London 2012 Olympic Games Venues

Introduction to the London 2012 Olympic Games venues

The summer 2012 Olympic Games are mainly being held in London – however a number of other locations around the UK will also become Olympic venues for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The 2012 Olympic Games will use state of the art newly built venues, existing sporting facilities, and temporary venues – with the majority of them being in London – with many at well known locations such as Hyde Park. The organsiers of the games designed the facilities to be reused after the games in their Olympic form. Other newly built Olympic venues will be reduced in size and several will be relocated elsewhere in the UK. Stratford in East London will be the home of the Olympic park which is home to the Olympic Stadium.

The venues for the 2012 games within Greater London have been split into three zones to make finding them easier: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. There are also other venues in London, however they fall outside of Greater London.

The Olympic Zone

The Olympic Zone is 500 acres (2km2) in size and is home to all the Olympic venues within the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London. The Olympic Park is being developed on waste land and previous former industrial areas and will be a 7 minute train ride from Central London on the Olympic Javelin train service. The Olympic Park will be home to:

  • The Olympic Stadium – with a capacity of 80,000, the Olympic Stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the track field athletic events.
  • The Aquatics Centre – this venue will be home to the diving, swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo events with a capacity of 17,500. For the Paralympics it will host the swimming events.
  • The London Velopark – consisting of an indoor velodrome for track cycling with a capacity for 6,000 spectators and an outdoor BMX racing track – again with a capacity for 6,000 spectators.
  • The Olympic Hockey Centre – two arenas with capacities of 15,000 and 5,000 -these will host the field hockey.
  • Basketball Arena – an indoor 12,000 capacity area for all basketball events and the handball semi-finals final.
  • Handball Arena – a 6,000 capacity indoor arena for handball prelim events and quarter finals and modern pentathlon shooting and fencing events.
  • The Olympic Village – accommodation and amenities for all athletes and team officials – a total of 17,320 beds.
  • The Olympic Press and Broadcast Centres - this is where the thousands of press will be based during the 2012 Olympic Games.

Construction work on the Olympic Park started back in 2006 and at it’s peak there are expected to be 9,000 construction workers on site.

River Zone

Named after it’s location in the Thames Gateway area, the River Zone is home to 4 of the 2012 Olympic Games venues:

  • The ExCeL Exhibition Centre – boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling events will be held here. There are 4 arenas which will be used for the events with capacities between 6,000 and 10,000.
  • The O2 arena in The O2 - this Olympic Venue will host the artistic gymnastics, trampolining, and basketball finals. Durign the games, The O2 will be officially known as North Greenwich Arena 1, due to sponsorship regulations.
  • Greenwich Park – Grwenwich Park will host the 2012 Olympic Games equestrian events.
  • Royal Artillery Barracks - temporary shooting ranges will be constructed here to host the shooting events.

Central Zone

The Central Zone is home to the remaining Olympic Games venues in Greater London (spread right across Greater London) including:

  • Wembley Stadium - this venue has a 90,000 capacity and will be hosting the football finals.
  • Wembley Arena – Wembley Arena will be home to the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events at the 2012 Olympic Games.
  • The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club – this elite Wimbledon Tennis Club will host the tennis events.
  • Lord’s Cricket Ground - all Olympic archery events will take place here.
  • Regent’s Park - this park will be host the road cycle racing for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
  • Horse Guards Parade - volleyball events will be held at this well known location in Greater London.
  • Hyde Park - Hyde park will host the triathlon events for the Olympic Games in 2012.
  • Earls Court - this will be the second Olympic venue to host volleyball events during the 2012 Olympic Games.

Football Stadiums

  • Hampden Park - Glasgow
  • Millennium Stadium - Cardiff
  • Old Trafford - Manchester
  • St James’ Park - Newcastle
  • Ricoh Arena - Coventry. This stadium will be known as the City of Coventry Stadium, due to sponsorship regulations.

Other 2012 Olympic Venues

  • Lee Valley White Water Centre - this Olympic venue in Hertfordshire will host the canoe/kayak slalom events during the 2012 Olympic Games.
  • Dorney Lake - this lake in Buckinghamshire is privately owned by Eton College, will be home to the rowing and canoe/kayak flatwater events.
  • Hadleigh Farm - the mountain biking is to be located at this Essex based venue after the first venue was not considered challenging enough.
  • The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy - the Olympic sailing events of 2012 will be held here in Weymouth - around 120 miles (192 km) from central London.

The Olympic Village

  • The Olympic Village is set to provide 17,320 beds in 3,300 apartments. Each athlete will have 16m2 of floor space.
  • Each apartment in the complex will have internet access, a TV and a private courtyard.
  • The huge dining hall in the village will be able to feed 5,000 people at a time.