The Olympics

The Olympics

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News, information and stories about the Olympic Games.

Thursday 28 April 2011

20 Million Ticket Registrations

Approximately 20 million ticket applications have been registered by 1.8 million people for the 6.6 million tickets available for the London 2012 Olympics.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Wednesday 27 April 2011

Ticket Website Crashes

The London Olympics 2012 ticket website slowed to a snail's pace and crashed in the final hours running up to Tuesday's deadline for ticket orders.

Locog extended the deadline to 1am this morning (61 minutes beyond the original 11.59pm deadline) as the site was overwhelmed by millions of last minute applications.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Tuesday 26 April 2011

BOA Backs Down

After coming under overwhelming pressure from the Olympic family, the BOA has agreed to withdraw a legal challenge that has overshadowed Games preparations.



The BOA started the dispute when it challenged the way any surplus from the Olympics will be accounted for in the hope that it could secure a larger dividend from the Games.



Last night it agreed to withdraw an action lodged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in exchange for an improved package of support from Locog and Olympic sponsors.



The deal does not include any cash support from Locog and largely endorses existing contractual agreements however, indicating that the BOA has given most ground to save face after an acrimonious and embarrassing dispute.



Questions will now be asked of the BOA leadership of chairman Lord Moynihan and chief executive Andy Hunt who pressed ahead with the dispute despite the opposition of the International Olympic committee and the Government. Both will be permitted to resume attending Locog board meetings having been barred for the duration of the dispute.



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BOA begins legal fight to keep 2012 profits

10 Mar 2011

The BOA had argued that its share of any surplus should be calculated without including the cost of the Paralympics in the total Olympic budget, a move that would have given it a larger share of any profit.



It was also demanding that a £5m ‘bonus’, based on Locog meeting certain sponsorship targets and agreed by the previous BOA leadership, should be paid now rather than after the Games. Locog and the IOC rejected that argument.



Despite an emphatic ruling from the IOC that the original deal was legally sound, BOA chairman Lord Moynihan escalated the case to CAS, arguing that it was a matter of supreme importance to the future of British sport. Locog chairman Lord Sebastian Coe countered that the BOA had “mutated” London’s vision of a united Olympic and Paralympics.



In exchange for abandoning its case at CAS, the BOA has accepted a package of measures including access to additional tickets that it can sell to raise funding, and assistance with marketing.



Locog has also confirmed that the BOA will have first call on any surplus from the games to meet the £5m bonus.



In a joint statement issued this morning the BOA and Locog announced that the settlement included:



– Confirmation that monies due to the BOA and the British Paralympic Association (BPA) after the 2012 Games will continue to be prioritised and delivered should Locog’s Final Audited Statutory Accounts show a sufficient surplus.



– Confirmation that once any other financial obligations are met, any remaining surplus resulting from the financial results of both Games will be distributed on the basis of 60 per cent for the benefit of sport in the UK, 20 per cent to the IOC and 20 per cent to the BOA.



– Locog will proactively support the BOA’s ongoing efforts to secure corporate sponsors and other commercial partners for Team GB for the 2013-2016 Quadrennial.



– Locog will support the BOA’s plans for the marketing and sale of two items of iconic Team GB merchandise through its official retail outlets and in conjunction with the Torch Relay. Further, Locog has offered to waive its royalty fee on these items so that the proceeds are designated exclusively for Team GB/BOA.



– BOA will have access (subject to availability and not before 31 July 2011) to purchase additional Olympic Games tickets, which will be designated for two purposes: 1) for use with the Team 2012 Appeal, 2) for British Olympians who competed in previous Games.



– Locog has also agreed to increase support for Team GB operational planning prior to, during and immediately after the Olympic Games including access to venues contracted to Locog between the Olympic and Paralympic Games, subject to agreements from other contracted parties.



– To provide the BOA with the opportunity to build upon the successful Get Set Olympic Educational Programme, which is now in more than 16,500 schools across the UK, Locog and the BOA will work together to develop a detailed business plan to expand the impact and reach of the programme as part of the London 2012 legacy and to attract future commercial support.





Hunt said in the statement: “We appreciate the spirit of partnership and co-operation that Locog brought to our discussions” but in truth the BOA’s initial position prompted the most rancorous episode since London was awarded the Games.



The terms on which the BOA have settled appear to endorse the view that the BOA’s approach was motivated by concerns over its finances, which have been under pressure because of increased staff costs and an expansion program that has had mixed results.



The BOA has had to sell assets including its ticket rights for the next four Olympics to balance its books and the proceeds from the sale of its former headquarters has also been used to clear operating losses. Hunt has admitted it faces a challenge in funding the British team next year.



With the abandoning of the surplus debate Lord Moynihan and the chief executive will now face questions over the wisdom of instigating a dispute that, whatever the financial benefits, has cost the BOA’s reputation dear



Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Ticket Deadline

People have until 2359 BST today to apply for 6.6 million London Olympics tickets on the London 2012 website.

Prices range from £20 to £2,012.

However, London 2012 chairman Lord Coe has warned that only 50% of tickets for the major events could be available to the public after sponsors are allocated their share.

Applications will be processed in May and June, and those who have been successful will be notified by 24 June.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Confusing

With one week before applications for buying tickets to the 2012 Olympic Games closes, 'Which?' (the consumer magazine) has branded the Olympics tickets sales website as confusing.

'Which?' is of the view that too many hurdles are placed in front of the prospective ticket buyers.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Friday 15 April 2011

Change Your Habits!

WTF

It seems that the organisers of the London 2012 Olympics are fearful that London's Victorian transport system is not going to be up to the job of coping with the vast increase in passengers that the Olympics is expect to bring.

The solution?

Simple, the London Assembly transport committee want a third of commuters to change their habits.

Simples!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Thursday 14 April 2011

Scam Alert

In the event that you receive the following badly formatted email, throw it in the bin it is a very obvious scam.

"yourEmail address has won2012 Olympiclucky drawsLondon
forpayment directives on your prize of $950 000, 00 call+27 786313390
"

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Wednesday 13 April 2011

The Green Olympics?

Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, has been warned that the increase in traffic (as a result of the London Olympics in 2012) will breach pollution limits.

The result?

London will be fined £300M by the EU!

Now worries, just add that to the Olympic "budget"!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Snouts In The Trough

Snouts in the trough

It would seem that some people involved with the London Olympics 2012 simply cannot resist sticking their snouts in the trough.

The Telegraph recently reported that some of London's leading hotel groups (including Intercontinental, Hilton and Thistle) are taking legal advice following their discovery that some of the rooms that they have supplied to Locog (at preferential rates) are being resold by Thomas Cook at "grossly inflated prices".

One premium three-night ticket and accommodation package is on offer at the Hyatt Regency Churchill for £6,499 per person, including meals and transfers (the face value of the tickets is a "mere" £1,740).

Locog has taken 56,000 rooms, and has given Thomas Cook (a sponsor of the games) access to 8% of the rooms.

As I have noted many times before on this site, the Olympics is not about sport it's about money!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Monday 4 April 2011

Knobheads

wtf

Lord Coe has waded into the dispute between the knobheads running the British Olympic Association (BOA) and Locog.

The dispute is over how any post Games surplus (there's optimism for you!) should be defined.

The BOA argues that the surplus should be calculated before any loss from the Paralympics is taken into account. Locog and the IOC argue that the Olympics and Paralympics should be treated as an integrated whole.

Lord Coe is thoroughly fed up with the increasingly absurd and greedy position taken by the BOA, he is quoted in the Telegraph as saying that it is a "spurious case":

"This is not about a sum of money or a contractual misunderstanding, this is very clear, and the best demolition of that case is the IOC's judgment and they are the only appropriate organisation to adjudicate on that.

The Government have made it very clear there is no public money in settlement of that case, the IOC have made their position clear and as the organising committee we are running hard to maintain a balanced budget.
"

Sadly for Lord Coe the BOA are not listening, and are simply not interested in facing reality.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Friday 1 April 2011

Mobiles Nixed On Tube

Britain's four mobile companies (O2, Vodafone, 3 and Everything Everywhere) have nixed the £150M project to allow mobile phones to be used on the London Tube (in time for the Olympics).

Technologically speaking this leaves the London tube firmly in the third world.

However, the abandonment of the scheme (which would have allowed commuters to make calls, text and browse the internet on the Tube) is a blessed relief to the long suffering passengers of the overcrowded and unpleasant Tube system; as it at least saves them from further annoyance from noisy mobiles and their owners.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

April Fool!

The Metro has attempted an April Fool joke, by claiming that tickets for the London Olympics will be impregnated with smells from the 26 sports.

Nice try!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"