "I cannot predict it since I don't know how the IOC members will vote. But my gut feeling tells me that it will be very close. Perhaps it will come down to a difference of say ten votes, or maybe less".
On 6 July 2005, the final selection was announced at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore, where the 117th IOC Session was held. Here Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair was the only leader of the five candidate cities' countries to make a personal lobby (he had also been the only one to attend the 2004 Olympics).[9] Moscow was the first city to be eliminated, followed by New York and Madrid. The final two cities left in contention were London and Paris. At the end of the fourth round of voting, London won the right to host the 2012 Games with 54 votes, defeating Paris's 50. Various French publications blamed the Paris loss on French President Jacques Chirac's statements before the vote that "We can't trust people [the British] who have such bad food. After Finland, it's the country with the worst food."[10] Two current members of the International Olympic Committee are from Finland. Several other news sources cited Bertrand Delanoë's complaint regarding Tony Blair's secret late night meetings with numerous (African) IOC representatives as having a more significant impact on final vote.[11] When reporting London's win, British media covered the expectant crowds in both France and Britain (and in the other bid cities), and contrasted the jubilant reaction in London to the reaction of the crowd in Paris, where many had gathered in hope of a French win.[12][13][14] However, the celebrations in London were overshadowed when London's transport system was attacked by terrorists less than 24 hours after the announcement.[15]
In December 2005, it was alleged by Alex Gilady, a senior IOC official, that London had won the right to host the Olympics only because of a voting error. A London 2012 spokesman dismissed this, saying "At the end of the day, it was a secret ballot. This is the opinion of one individual. The result is what matters and we are not going to be drawn into speculation."[16]
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games was created to oversee the staging of the Games after the success of the bid, and held their first board meeting on 7 October 2005. The committee, chaired by Lord Coe, is in charge of implementing and staging the games, while the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is in charge of the construction of the venues and infrastructure.
The Government Olympic Executive (GOE), a unit within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), is the lead Government body for coordinating the London 2012 Olympics. The GOE reports through the DCMS Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Sports and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson. It focuses on oversight of the Games, cross-programme programme management and the London 2012 Olympic Legacy before and after the Games that will benefit London and the UK.
In August 2011, some security concerns arose surrounding the hosting of the Olympic Games in London,[17] due to the 2011 England riots, with a few countries expressing fear over the safety of the Games,[18] despite the International Olympic Committee's assurance that the riots will not affect the Games.[19]
The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will use a mixture of new venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities, some of them in well-known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. In the wake of the problems that plagued the Millennium Dome, the organisers' intention is that there will be no white elephants after the Games and instead that a "2012 legacy" will be delivered. Some of the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form, while others, including the 80,000 seater main stadium,[20] will be reduced in size or relocated elsewhere in the UK. The plans are part of the regeneration of Stratford in east London which will be the site of the Olympic Park, and of the neighbouring Lower Lea Valley.
This has required the compulsory purchase of some business properties, which are being demolished to make way for Olympic venues and infrastructure improvements. This has caused some controversy, with some of the affected proprietors claiming that the compensation offered is inadequate. In addition, concerns about the development's potential impact on the future of the century-old Manor Garden Allotments have inspired a community campaign, and the demolition of the Clays Lane housing estate was opposed by tenants, as is that of Carpenters Estate.
The majority of venues have been divided into three zones within Greater London: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. In addition to these are those venues that, by necessity, are outside the boundaries of Greater London, such as the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on the Isle of Portland in Dorset which will host the sailing events, some 125 miles (200 km) southwest of the Olympic Park. The football tournament will be staged at several grounds around the UK.[21]
London's public transport was an element of the bid which was scored poorly in the IOC's initial evaluation. Transport for London (TfL) are carrying out numerous improvements in preparation for 2012, including the expansion of the London Overground's East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line, and the introduction of a new "Javelin" high-speed rail service, using the Hitachi Corporation's "bullet" trains.[citation needed]
TfL also propose the construction of a £25 million cable car across the River Thames, the "Thames Gateway Cable Car", to link 2012 Olympics venues.[22] It will cross the Thames river between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks, carrying up to 2,500 passengers an hour 50 metres in the air. It is designed to cut journey times between the O2 arena and the ExCel exhibition centre – both of which are Olympic locations. The privately-funded system could provide a crossing every 30 seconds.[23]
They also plan to have 80% of athletes travel less than 20 minutes to their event. This Park would be served by ten separate railway lines with a combined capacity of 240,000 passengers per hour. Park-and-ride plans are also among the many plans aimed at reducing road traffic levels during the games.
A
London Underground train decorated to promote London's Olympic bid – this coincided with plans for investment in the city's public transport network
Concerns have been expressed at the logistics of spectators traveling to the events scheduled for outside of London. In particular, the sailing events at Portland are in an area with no direct motorway connection, and with local roads that are heavily congested by existing tourist traffic in the summer. There is also only limited scope for extra services on the South Western Main Line beyond Southampton, without new infrastructure. The Olympic Games' organisers say that having analyzed past Olympic sailing events, they would expect fewer spectators than recent events such as the Carnival and Tall Ships Race, this despite the United Kingdom being at the top of the sailing medal table at the previous three Olympic Games.
In January 2010 the South East England regional transport board criticised plans published by the Olympics Development Authority for not providing plans of a credible long term coach network saying "The ODA has been working on an extensive network of coach services... [but] the lack of reference to this work [in the plan] is both intriguing and at the same time concerning." On 15 February 2010, the ODA announced that FirstGroup was the preferred bidder for the provision of bus and coach services for the games. This will involve the provision of venue shuttle and park and ride services, services connecting peripheral park and ride sites on the M25 with the Olympic Park and Ebbsfleet, and a nationwide network of express coaches to the Olympic Park, and the Weymouth and Portland sailing venue. The services will require around 900 vehicles in total, although some will be sub-contracted.[24][25]
The costs of mounting the Games are separate from those for building the venues and infrastructure, and redeveloping the land for the Olympic Park. While the Games are privately funded, the venues and Park costs are met largely by public money.
On 15 March 2007 Tessa Jowell announced to the House of Commons a budget of £5.3 billion to cover building the venues and infrastructure for the Games, at the same time announcing the wider regeneration budget for the Lower Lea Valley budget at £1.7 billion.
On top of this, she announced various other costs including an overall additional contingency fund of £2.7 billion, security and policing costs of £600 million, VAT of £800 million and elite sport and Paralympic funding of nearly £400 million. According to these figures, the total for the Games and the regeneration of the East London area, is £9.345 billion. Then Mayor Ken Livingstone pledged the Games Organising Committee would make a profit.[26]
The costs for staging the Games (£2 billion) are funded from the private sector by a combination of sponsorship, merchandising, ticketing and broadcast rights. This budget is raised and managed by the London 2012 Organising Committee. According to Games organisers, the funding for this budget broadly breaks down as:
On 18 August 2007 The Belfast Telegraph reported that jubilation over winning the right to stage the Olympic Games was becoming more muted as realisation dawns on the public of the enormous costs involved in creating facilities for the athletes.[27] Grassroot sport cuts will fund the Olympics, government figures suggested on 19 August 2007.[28]
In November 2007, Edward Leigh MP, criticised the organisers for significantly under-estimating the cost of staging the games, suggesting they had either "acted in bad faith or were incompetent".[29]
On 10 December 2007 Tessa Jowell announced confirmation of the budget announced earlier in 2007. In June 2007, the Ministerial Funders’ Group (established to manage the allocation of contingency to the ODA within the overall budget) met and agreed to a first allocation of contingency to the ODA, being £360 million out of the £500 million of initial contingency announced in March, to enable the ODA to manage early cost pressures.
Following its second meeting on 26 November 2007, the Funders’ Group has now agreed a baseline budget and scope proposed by the ODA. The total budgeted base cost to be met by the public sector funding package remains at £6.090 billion including tax and excluding general programme contingency as announced in March. This includes the allocation to the ODA of the remaining £140 million from the initial £500 million contingency announced in March.[30]
There have, however, been concerns over how the Olympics are to be funded. In February 2008, a London Assembly culture and sport committee report expressed concerns over the funding of the games taking away money from London's sports and arts groups.[31] There have also been complaints that funding towards the Olympics has been to the detriment of funding other areas of the UK. In Wales, there has been criticism from Plaid Cymru about the games depriving Wales of money, by using UK-wide funding rather than English funding.[32] The Wales on Sunday newspaper claimed former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair broke his promise to not use National Lottery funding for the Olympic games.[33][34]
As at December 2009, the Delivery Authority had allocated £702 million of Programme and Funders’ contingency, largely to cover the decisions to publicly fund the Village and Media Centre after it became clear private funding could not be secured on acceptable terms during the 2008 to 2010 economic crisis. According to the Government Olympic Executive and Olympic Delivery Authority risk assessments the remaining £1,270 million contingency is sufficient to manage risks to the Delivery Authority’s programme.[35]
Also from May 2010, the Olympic budget will be cut by £27 million as part of the £6.2 billion cuts by the new Conservative-Liberal coalition government.
On 19 July 2011, Hugh Robertson, Sports & Olympic Minister,revealed that he expected the project to be delivered on time and under budget. "With one year to go to London 2012, the Games construction is 88 per cent complete and ahead of time and under budget. That is an extraordinary thing for a Government Minister to be able to say a year out from the Games."[36]
| Sponsors of the 2012 Paralympic Games |
| Worldwide partners:
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| Official partners:
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| Official supporters:
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| Official suppliers and providers:
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To help fund the cost of the games, the London 2012 Organising Committee have agreed to partnership deals with major companies. The companies have signed up into four categories, worldwide, tier one, tier two and tier three.
Organisers estimate that some 1.5 million tickets would be available for the Paralympic Games.[38] Ticket sign-up was launched on 22 March 2010 and all tickets will go on sale to the public on 9 September 2011. Ticket prices will be announced in May 2011.[39][40] It is estimated that 63% of Paralympic tickets will be sold. There will also be free events: for example, the marathon, and road cycling.[41] Tickets will cost between £10 and £45 with the ceremonies costing between £20.12 and £500. Organisers say that half the tickets will cost £10 or less and that 95% of the tickets will be under £50. In addition there will be tickets that children and the elderly can by for £5 and day passes for multi sports, costing just £10.[42][43]
A digital clock, located in Trafalgar Square, commenced a countdown to the opening ceremony on 14 March 2011. However, less than 24 hours after it was switched on, it suffered a technical failure, and stopped—displaying "500 (days) 7 (hours) 06 (minutes) 56 (seconds)." It was quickly repaired. [44]
The only way to buy official on-site hospitality packages will be through the London 2012 Prestige Ticketing programme. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has appointed Prestige Ticketing Limited to exclusively operate the London 2012 Prestige Ticketing programme.[45] Official hospitality packages will only be available to buy from Prestige Ticketing Ltd by UK or EEA companies and residents from spring 2011. The Prestige Ticketing programme provides exclusive access to the official London 2012 on-site hospitality packages including top-category tickets, fine dining and entertainment at the Olympic and Paralympic Games venues.
There have been two London 2012 logos: one for the bidding process created by Kino Design and a second as the brand for the Games themselves. The former is a ribbon with blue, yellow, black, green, and red stripes winding through the text "LONDON 2012," making the shape of the River Thames in East London. The latter, designed by Wolff Olins, was unveiled on 4 June 2007 and cost £400,000.[46] This new logo is a representation of the number 2012, with the Olympic Rings embedded within the zero.[47]
The Paralympics logo (far left) and the different official colour combinations for the
Wolff Olins main logo design
This will be the first time that the same essential logo is to be used for both the Olympic and Paralympic games.[48]
The standard colours are green, magenta, orange and blue; however the logo has incorporated a variety of colours, including the Union Flag to promote the handover ceremony.[49] The flexibility of the logo has also enabled sponsors to incorporate their corporate colours into a personalised version, such as Lloyds TSB,[50] British Airways,[51] and Adidas.[52]
London 2012 has stated that the new logo is aimed at reaching young people. Sebastian Coe stated that it builds upon everything that the organising committee has said "about reaching out and engaging young people, which is where our challenge is over the next five years." One observer, a managing director of an advertising agency, noted that the logo bore a strong resemblance to the logo for the 1974–1982 children's television programme Tiswas, commenting that appealing to young people is difficult, and that they will see right through attempts to patronise them.[53]
Early public reaction to the logo, as measured by a poll on the BBC website, was largely negative: more than 80% of votes gave the logo the lowest possible rating.[54] Several newspapers have run their own logo competitions, displaying alternative submissions from their readers. The Sun displayed a design by a macaque monkey.[55] It was suggested that the logo resembles the cartoon character Lisa Simpson performing fellatio[56] and others have complained that it looks like a distorted Swastika.[57] In February 2011, Iran complained that the logo appeared to spell out the word "Zion" and threatened to boycott the Olympics.[58] Iran submitted its complaint to the International Olympic Committee, describing the logo as "racist", asking that it be withdrawn and the designers be "confronted". The IOC "quietly" rejected the demands, and Iran announced it would not boycott the Games.[59]
A segment of animated footage released at the same time as the logo was reported to trigger seizures in a small number of people with photosensitive epilepsy. The charity Epilepsy Action received telephone calls from people who had had seizures after watching the sequence on TV. In response, a short segment was removed from the London 2012 website.[60] Ken Livingstone, then London Mayor, said that the company who designed the film should not be paid for what he called a "catastrophic mistake."[61]
A blogger at the BBC said that "London 2012's new logo has got the country talking [although] not in the manner the organisers would have hoped."[62] One employee at a design firm described it as "well thought out" and anticipated it would "become a source of pride for London and the Games."[63]
In October 2008, it was reported that clothing branded with the logo accounted for 20% of sales at Adidas' flagship Oxford Street store, despite occupying just 5% of floor space.[64]
The official mascots for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were unveiled on 19 May 2010;[65] this marks the second time (after Vancouver) that both Olympic and Paralympic mascots were unveiled at the same time. Wenlock and Mandeville are animations depicting two drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton.[65] They are named Wenlock, after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic Games, and Mandeville, after Stoke Mandeville, a village in Buckinghamshire where a forerunner to the Paralympic Games were first held.[65] The writer Michael Morpurgo wrote the story concept to the mascots, and an animation was produced;[66] it is intended that this will form part of an ongoing series concerning the mascots in the run-up to the Games in 2012.[65] Two stories have been created about the mascots: Out Of A Rainbow, the story of how Wenlock and Mandeville came to be, and Adventures On A Rainbow, which features the children from Out Of A Rainbow meeting the mascots and trying out many different Olympic and Paralympic sports.[67]
The handover ceremony marked the moment when the previous games in Beijing in 2008 handed over the Paralympic Flag to the new host city of London.Mayor of London Boris Johnson received the flag from Mayor of Beijing Guo Jinlong, on behalf of London. The handover ceremony was like the one used for the Olympic Games. featured the urban dance group ZooNation, the Royal Ballet and Candoco, a disabled dance group, all dressed as typical London commuters waiting for a bus by a zebra crossing. A double-decker bus drove around the stadium, being guided by Ade Adepitan, to music composed by Philip Sheppard which was already folded down showing a privet hedge featuring famous London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, The Gherkin and the London Eye. Cherisse Osei, drummer for pop start Mika and Sam Hegedus (who has played with numerous of Artisits including Pink) then performed before the bus folded back into its original form, sporting a multi coloured Paralympic livery.[68]
On 8 September 2011, Paralympic Day, Rick Edwards, Ade Adepitan and Iwan Thomas hosted an event in Trafalgar Square. The event celebrated the Paralympic Games, by showcasing the 20 sports which feature in the festival. A number of the sessions were made inclusive to people with hearing disabilities. The event featured athletes such as Oscar Pistorius, Ellie Simmonds and Sascha Kindred.[69] A bronze statue of Pistorius created by Ben Dearnley was unvailed in the near 12 hour showcase. At 7pm the official invite of athletes to attend the 2012 games took place.[70]
On 10 September 2011 Sainburys hosted a family concert in Clapham Common entitled Super Saturday to celebrate the one year to go mark. The event featured live music from acts such as Nicola Roberts and The Saturdays. In addition people attending the event could try out Paralympic sports, meet athletes and more.[71][72][73]
Many test events were held throughout 2011 and 2012, either through an existing championship e.g. such as Wimbledon or as a specially created event held under the banner of London Prepares. Some events were closed to the public, others were ticketed. Basketball and BMX were the first events to be tested within the Olympic Park.[74]
The following National Paralympic Committees are scheduled to send delegations to compete.[75][76][77][78] The Solomon Islands will be participating in the Paralympic Games for the first time.[79]
-
The London Paralympics will be the first Games since the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney in which athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID) will be authorised to compete following a decision by the International Paralympic Committee in 2008.[81] Athletics, swimming and table tennis will include events with an ID classification.[82][83]
Twenty sports are on the programme:[84]
On 25 August 2011 official schedule was revealed.[42]
| ● |
Opening ceremony |
|
Event competitions |
● |
Event finals |
● |
Closing ceremony |
[85]
On 26 September 2008 the Olympic and Paralympic flags were raised outside City Hall formally mark London becoming host city for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Beijing Gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu raised the Olympic flag, whilst Paralympic Champions, Helene Raynsford and Chris Holmes raised the Paralympic flag.[89][90]
In August 2009 the Royal Mail commissoned artists and illustrators to create 30 stamps which were released in batches of 10 during 2009 to 2011. The 30 stamps symbolise at the Games take place during the 30th Olympiad. Each stamp featured an Olympic or Paralympic sport and inadditon had the London 2012 logo on each stamp.[91] The Royal Mail had initionally approched photographers to be included as well but this was abandoned as the photos would have to be of dead people as the only living person allowed to feature on stamps in the United Kingdom is the Queen.[92] On 22 July 2011 the last of the 30 stamps were released.[93]
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