Every four years, since 1896, athletes from countries all over the world have gathered in one city to compete in the Summer Olympics. This summer, Britain will be hosting the twenty-seventh Summer Olympic Games from July 27 to August 12 at its capital in London.
The London 2012 Olympic Games involve 26 Olympic sports in 34 venues and 20 Paralympic games in 21 venues, according to the Olympics website (olympic.org). Twenty thousand press and media people are expected to report on the games and over 9 million tickets are expected to sell over the course of the games.
According to the Olympic Games website, the London 2012 Games will be centered in the Olympic Park in east London, which will be the site of a number of new sports venues. Up to 180,000 spectators a day will enter the Park to enjoy the Games. The main venues for the Olympics include the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velodrome and BMX Circuit, as well as the hockey, handball and basketball arenas.
Many fans are looking for the return of the United States’ Michael Phelps and Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, who both dominated in their events during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to The Bleacher Report (bleacherreport.com). However, according to CNN, Phelps announced that the London 2012 Olympics will be his last and that he plans to retire after the Games (news.cnn.com). “I’m so excited for the Olympics. I’m a huge Michael Phelps fan, and I’m anxious to see how he’ll do this time around,” said Junior Minh Nguyen.
The Olympic Village will be close by to house the athletes, coaches and officials, according to Olympic Games website. The use of other prestigious venues such as Wembley Stadium for football, the All-England Club in Wimbledon for tennis, Lord’s Cricket Ground for archery and Horse Guards Parade for beach volleyball is also a feature of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (olympic.org).
The London 2012 Olympic Games will also include a four-year Cultural Olympiad, which is already underway, according to the Olympic website (olympic.org). It will reach a climax with the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on July 27, which will start a 60-day festival of sports and culture across the UK, as the Olympic and Paralympic spirit captivates the world again. According to The Telegraph, the Cultural Olympiad has transformed the UK and catalyzed a profusion of festivities, sports events and artistic creativity. The media, multitude of pre-Olympics events and festivities and magnitude of the Olympics have made it the largest sporting event in the world (telegraph.co.uk).
The Olympic Torch Relay will start in the ruins of the Ancient Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece then pass through over 1,000 villages, towns, and cities in the UK, according to the London 2012 Games website. The relay will last 70 days and will be carried by 8,000 torchbearers (london2012.com).
The Olympic movement is led by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). According to the Olympics website, “The Olympic Movement is the concerted, organized, universal and permanent action, carried out under the supreme authority of the IOC, of all individuals and entities who are inspired by the values of Olympism.” The IOC upholds three core Olympic values: excellence, friendship and respect. The IOC votes on who gets to host the Olympics. In fact, London beat Paris in the final round by four votes in an IOC session in Singapore. The IOC also makes sure that the Olympic venues are in par with Olympic standards (olympics.org). According to the London 2012 Games website, London has hosted the Olympic Games before, in 1948 and in 1908 (london2012.com).
Let the games begin!