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This magazine was recently
invited to be one of the first to see the progress at first hand of
the site that will become home for the thousands of athletes
expected in London for the Olympic Games of 2012.
Whilst the project is one of the largest construction and engineering projects in Europe, twice the size of Heathrow Terminal Five when completed, the question to the casual onlooker who is faced with what looks like a huge bombsite, has to be whether it will be ready on time? According to Call Sign’s Olympic guide, the project is around three months ahead of schedule, although the only building we saw that had any shape was the Olympic stadium itself. But we were assured that work was well under way on the Aquatics Centre, the Olympic Village itself, the VeloPark (cycling), the Stadium, the Hockey, Handball and Basketball erenas and indeed the centre where the games will be broadcast to almost every country in the world from - the International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre - which we were told would be, if laid on its side, half again as high as the Canary Wharf tower! As for taxis, we were told of ONE site (currently on the Hackney Marshes side of the A12) where MIGHT be able to drop off! They say they plan more - but not yet! The first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC |
CALL SIGN AT THE OLYMPIC PARK |
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and were staged on the ancient
plains of Olympia. They were dedicated to the ancient ‘Gods’ and
continued until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 AD that all such
‘pagan cults’ be banned. The modern version – ie the first Olympiad of the modern era – saw competitors mainly from Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain come to Athens on 6 April 1896. The first gold medal at those games was won by American James Connolly, who won the |
triple jump to become the first
Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years. Interestingly, to connect
with the Olympics past, the London Olympics site
has unearthed historical tems from the Iron and
Bronze Ages right through to World War II. So will it be ready for 27th July 2012 and the 60 days following? Well, it may resemble something of a tip at the moment, but it certainly is a tip with some style and Call Sign has no doubt that it will be completed on time… |
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LEE TAKES THE PLUNGE! |
 If Lee looks after Becky as carefully as he held the F A Cup, they will be very happy |
| Call Sign
has been following the progress of Dial-a-Cab driver and Bedfont
Green goalkeeper, Lee Pearce (J71) for several seasons –
including that great FA cup run of two seasons back when he was
still with Wembley FC and highlights of their game were shown on
BBC’s Match of the Day and Sky. Now Lee is finally tying the knot with long-time girlfriend Becky and trusting himself not to put on too much weight on a honeymoon cruise - while mum and mum-in-law look after the kids! Good luck to them both… |
