London's Olympic Park is situated to the east of the city and encompasses several of the main venues within the two-square-kilometer Olympic Zone. The park is built on unused industrial land, and is approximately seven minutes by Olympic Javelin train from central London. After the Olympics, it will be known as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
Olympic StadiumOlympic andParalympicVillageAquatics CentreBasketball ArenaVeloparkCopper BoxRiverbank ArenaMediaCenter(MPC/IBC)
The centerpiece of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the Olympic Stadium will house the games’ opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics events. The stadium’s design has been described by British press as everything from “the Colosseum of ancient Rome” to “a web of steel knitting needles.”
Capacity: 80,000
Home to: Opening and closing ceremonies, athletics events
Most impressive feature: The upper tier of the stadium, consisting of 55,000 seats, was designed to be removable
Most unusual feature: Existing waterways in the area were modified to surround the stadium. It is only accessible by footbridge
By comparison: Olympic Stadium is only the 3rd largest stadium in Britain, behind Wembley and Twickenham stadiums.
Post-Olympics use: The upper tier will be removed to create a permanent 25,000 seat stadium, already slated to hold the 2015 World Championships in Athletics
Cost to build: About $775 million
Olympic StadiumOlympic andParalympicVillageAquatics CentreBasketball ArenaVeloparkCopper BoxRiverbank ArenaMediaCenter(MPC/IBC)
The centerpiece of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the Olympic Stadium will house the games’ opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics events. The stadium’s design has been described by British press as everything from “the Colosseum of ancient Rome” to “a web of steel knitting needles.”
Capacity: 80,000
Home to: Opening and closing ceremonies, athletics events
Most impressive feature: The upper tier of the stadium, consisting of 55,000 seats, was designed to be removable
Most unusual feature: Existing waterways in the area were modified to surround the stadium. It is only accessible by footbridge
By comparison: Olympic Stadium is only the 3rd largest stadium in Britain, behind Wembley and Twickenham stadiums.
Post-Olympics use: The upper tier will be removed to create a permanent 25,000 seat stadium, already slated to hold the 2015 World Championships in Athletics
Cost to build: About $775 million