What happens in London after the Summer Games?

The Fate Of London's Olympic Hotspots

What will happen to the Olympic village, Aquatic Centre and other Summer Games' venues now that the athletes have left?

The Olympic Stadium

A spot where hearts have been broken, dreams achieved and records smashed, the Olympic Stadium was designed so that spectators were as close to the action as possible. Built around 14 lighting towers and with no less than 532 floodlights to ensure high-definition quality for television, the Olympic Stadium has become an iconic symbol on the London skyline. There have been several bids to decide the stadium's fate, with a number of Premier League football clubs hoping to claim it as their own, although the organisers are keen to retain some kind of athletics track. According to The Guardian the pitch would have to be replaced to meet Premier League standards. The stadium will need to be bought by an enterprise with Premier League-type finances in order to recoup the estimated £486 million it cost to build.

The Aquatics Centre

This has the capacity to hold 17,500 people but this will be reduced to 2,500 after the Games when the pools are opened to the public. With a 50 metre swimming pool, 50 metre warm-up pool and a 25 metre competition pool, there will plenty of room for future Olympic hopefuls to practice.

The Velodrome

There has been some serious excitement at the cycling this year with Chris Hoy overtaking Steve Redgrave as the British Olympian with the most gold medals after his sixth win this week. Victoria Pendleton has also fought hard for British women's cycling, and there is no doubt both will spur many youngsters to take to their bikes. According to the official London 2012 website, the Velodrome will form part of a new VeloPark to be built after the Games end, for both community and elite use. Additional road and mountain biking facilities will be added, as well as a reconfigured BMX track.

Waterpolo Arena and Basketball Arena

These are both to be dismantled, though the London 2012 site claims that elements of each will be reused elsewhere. How exactly these elements will be recycled remains to be seen.

Weymouth and Portland

The area used for sailing on the southwest coast of England has long been a hub for boat-lovers, both professional and occasional. Since the games were confirmed, these facilities have been updated to a first class standard which will be enjoyed by sailors for years to come. Those who partake in elite training and competitive racing will do the bulk of their preparation in Weymouth.

The International Broadcast Centre

The space from which our favourite television reporters and broadcasters have commentated on the Games will not go to waste. Plans are underway to convert the area into 80,000 square metres of business space to create jobs in and around the Stratford area. In conjunction with this, the Athletes Village, where everyone who competed stayed during the Games, will be turned into long-term housing.

Olympic Games: Why Nigeria failed

… Athletes, officials blame Sports Ministry, FG
Truly, Bolaji Abdullahi was appointed sports minister and chairman of the National Sports Commission a few months to the Olympic Games and there was nothing much he could have done to change the impending doom then that has now manifested at the 2012 London Olympic Games that ended Sunday night with a closing ceremony that was a music JAM.
But the little the minister could do was consumed in his preference to plunge into the dirty football politics at the time than double effort to prepare the Nigerian team for the Olympics. Unfortunately, the ministry dragged him into it and because of the popularity of football in Nigeria he savoured the exposure and visibility the lingering but orchestrated crisis of Nigerian football attracted to him.

CLAYFOOTED: Nigeria’s Ajoke Odumosu (R) hands the baton to Regina George as they compete in the women’s 4X400 relay final of the London 2012 Olympic Games in London. PHOTO/AFP.

That was at the expense of tackling few issues with our Olympic preparation. There were issues with funding and technical problems with the teams that Nigeria would present. But the minister was busy with football that did not qualify for the Olympics. He meant well but he was misguided.
Some officials re-echoed the minister’s early romance with football as part of what affected Nigeria’s preparation but, in the main, blamed it on the now tradition of not developing sports but just engaging in competitions. Some athletes also bared their minds. For the avoidance of victimisation they preferred not to have their names on print.
Said one Nigerian official here: “The minister came into office and rather than face our preparation for the Olympics the ministry lured him into football politics and the money that would have been spent on our preparation was spent on trips to Zurich, the FIFA headquarters.
Time and energy were spent too on a problem they all later found out to be the creation of officials of the sports ministry who simply wanted their candidate in the NFF”
Another official put his this way: “The Federal Government is to blame. They are not yet ready to take sports seriously. They don’t fund sports well and when it comes to the games like the Olympics they expect results. Until they start funding sports well, the failure that we have experienced here will continue.”
One senior official who is a member of international body accused the federal government of aiding corruption by always releasing money late for preparations during which the money is misappropriated.
“When you make a budget for preparation and include about three training tours but money is released late you cannot embark on those tours again and the preparation is affected. This has been our story for a long time. It just didn’t start now. This makes the pockets of ministry officials fat but affects our preparation. N2.3 billion was released for the London Olympics and a huge part of it was surely not spent on the athletes or our participation here. It happened before and it is happening now, so it is not only about people who are in the ministry now. It is about our faulty system.”
An athlete is thinking of changing nationality. Said she: “I am not sure I will compete for Nigeria again. They will not help you and they expect so much from you. I know how other countries who are winning gold here helped their athletes to prepare. All the things they promised us in the last Olympics have not been fulfilled. We will continue to fail until we change and since change is not possible now it is better for me to change. Haven’t you seen that the Nigerians competing for other countries are doing well?.”
Another athlete said that it is only at the time of competition that Nigeria tries to engage the athletes, adding that “it is always too late to do something meaningful.”
A sports association technical official spoke from experience: “I know the age of my athlete. But don’t be surprised that by the next Olympics they will ask him to get ready for the Olympics because they are not developing any other person to take over from him. There’s no development programme, no money, no programme to develop talents. So, how can we do well in sports? Why do we have the sports ministry?.”

Olympics end as Nigeria return with no medal

The London 2012 Olympic Games ended on Sunday with Team Nigeria returning home with no medal, raising questions over the N1.9bn budgeted for the Nigeria’s participation at the Games.
It was an unusual record compared to the nation’s achievements at the Games in the past two decades. It was one that reminded Nigerians of the woeful performance recorded when Nigerian did not win any medal at Seoul ’88.
In London, Nigeria’s hopes for medals were shouldered by the athletics team, where Blessing Okagbare was regarded as a match for Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica and Carmelita Jeter of the US in the women’s 100m. But Okagbare finished the final in the 8th position, blaming her poor performance on injury despite competing till the end.
In the long jump, she had an equally bad outing, failing to qualify for the final after finishing in the 17th position. In the women’s 4x100m relay race, Christy Udoh, Gloria Asumnu, Oludamola Osayomi and Okagbare did put up a fight but the 42.64 time recorded by them was only good as their season’s best with Nigeria ending in the 4th position.
Ajoke Odumosu also raised the nation’s hopes when she reached the 400m hurdles but she came last to end all medal expectations from the race.
The basketball team reached the Olympics for the first time with much expectation, especially after beating Greece and Lithuania, respectively ranked 4th and 5th in the world, during the qualifiers.
They even gladdened the nation’s heart with a win over African champions, Tunisia, in their first match at the Olympics, but defeats by to Lithuania, Argentina, US and France ended first basketball participation at the Games with one win.
There was disappointment after the table tennis team was ousted a day after the opening ceremony but there were last minute hopes that later produced no medals for Nigeria.
Team Nigeria’s Captain Chika Chukwumerije, who won a bronze at the last Olympic Games in Beijing, China was seen as a medal prospect in taekwondo because of the preparation he had before the Games. He did not begin his contest until a day before the closing ceremony, but in his only fight, he lost to Cuban opponent, Robelis Despaigne, in the men’s+80kg class.
A few hours after his defeat on Saturday, another hope was dashed when the women’s 4x400m relay team was disqualified in the final. It was however not the final straw as hopes of any type of medal rested on Sinivie Boltic, a male wrestler in the freestyle 96kgcategory. He drew bye into the quarterfinals where he met Republic of Moldova’s Ceban Nicolai on Sunday. But like other athletes that represented Nigeria, Boltic did not get to the medal zone, ending all hopes for Nigeria.
A few weeks before the Games commenced, there was controversy over the release of funds as sports federations bosses had to look for money to prepare athletes for the competition. Chukwumerije was the only athlete who had first class preparation for the Games. He was treated for an injury in London and sent to Korea to prepare for his taekwondo event.
Reacting to the nation’s failure in London, a member of the Association of Veteran Sports Administrators Forum, Martins Osaile, said Nigerians should hold the Federal Government responsible for the poor outing.
Osaile said, “Before 1999 when we returned to democratic rule, our sport was healthy, today it is almost dead. The present government in the hands of our people is not ready to develop sport in Nigeria. They play game with the future of our athletes. They have forgotten that there is political power in achieving excellence in global events.
“When the present head of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Sanni Ndanusa, was the president of tennis federation, I challenged him to list his achievements in the sport. To the surprise of Nigerians, he became the sports minister and now NOC president. That shows how the Nigerian government has relegated sport in Nigeria.”
Osaile advised the athletes to challenge their leaders and free themselves from their hold.
“Usain Bolt made over $30m from endorsement last year and there are many others that were not documented for public consumption. How many Nigerian athletes made anything from endorsement in the past one year? The US announced last week that camp for the 2016 Olympics would open in September, here in Nigeria, we will not start until three months to the Games,” Osaile said.
Former boxer and an Olympian, Jeremiah Okorodudu, said the boxers who represented Nigeria in London were not ready for the contest.
He said, “We had three boxers but they were not good enough to win medals. They were picked from the National Sports Festival which was wrong. If we are going to use the festival as Olympic qualifier, it should be made open. You cannot take rookies to a big event like the Olympics.”
Okorodudu also said Nigeria was heading for a major failure when training tours are not properly handled before the Games.
“In the past when Nigeria did well at the Olympics, training tours were not limited to putting athletes in a hotel and training at a remote facility. Tours are meant to expose the athletes and put them in proper shape for the big events,” he said.

Olympics Day 16: 'Glorious' Games come to an end

Fireworks light up the Olympic stadium during the closing ceremony.

Legendary track star and chairman of the London Organizing Committee Sebastian Coe congratulated his fellow Britons for a "glorious" Olympic Games on Sunday night.

"When our time came, Britain, we did it right," Coe told the 80,000 gathered at Olympic Stadium for the closing ceremony.

Coe said these "two glorious weeks" would "inspire a generation."

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge declared the London Games officially over.

He echoed Coe's sentiments.

Day 16: The best photos of the Olympics

"These were happy and glorious Games," he said. "The legacy of the Games of the 30th Olympiad will become clear in many ways. Concrete improvements in infrastructure will benefit the host nation for years to come. The human legacy will reach every region of the world. Many young people will be inspired to take up a sport or to pursue their dreams."

As the Games came to a close, the United States led the medal count with 104 overall, 46 of them gold.

China finished second, with 87 medals, with Russia third with 82. Great Britain finished with 65, its best total since 1908.

Singers from all eras performed. There was rock great Ray Davies, pop heroes George Michael and Annie Lennox, and new boy-band One Direction. Even comedian Russell Brand joined in, singing The Beatles "I Am The Walrus."

The crowd gave the Spice Girls a rousing ovation after they performed two of their hits.

Other performers payed tribute to some of the artists who didn't attend or had passed away.

Singers Jessie J and Taio Cruz teamed with rapper Tinie Tempah to sing "You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees (born on Isle of Man). Ed Sheeran led a quartet with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Richard Jones of the Feeling and Mike Rutherford of Genesis in covering "Wish You Were Here."

Later Monty Python actor Eric Idle led the crowd in singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."

To close the music medley Jessie J also joined Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, belting out "We Will Rock You."

The Who closed out the ceremony with a medley of the band's hits, ending with "My Generation."

In a new twist, the 10,000-plus athletes entered the stadium through the stands, some high-fiving members of the audience as they descended the steps to the field.

There was also one final medal ceremony as Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda was awarded his marathon gold and listened along with the spectators to his national anthem.

The White House released a statement that said President Obama called British Prime Minister David Cameron congratulating London on an "extremely successful" games.

One of the U.S. golds came as expected on the basketball court, but in a tougher contest than expected.

Led by Kevin Durant's 30 points, the United States fought off a stiff challenge from Spain to win the gold medal 107-100.

The Americans defended their title from four years ago in Beijing, also against Spain.

"This game was fun. It was a challenge, but we stepped up to it," Kobe Bryant told NBC, an official broadcaster of the Games.

LeBron James had 19 points and Bryant scored 17 for the Americans, who led by only one point after the third quarter.

"We all respect each other," Durant said. "We all know it's our common goal."

Russia narrowly edged out Argentina for the bronze.

London itself took center stage on the last day of the Olympics on Sunday, with the men's marathon course running past the city's major landmarks from Big Ben to Buckingham Palace.

Kiprotich won a thrilling race in 2:08:01, dueling for miles with early leader Wilson Kipsang of Kenya and his compatriot Abel Kirui.

The Kenyans worked together to try to box the Ugandan in, but as the race neared its end, he blew past them to finish with a commanding lead, giving Uganda its first medal of any color in these Games.

Kirui took silver and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich took the bronze, with Eritrea-born American Meb Keflezighi coming fourth, about three minutes behind the winner.

The hosts snatched yet another boxing gold medal later Sunday, with super heavyweight Anthony Joshua winning gold for Britain. Italy, whose Roberto Cammarelle won silver, launched an appeal after the fight ended 18-18. Joshua was awarded victory on countback -- using the scores of all five judges, not just the middle three scores.

"It was a tough first round. The judges will always do their job and I do my job," the champion said. "I have had close decisions in other tournaments but I just take it on the chin."

The Italian said the decision was curious.

"I did everything I could. I don't understand the score," he said. "Where did they get all the points they gave him at the end?"

Team USA picked up another gold medal earlier, when Jacob Stephen Varner won the 96-kilogram freestyle wrestling contest.

"I came here to win a gold medal and that's what I've done," he said. "I played more defense then I wanted to, but it's awesome for the United States."

Uzbekistan's Artur Taymazov became first man to win three consecutive freestyle wrestling golds, defeating Davit Modzmanashvili of Georgia.

"I wanted to get the third gold," said Taymazov, who also won a silver at the Sydney Games in 2000. "There was also a time pressure, because I am 33. But it was my time."

At the 2000 Olympics, Greco-Roman wrestler Alexander Karelin won three straight golds and then a silver.

"I'm glad I have equaled his medal total," Taymazov said, "but he has won more world championships than I have won so I must do more over the next two seasons."

In men's water polo, Ratko Rudic guided Croatia to an 8-6 victory over Italy in the gold medal match, a record fourth win for the a coach. Rudic has led three nations -- Yugoslavia, Italy and his native Croatia -- to gold as well as winning a silver medal in 1980 as a player with Yugoslavia.

Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania won the final gold medal of the London Games with an Olympic record score in the modern pentathlon.

London 2012 Medal Table Last Update

London 2012 

Updated: 07:24 BST
12 August 2012

Position	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	46	29	29	104
2	China	38	27	22	87
3	Great Britain	29	17	19	65
4	Russia	24	25	33	82
5	South Korea	13	8	7	28
6	Germany	11	19	14	44
7	France	11	11	12	34
8	Italy	8	9	11	28
9	Hungary	8	4	5	17
10	Australia	7	16	12	35
11	Japan	7	14	17	38
12	Kazakhstan	7	1	5	13
13	Netherlands	6	6	8	20
14	Ukraine	6	5	9	20
15	Cuba	5	3	6	14
16	New Zealand	5	3	5	13
17	Iran	4	5	3	12
18	Jamaica	4	4	4	12
19	Czech Republic	4	3	3	10
20	North Korea	4	0	2	6
21	Spain	3	10	4	17
22	Brazil	3	5	9	17
23	Belarus	3	5	5	13
24	South Africa	3	2	1	6
25	Ethiopia	3	1	3	7
26	Croatia	3	1	2	6
27	Romania	2	5	2	9
28	Kenya	2	4	5	11
29	Denmark	2	4	3	9
30	Poland	2	2	6	10
31	Azerbaijan	2	2	6	10
32	Turkey	2	2	1	5
33	Switzerland	2	2	0	4
34	Lithuania	2	1	3	6
35	Norway	2	1	1	4
36	Canada	1	5	12	18
37	Sweden	1	4	3	8
38	Colombia	1	3	4	8
39	Georgia	1	3	3	7
40	Mexico	1	3	3	7
41	Ireland	1	1	3	5
42	Argentina	1	1	2	4
43	Slovenia	1	1	2	4
44	Serbia	1	1	2	4
45	Tunisia	1	1	1	3
46	Dominican Republic	1	1	0	2
47	Uzbekistan	1	0	3	4
48	Trinidad and Tobago	1	0	3	4
49	Latvia	1	0	1	2
50	Bahamas	1	0	0	1
51	Venezuela	1	0	0	1
52	Algeria	1	0	0	1
53	Grenada	1	0	0	1
54	Uganda	1	0	0	1
55	India	0	2	4	6
56	Mongolia	0	2	3	5
57	Thailand	0	2	1	3
58	Egypt	0	2	0	2
59	Slovakia	0	1	3	4
60	Belgium	0	1	2	3
61	Finland	0	1	2	3
62	Armenia	0	1	2	3
63	Chinese Taipei	0	1	1	2
64	Indonesia	0	1	1	2
65	Malaysia	0	1	1	2
66	Estonia	0	1	1	2
67	Puerto Rico	0	1	1	2
68	Bulgaria	0	1	1	2
69	Gabon	0	1	0	1
70	Montenegro	0	1	0	1
71	Portugal	0	1	0	1
72	Guatemala	0	1	0	1
73	Cyprus	0	1	0	1
74	Botswana	0	1	0	1
75	Moldova	0	0	2	2
76	Qatar	0	0	2	2
77	Greece	0	0	2	2
78	Singapore	0	0	2	2
79	Tajikistan	0	0	1	1
80	Hong Kong	0	0	1	1
81	Morocco	0	0	1	1
82	Bahrain	0	0	1	1
83	Saudi Arabia	0	0	1	1
84	Afghanistan	0	0	1	1
85	Kuwait	0	0	1	1