London 2012

[Crash Test Dummy]

Do you people out there in forum world think it will work?

i think it will be a huge financial burded on a country that is slowy creeping into financial difficulty.

[erolz]

I think London will do a great job - but then I am probably more a 'londoner' that I am anything else, even now.

[Crash Test Dummy]

i love london and wish one day i can have my studio flat over-looking Regents Park. but london does not have the money to spend a few billion on an event that will last 2 weeks

[Dhavlos]

even so, i think it will be a great thing in the long run. it will regenerate east london, and hopefully have positive longterm influences on british sport.

I for one will try to become a volunteer for it.

I went to the Athens games and it was great fun going round the city, with a sense of excitement all around and the games taking control of all topics of discussion.

[Bananiot]

Just because you are a Londoner ...

No doubt, London will stage the most fantastic games. If Greece managed financially with its meagre resources then London will not fail. Besides, Brits are renoun when hell bent to achieve something.

[Crash Test Dummy]

need i remind you people of Londons other great successes.

The Wobbly Bridge
The Millenium Jokes i mean dome

the list will continue

[Dhavlos]

ok, i'll give you the Dome, but the rest of them were eventually solved

[erolz]

The millenium bridge is a great piece of arcitechture

http://www.arup.com/MillenniumBridge/

and tate modern gallery at one end of it is not to shabby either.

[cannedmoose]

Granted the millennium dome was a catastrophe, but I think there's some parallel between that and the Athens olympic legacy, i.e. there was no planning for what happens to the facilities afterwards. Thankfully the millennium dome is now being converted into a facility for the London Olympics and its future as a leisure/conference venue is now more secure. The difference between London and Athens is that London is building early, has plans in place for some temporary venues, so not all of them will be 'white elephants', some of the stadia will be demolished afterwards and relocated elsewhere in the country, but the bulk of the facilities will form the centrepiece of the new national Olympic academy, which should provide world-class facilities for sportspeople from across the country. Therefore, I think the legacy of the London Olympics will not only be the regeneration of a truly dreary part of the city, but a lasting sports infrastructure too.

[Crash Test Dummy]

does anybody know what they did to Bilbao? they spent millions cleaning the river there. This created jobs and also allowed the locals to use the surrounding are. Granted some of the Thames is pretty nice but if the whole thing could be in tip-top shape this will be much better than a few sports centres.

Everyday you hear of gyms and sport-centres closing down due to lack of funding. if there was such a high demand for sports facilities then they would not be closing. clean up the parks, get rid of drunks, crack-heads theives and muggers and then people will start using them. i used to be at my local park till 10'oclock when i was 11. Now even at 16 i am looking over my shoulders after dark.



my point is there are betterr things to spend money on than some stadiums that will stop being used.

[cannedmoose]

Demetre, the national olympic academy wouldn't just be a few sports centres, it would be a new centre for elite athletics, essentially in the same vein as my own university, Loughborough, currently operates as a centre for elite sportspeople. It would therefore be used all the time and could also play host to European Championships, World Athletics Championships, Commonwealth Games etc. etc.

[Crash Test Dummy]

[Turkey (( *]

I don't think London is going to do a complete failure but nor a great success. What I am scared of is that there is a possibility of a terrorist attack!! Hope it will pass without any problems.

[cannedmoose]

[Saint Jimmy]

Just try not to develop it the way the Greeks 'developed' it...