Latest update... IOC says final agreement certain on London venues By STEPHEN WILSON, AP Sports Writer 5 hours, 35 minutes ago VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)—Final agreement is expected within weeks on a cost-saving change in venue for two sports at the 2012 London Games, the International Olympic Committee said Thursday. London organizers proposed last year that badminton and rhythmic gymnastics be moved to Wembley Arena in northwest London rather than be held at a planned temporary venue near the Olympic Park in east London. Scrapping the temporary facility would save organizers tens of millions of pounds (dollars). The badminton and gymnastics federations have expressed concern over the travel time between the athletes’ village and the Wembley venue. In a presentation to the IOC assembly Thursday, London organizing committee chairman Sebastian Coe said the executive boards of the two federations will discuss the move in February and March. “We are very close to a final agreement,” said Denis Oswald, who chairs the IOC’s coordination commission for the London Games. “It’s only a question of weeks.” Oswald indicated the outcome was a virtual certainty. We express our gratitude to these two federations who have agreed to move some of their events,” he said. “This will lead to a saving of several millions. We thank them for their understanding in these challenging economic times.” London organizers have offered to house the athletes in hotels within walking distance of Wembley and find ways of shortening the travel journey. “We’ve pretty much agreed everything,” London chief executive Paul Deighton told The Associated Press. ------------ Read new-article completely through Yahoo!Sport -- http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/ne..._5AtLV_?slug=ap-iocmeetings&prov=ap&type=lgns
I've only flicked through this thread so my apologies if it's already been mentioned. Wembly is cool and has a proven track record of holding badminton events but for proximity wouldn't the O2 centre have made more sense ?
The O2 centre itself is already reserved for other events (basketball?). They were going to build a temporary venue nextdoor (indeed for proximity reasons) for about millions and then move and rebuild it somewhere else afterwards.
For this building to be pulled down later, to me it doesn't make sense . It depends how rich London is... For a planned temporary venue which will cost London tens of millions of pounds; and then for this building to be pulled down later, to me it doesn't make sense. It makes more sense if the building is not to be pulled down, but to have it as an additional sporting venue for Londoners after the Games. .
samrt move by the olympics committe to hold the badminton session at an exisiting venue. if the issue of players staying at the olympics village is too far to the Wembley stadium as badminton venyue, then relovating the players' hotel accomodation to a closer hotel/accommodation is much more feasible &economical. if the venue is still in good shape (no leaking roof, seats still have the backing, toilets are still working,a/c is still blowing cool air, fllors don't have major damages) then they should just use it.they could use the rest of the money for something more usefyul. if need be,they could use a bit of the money to spruce up the hall. done deal.
Wembley for 2012 Olympics Badminton?: BCers' votes as at 25-Feb-2010 . Our BCers' votes are now: "YES" for Wembley ......... 39 ... (81.25%) "NO" against Wembley ..... 9 .... (18.75%) .
Latest update... World Badminton and London 2012 organisers to meet over Wembley move World Badminton officials and Locog, London 2012’s organisers, are expected to thrash out a final decision this weekend on relocating to Wembley for the Olympic Games. By Rod Gilmour Published: 12:31PM GMT 12 Mar 2010 Fresh doubts - as revealed by Telegraph Sport - were raised by the Badminton World Federation in December over the long journey times from the Olympic park, despite athletes being offered hotel rooms and training venues close to the venue for the duration of the tournament. The International Olympic Committee, who will have the final say on the matter, said last month that badminton and rhythmic gymnastics had both agreed to the switch, but the sports have yet to give their final approval on moving to north London. ----------------- Wembley Arena has already been chosen for the 2011 World Badminton Championships and officials are eager for a solution due to using some aspects as a test event before London 2012. ------------------ *Complete article through Telegraph.co.uk -- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...012-organisers-to-meet-over-Wembley-move.html
Still to confirm if Badminton will be hosted at Wembley for the 2012 Olympics . From this Telegraph.co.uk article, published on Monday 19-Apr-2010, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...stage-2011-Badminton-World-Championships.html LOCOG, organiser of the 2012 Olympics in London, has still to confirm if Badminton will be hosted at Wembley for 2012, although the 2011 Badminton World Championships will be held there. ====== * ====== * ====== start article ====== * ====== * ====== By Rod Gilmour Published: 10:16PM BST 19 Apr 2010 Badminton England, the national governing body, will host the championships at Wembley Arena from Aug 8-14, and it forms part of the 64 events being held in Great Britain every two weeks up until 2012, announced last October at a cost of £32 million. Locog, London 2012's organiser, has still to confirm that badminton will be hosted at Wembley for 2012 after initial plans to build a temporary stadium in Greenwich were put on the backburner due to the £40 million estimated cost. Fresh doubts, as revealed by The Daily Telegraph, were raised by the Badminton World Federation in December over the long journey times from the Olympic park, despite athletes being offered hotel rooms and training venues close to the venue for the duration of the tournament. Badminton England understandably wants to use the World Championships as a test event ahead of the Olympics but has been unable to persuade the BWF to make a decision so that further planning can be put into action. The International Olympic Committee will have the final say on the matter next month. ====== * ====== * ====== end article ====== * ====== * ====== .
Wembley for 2012 Olympics Badminton?: BCers' votes as at 20-Apr-2010 . Updating to our BCers' 71 votes, we have: "YES" for Wembley ......... 62 ... (87.32%) "NO" against Wembley ..... 9 .... (12.68%) .
London 2012 Olympics: Wembley Arena to host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics London 2012 organisers have finally reached an agreement for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics to be staged at Wembley Arena after months of negotiations. By Telegraph staff and agencies Published: 3:49PM BST 26 May 2010 The sports had initially resisted the change to the original plan to base them in north Greenwich due to the increased travel times from the Olympic Village. But London 2012 have made a number of commitments regarding travel and both the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) have agreed to the venue switch. The deal has been in the offing for some time - the IOC's co-ordination commission chairman revealed back in February it was close to being finalised - but it needed rubber-stamping by the sports' rulers. London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: ''We are delighted to have reached this agreement with the BWF and FIG and I would like to thank them for their full co-operation and support. ---------------------------------------------------- *Full article taken from Telegraph.co.uk -- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...o-host-badminton-and-rhythmic-gymnastics.html
Wembley Arena: History with great Badminton matches . Thanks for the good news, CLELY. Finally, an agreement has been reached. I think the 2011 London BWF World Championships to be held there too; will also be giving us some great Badminton matches. .
Wembley for 2012 Olympics Badminton?: BCers' votes as at 27-May-2010 . With the good news just received, we update to our BCers' 75 votes: "YES" for Wembley ......... 65 .... (86.67%) "NO" against Wembley .... 10 .... (13.33%) .
I think Wembley is a better location to host badminton . Even Dr Kang Young Joong, the President of the BWF, said "Wembley Arena has a long history of hosting badminton events and we look forward to seeing great badminton being played there again - both during the London 2012 Olympic Games and at the 2011 London BWF World Championships." Source: http://www.insidethegames.biz/index...-approved&catid=84:london-2012-news&Itemid=89 .
