ODA CEO Quits

David Higgins, CEO of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), has quit in order to join Network Rail.

He will leave in February 2011, and will be replaced by the ODA's current finance director Dennis Hone.

Last year Higgins was awarded a bonus of £200K (a large part of which he deferred), on top of his £384K salary.

Is this really the best time for him to leave?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Lazy and Selfish

Giles Barrie of Property Week believes that the Olympics bureaucrats are selfish and lazy wrt their plans for "Olympics only" traffic lanes during the 2012 games.

"An 'Olympic Route Network' is being set up throughout the Games to ferry these hangers on from their Mayfair hotels to the games at Stratford in the east.

This means lanes being closed throughout central London as 'VIPs' are whisked through, with Lower Thames Street the most important thoroughfare involved.

Only two of its four lanes will be open, and security restrictions will mean further misery for the people who work there.

There are 15,000 people working in blocks between the river and Lower Thames Street, many of whom couldn't give two hoots about the games.

The organisers' argument is that these officials need to be able to get to Stratford in 23 minutes, but that totally misses the point.

If they need to get from the West End to Stratford quickly, there is a perfectly quick and efficient way.

It's called the Jubilee Line."

Well said sir!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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The Shambles That is The Commonwealth Games

One thing is for sure, no matter what I may think of the "value added" or quality of "budgetary control" of the London Olympics, the Olympics are not going to turn into the shambles tha the forthcoming Commonwealth Games has become.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Locog Snubs East End

The London 2012 Olympics organisers (Locog) have managed to ruffle some feathers again, this time they have upset Newham council over plans to change the marathon route.

Locog want to move the finish of the marathon from the stadium in Stratford, East London, to the Mall.

Seemingly Locog want to create the "best experience for spectators and athletics and to profile London".

All very well, but the games were sold to world, and to the people of the East End, on the basis of regeneration and leaving a legacy in the area in which they are being staged (ie Stratford).

By snubbing the area which is having to put up with the disruption of the preparation for the games, and indeed the disruption that the games themselves will cause, Locog are at the very least being insensitive to the residents of Stratford and the East End.

Paul Brickell, Newham Council's executive member for Olympics, is quoted by the BBC:

"The route comes out from Aldgate, through Whitechapel and Stepney and Bow to Stratford and that is a fantastic street with 1,000 years of history.

The stories about that street are incredible and I reckon any marathon commentator could make it really interesting for a world audience.

This is a golden opportunity for those residents to be part of the greatest show on earth for free, on their doorsteps.

If these plans go ahead there will be a lot of disappointed residents in east London."

Tourists, Olympic visitors etc should be given a different perspective of London, other than the standard image portrayed on postcards etc of the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace etc.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Legacy

The London Assembly is not very pleased with the legacy plans of the Olympics Board for the Olympics stadium.

The Telegraph reports that the plans to transform the stadium from its 80,000 capacity at Games time, to a 25,000 seat athletics arena were "flawed" and have contributed to delays in securing a lasting legacy.

Len Duvall, Chairman of the economic development, culture, sport and tourism committee is quoted:

"An elite 25,000-seat athletics stadium is not, and was never going to be, in the long-term interests of the East End or of the taxpayer."

Mr Duvall is correct. However, he misses the essential truth, the London Olympics have never been planned or "budgeted" with the interests of the East End or taxpayer in mind.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Greed Rears Its Head

Bloomberg reports that the 2012 Olympic Games in London are 'distorting' the market for hotel rooms in London.

Tom Jenkins, executive director of the European Tour Operators Association said:

"My members move about 20,000 bed nights in London every night in August.

At the moment, we can't book those bed nights for 2012. That's business that's gone. Once you scare that business away, it’s very difficult to reestablish that pattern."

Unsurprisingly, the London hotel industry cannot resist trying to stick its head as deeply as possible into the Olympics trough.

Doubtless racking up the rates, in the short term, may well provide the hotels with some extra income. However, in the long term the damage done to the hotel industry ("rip off merchants" being the operative phrase) and London's reputation as a tourist destination will be hard to repair.

Naked greed does nothing to help the reputation of the games, the hotel industry or London.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Locog Offers/Withdraws Job To Drugs Cheat

The Telegraph reports that Locog have had to withdraw a job offer made to Sevdalin Marinov.

He had been offered the role of technical operations manager for London 2012, for the sport of weightlifting. However, he had been tested positive for steroids in 1994 and had been given a life ban - subsequently overturned - when a flatmate was convicted of importing banned drugs in 2003.

Locog's senior management became aware of the offer, and intervened to withdraw it.

Oops!

How odd that they hadn't realised this before?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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The Irony

The Telegraph reports that despite, or rather because of, the 2012 Olympics there will in fact be a fall in the number of tourists visiting the UK during 2012.

One reason for the decline being the "rip off" prices charged by hotels and other tourist venues during the games.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.comwww.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Beware Betting Scams

As noted many times on this site, the Olympics is more about money rather than sport.

The IOC is concerned that the London Olympics 2012 will be subjected to betting scams/corruption/fixing and, as such, will be monitoring betting patterns.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.comwww.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"