Developer for Olympic Village
The Lend Lease consortium has been named by London 2012 to develop the Olympic Village.
The Olympic Delivery Authority on Friday confirmed that the consortium will work on the Olympic Village and the bulk of the Stratford City scheme''s legacy housing, commercial and hotel development in east London.
Terms of agreement with the consortium, which comprises East Thames Group, First Base and Crosby Lend Lease, are due to be signed in the coming weeks.
ODA chief executive David Higgins said: “This is another important step forward in delivering our vision for the Olympic Park. Lend Lease has emerged as the strongest candidate for the element of the Stratford City development, which will house the athletes for the Games and deliver vital housing for the new community after 2012."
Tall Order for 2012
The search is on for talented tall athletes to compete at the London Olympics.
UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport this week launched a campaign to find women at least 5ft 11in and men of 6ft 3in plus as the potential rowing, handball and volleyball stars of 2012.
Britain''s sports minister Richard Caborn said the Sporting Giants search "will give taller athletes the chance to reach the peak of their potential by trying sports both new and old, introducing them to the high-performance environment."
Chelsea Warr, UK Sport''s performance consultant, said: "We have a unique opportunity to pluck individuals from relative sporting obscurity and provide the opportunity of a sporting lifetime."
Succe
ssful applicants will go through a sport-specific screening stage where their suitability for the three Olympic sports will be assessed before a shortlist of potential talent for the 2012 Games is drawn up.
UK Beach Sports Venue Ambitions
The UK''s first permanent beach sports venue is bidding to play a part in the London 2012 Olympics and future FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups.
Opened this week in the English seaside city of Brighton, Nivea Sun Yellowave has submitted a bid to be a pre-Games training camp for beach volleyball. Great Britain''s Olympic volleyball team have already agreed to use the site as a training base.
Yellowave has also expressed interest in bringing the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup to Brighton. The second edition of the event took place in Rio de Janeiro last year.
Director Spencer Mintram welcomes an association with the 2012 Olympics and FIFA''s beach soccer organizers. "It''s important for us to get Nivea Sun Yellowave and Brighton involved in international events," he said.
The Brighton venue, comprising six beach volleyball courts or one international size beach soccer pitch, will underline its sporting credentials with a series of major beach sports events this summer.
Around 700 UK applications for 2012 Olympic training camps are being considered by organizers. Successful sites will be included in a brochure published next year.
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