The London 2012 Games were centred around the Olympic Park in East London, which is the site of a number of new sports venues. Up to 180,000 spectators a day entered the Park to enjoy the Games, making it the principal focus of Olympic activity. The main venues—the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velodrome and BMX Circuit, as well as the hockey, handball and basketball arenas—were easily accessible through a network of footbridges and walkways within the Park.
The Olympic Village was within walking distance of all the venues in the Park, enhancing the experience for athletes and officials. The use of other prestigious venues—such as Wembley Stadium for football, the All-England Club in Wimbledon for tennis, Lord’s Cricket Ground for archery and Horse Guards Parade for beach volleyball—was also a feature of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Cultural Olympiad
The London 2012 Games included a four-year Cultural Olympiad. It reached a climax with the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on 27 July 2012, starting a 60-day festival of sport and culture across the UK, as the Olympic and Paralympic spirit crossed the world once again.
Sports: 26 sports, featuring 39 disciplines
Venues: 34
Park: The Olympic Park, which held nine venues, was 2.5sq km in size—equivalent to 357 football pitches.
Tickets: 8.8 million tickets were available
Athletes: 10,500
NOCs: 204
Events: 302 medal events
Media: 21,000 accredited media communicated the Games to a potential worldwide audience of 4 billion people.
Officials: 2,961 technical officials and 5,770 team officials
Workforce: A total workforce of around 200,000 people: more than 6,000 staffs, 70,000 volunteers and 100,000 contractors
Olympic-sized Equipment Needs
LOCOG had sourced over one million pieces of sport equipment for the Games, including 510 adjustable hurdles for athletics, 600 basketballs, 2,700 footballs and 356 pairs of boxing gloves.
Spectator Travel
During the Games, 20 million spectator journeys were made in London, including three million on the busiest day of the Games.
Many Meals
Approximately 14 million meals were served at the Games, including 45,000 per day in the Olympic Village.