The Olympic Stadium in London has almost been completed, with 485 days to go until the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Summer Olympics, the 30th Olympiad.
Namibian sprint legend and International Olympic Committee member Frankie Fredericks laid out the last piece of turf on the field of the 80,000-capacity, £486 million stadium at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.
He was joined by Lord Seb Coe, who won four Olympic medals for Britain, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. London 2012 chairman Lord Coe insisted: "We wouldn't want anyone to run away with the idea that this stadium is ready to stage an Olympic track and field championship tomorrow.
"But with one year and a few months to go, this is a great place to be."
The surface of the running track - which will be blue - will be laid later this year.
Three London football teams - West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Leyton Orient - have all expressed their desire to move into the stadium after the 2012 Olympics. In February, the Olympic Park Legacy Committee selected West Ham United & Newham Council as the preferred bidder to take over the stadium.
When London hosts the Summer Olympics next year, it will be for a record third time, having also hosted them in 1908 and 1948.
After the Games, the Olympic Park will be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The IOC is said to be impressed at the speed of the building work, with the aquatics centre having been completed a couple of months ago, the first 2012 venue to be so.
Stadium crosses the finish line
LIFE'S A PITCH ... Seb Coe and Frankie Fredericks laying the last piece of turf at the Olympic Stadium
By VIKKI ORVICE
29 Mar 2011
The Sun
OLYMPIC chiefs celebrated as work on the London 2012 stadium was FINISHED today.
Sprint legend and International Olympic Committee member Frankie Fredericks laid out the last piece of turf on the field of the stadium - 486 days before the Opening Ceremony.
Four-time Olympic silver medallist Fredericks is part of an IOC inspection committee which is visiting London this week ahead of next year's Games.
London 2012 chairman Lord Coe insisted: "We wouldn't want anyone to run away with the idea that this stadium is ready to stage an Olympic track and field championship tomorrow.
"But with one year and a few months to go, this is a great place to be."
The 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in east London is almost completed
The surface of the running track - which will be blue - will be laid later this year.
John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority which is in charge of the building work, said: "To complete a complicated project such as this in less than three years is testament to the skill and professionalism of the UK construction industry."
The turf has been grown in Scun thorpe from a special blend of perennial ryegrass, smooth stalk meadow grass and fescue grass seeds.
A total of 360 rolls of turf were needed to cover the infield, which measures 9,000 square metres.
The bill for the stadium, where work began in May 2008, is expected to be around £486million.
thesun.co.uk
Namibian sprint legend and International Olympic Committee member Frankie Fredericks laid out the last piece of turf on the field of the 80,000-capacity, £486 million stadium at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.
He was joined by Lord Seb Coe, who won four Olympic medals for Britain, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. London 2012 chairman Lord Coe insisted: "We wouldn't want anyone to run away with the idea that this stadium is ready to stage an Olympic track and field championship tomorrow.
"But with one year and a few months to go, this is a great place to be."
The surface of the running track - which will be blue - will be laid later this year.
Three London football teams - West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Leyton Orient - have all expressed their desire to move into the stadium after the 2012 Olympics. In February, the Olympic Park Legacy Committee selected West Ham United & Newham Council as the preferred bidder to take over the stadium.
When London hosts the Summer Olympics next year, it will be for a record third time, having also hosted them in 1908 and 1948.
After the Games, the Olympic Park will be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The IOC is said to be impressed at the speed of the building work, with the aquatics centre having been completed a couple of months ago, the first 2012 venue to be so.
Stadium crosses the finish line
LIFE'S A PITCH ... Seb Coe and Frankie Fredericks laying the last piece of turf at the Olympic Stadium
By VIKKI ORVICE
29 Mar 2011
The Sun
OLYMPIC chiefs celebrated as work on the London 2012 stadium was FINISHED today.
Sprint legend and International Olympic Committee member Frankie Fredericks laid out the last piece of turf on the field of the stadium - 486 days before the Opening Ceremony.
Four-time Olympic silver medallist Fredericks is part of an IOC inspection committee which is visiting London this week ahead of next year's Games.
London 2012 chairman Lord Coe insisted: "We wouldn't want anyone to run away with the idea that this stadium is ready to stage an Olympic track and field championship tomorrow.
"But with one year and a few months to go, this is a great place to be."
The 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in east London is almost completed
The surface of the running track - which will be blue - will be laid later this year.
John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority which is in charge of the building work, said: "To complete a complicated project such as this in less than three years is testament to the skill and professionalism of the UK construction industry."
The turf has been grown in Scun thorpe from a special blend of perennial ryegrass, smooth stalk meadow grass and fescue grass seeds.
A total of 360 rolls of turf were needed to cover the infield, which measures 9,000 square metres.
The bill for the stadium, where work began in May 2008, is expected to be around £486million.
thesun.co.uk
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