Venue plans for the London 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were unveiled Friday, and according to a London 2012 press release it is one of the most compact plans ever.
Most venues will be set up in two zones – the Olympic Park Zone and the River Zone – within 15 minutes of each other, minimizing travel times and disruption for the Paralympic Games.
The Olympic Park will house the main athletics stadium where the athletics and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies take place, the Hockey Centre – host of the seven-a-side and five-a-side football – and the Velopark for track cycling.
North of the Park at Eton Manor archery and wheelchair tennis will be located and the venue will be converted after the Games into a state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor tennis centre. Three indoor arenas will host wheelchair rugby, goal ball, wheelchair basketball, judo, and wheelchair fencing. The Aquatics Centre will host swimming.
The Athletes’ Village will be located within the Park, as well as the Main Press Centre and the International Broadcast Centre.
At the River Zone the Greenwich temporary arena will host sitting volleyball, Greenwich Park is the venue for equestrian, ExCel.will host boccia, power lifting, wheelchair basketball and table tennis, and the Royal Artillery Barracks is the site for shooting.
All the venues are less than 15 minutes away from the Olympic Park, according to London 2012. Ninety per cent of athletes will be within 15 minutes of their venues.
All the athletes will be housed in the Athletes’ Village within the Olympic Park which will be fully accessible. Paralympic sailors and rowers will be located near their competition venues in Weymouth and Eton Domey but will also have accommodation within the village if needed.
Outside the two zones road cycling will be in Regent’s Park in central London, adaptive rowing in Eton Domey which hosted the rowing world championships in August, and sailing at Weymouth and Portland.
