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London 2012 Announces Test Events for 2012 Olympics

Story posted February 24 | 2011

The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) has announced a comprehensive testing programme which will form a key part of its preparations for the Games next year. LOCOG’s testing programme will focus primarily on testing the field of play, results, scoring and timing systems, as well as key operational procedures and functions. This programme is made up of three different types of events:

• International Invitational Events, created and delivered by LOCOG;
• International Federation (IF) Events, delivered by LOCOG in partnership with the IFs and sports national governing bodies (NGBs);
• International Events organised by sports national governing bodies and other organisations with LOCOG testing operational aspects.

Seb Coe, Chair of LOCOG, said: "Our approach to operational delivery is similar to that of an athlete. You do not want to face any conditions at competition time that you have not prepared for. When the world’s greatest Olympic and Paralympic athletes come to London in the summer of 2012, every aspect of our delivery needs to be the best it can be. The invaluable experience we gain through our testing programme means we can “road-test” all our operational plans and make sure we have all the knowledge we need to deliver a truly memorable Games in 2012."

Spectators and riders alike will get a chance to see world class track racing on the Olympic Velodrome in 2012 with a test event on 17 - 19 February, 2012.

Many of the events will be available to spectators with others restricted to technology and field of play testing. Some tickets will be sold by LOCOG and some will be sold by other event organisers. Further details of LOCOG’s test event ticketing programme will be announced later this year.  People who are interested in attending events should sign up to www.tickets.london2012.com and they will be sent further information as soon as it is available.

LOCOG has worked closely with UK Sport and some of the events will form part of UK Sport’s  World Class Events Programme, which invests National Lottery funding to help stage major international sporting events in the UK. 

Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: "UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme has been preparing Britain’s sports and elite athletes for their home Games in London for the past five years, so it is fantastic to be supporting LOCOG’s testing programme at this crucial time through the major international events we are bringing to Olympic and Paralympic venues in 2011 and 2012. Working in partnership with nearly every British Olympic and Paralympic sport to host events on home soil in readiness for London has transformed our events staging capacity within the UK, and is allowing us to target an ambitious programme of world class events for the UK beyond 2012."

Denis Oswald, Chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for London, said: "Athletes know that the quality of their training will impact the quality of their performance as they strive to achieve their full potential. It is no different with the Games organisers and we can see that LOCOG is making sure that its pre-Games preparations will give it plenty of opportunity to refine its plans and produce a winning performance come July 2012."

The testing programme includes the following cycling events: 

31 July 2011, Cycling - Mountain Bike, Hadleigh Farm International Hadleigh Farm, Essex
14 August 2011    Cycling - Road    London – Surrey Cycle Classic London and Surrey
19 - 20 August 2011    Cycling - BMX    UCI BMX Supercross World Cup     BMX Track, Olympic Park
17 - 19 February 2012    Cycling - Track    UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classic       Velodrome, Olympic Park

The Events in 2011 which will be ticketed by LOCOG are:
Mountain Bike: 31 July 2011, Hadleigh Farm, Essex
BMX: 19-20 August 2011, BMX Track, Olympic Park
These will go on sale in May 2011 via www.ticketmaster.co.uk

The Events in 2012 which will be ticketed by LOCOG (subject to confirmation) are:
Track Cycling: 17-19 February 2012, Velodrome, Olympic Park

On-sale dates for Events taking place in 2012 will be released later this year. People interested in attending any of these events should Sign Up to receive more information as it becomes available.