London's Olympic Stadium
The countdown continues – with just over two more years until the Olympic flame is once again lit to signify the start of the 2012 London Olympics. Two years might seem like a long time to most people, but when you’re building a stadium, an Olympic park and making massive changes to existing infrastructure, two years can suddenly seem a bit more like 2 months.
I recently returned to my newly purchased Fulham Property from a trip to sunny South Africa, where I travelled to follow my beloved English Cricket team as they tour the country and battle it out on the cricket field. Whilst there, I couldn’t help but notice the overwhelming excitement in the air as the country frantically rushes about to complete the final preparations for the upcoming Football world Cup which is taking place there later this year. Good news is that It looks like it is going to be cracker of a world cup, but this did get me thinking about us here in snowy London hosting the 2012 London Olympics, and whether or not we’re ready to host the world’s most prestigious sporting competition. I did some research to find out how London’s preparations are progressing. I found some interesting information – some good news and some not so good news.
The Good News:
The good news is that as far as timelines and schedules go, London is doing well. The fantastic Olympic Stadium is almost complete, the Olympic park is coming together nicely and most of the smaller sporting venues are nearing completion. The fact that most of the London Olympics construction is on schedule, and even ahead of schedule in some areas, is a great achievement in these tough economic times. Experts grew extremely nervous as the world recently sank deeper and deeper into recession and many had their doubts about whether or not London would be able to overcome this challenge and be timeously prepared to stage a memorable Olympic Games. As far as being ready for the games goes, we can be assured that London will be ready and we won’t have to endure another Wembley saga!
The Not So Good News:
As mentioned above, the world has been stuck in a major global recession for the last few years and despite the fact that the London Olympic committee has managed to stay ahead of their scheduled targets, they have unfortunately done this at a big price financially. Towards the end of 2009, taxpayers were growing increasingly concerned about the ever increasing London Olympics budget. Despite the fact that London admitted they would not be able to host an extravagant games such as was done by Beijing in 2008, the initial budget stood at a sizeable £9 billion! Recent investigations however, showed that due to the current credit crunch and the need to stay on schedule, the budget is now standing at a whopping £12 billion. For those not so mathematically inclined, that’s a £3 billion increase on the initial budget, which is massive. We should however give the Olympic Committee a break though as when they won the bid and set up the London Olympics Bill a few years ago, they could not have predicted that the economy would spiral so out of control in such a short space of time. In fact, London has actually done quite well to keep on schedule and albeit a bit above budget, London is probably the best city to be hosting these games in these tough economic times. Many other countries would’ve struggled to roll with the metaphorical punches that the economy kept delivering and would most likely have ended up knocked-out and lying on the canvas.
Having been in South Africa recently and experiencing the intense pride, excitement and anticipation that overcomes you as you walk through the streets anywhere in the country, I can’t help but grow excited and think that perhaps all this money and trouble is worth it. The 2012 London Olympics promise to bring some much needed patriotism back into the people of London as well the rest of the country. God Save the Queen!