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| Olympic Village [PHOTO: London 2012] |
London: Further gold-medal standard services and facilities to be offered at the Olympic and Paralympic Village have been unveiled as the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) welcomed a small number of guests into the Village for an overnight stay as part of preparations for the London 2012 Games.
First-class Games time services and facilities to be used by the 16,000 Olympic athletes and team officials and 6,200 Paralympic athletes and team officials from more than 200 competing countries and territories will include:
- A temporary 24-hour main dining area with 5,000 seats, together with a restaurant in the Main Dining Hall. The main dining area will serve 1.2 million meals during the Games comprising 1300 different types of dishes and up to 60,000 meals daily. The menu has been developed in consultation with dieticians and sport nutritionists and provision has been made for multiple tastes and religions. Worldwide themes will include ‘Best of British’, ‘African & Caribbean’, ‘Indian & Asian’ and ‘European, American & Mediterranean’. Weather permitting, an outdoor ‘Street Food’ dining area will operate from 11.30-21.00 including a barbecue and handheld street food. Food to be consumed in the Village is expected to include 25,000 loaves of bread, 232 tonnes of potatoes, 75,000 litres of milk and more than 330 tonnes of fruit and vegetables including 2.7 million bananas.
- The Globe. The Globe is the main centre of athlete recreation in the Village. It includes a private cinema, stage, bar, music studio, pool and football tables, a computer gaming area, pin trading, facility to exchange clothes, TV’s and Blu-ray Players and a pub garden.
- A state-of-the-art training gym occupying more than 1,200m2. There will be more than 750 pieces of gym equipment and a team of over 100 professional personal trainers spread over the main gym at the Olympic village and the 19 sport-specific preparation centres to assist with athlete preparation. Gym equipment will include an extensive range of cardio, flexibility, strength and pure weight machines with more than 200 individual units onsite.
- A Multi-Faith Centre where five faiths will be represented including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. A team of more than 50 chaplains from the different faiths will work in the multi-faith centre to offer support, pastoral care and spiritual help. Services will include one-to-one support, group meetings and worship services.
The above services will be offered in addition to the myriad of gold-medal standard services and facilities previously announced including:
- More than 250,000m2 of apartment space will be provided, ranging from one bedroom apartments to 4 & 5 bed townhouses
- World-class healthcare facilities within the Polyclinic catering for up to 200 athletes daily supported by state-of-the-art imaging equipment provided by GE
- Information kiosks across the Village site providing instant access results, competition schedules, medal ranking tables, transport news and sports records
- Essential shops and services within the Village Plaza including an Internet Lounge, a Bank, ATM and customer payment services, a mobile phone outlet, a Beauty & Grooming Salon and Spa, shipping services, a general store, dry cleaner, florist, postal services, a ticket office, photographic services and tourist information services.
The London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Village is the most compact in recent Games history but will have expansive feel with the inclusion of a Central Park area along with the proximity of the Olympic Park with its open spaces. It offers athletes excellent links to the entertainment and heritage of London with central London just 7 minutes travel from Stratford International Station adjacent to the Village.
After the Games, the ODA will make provision for removing temporary Games-time fittings in the apartments and ‘retro-fitting’ them with new kitchens. The Village will then create a legacy of 2,818 new homes across 11 individually designed plots in a new community to be known as East Village. This will offer the best of city living in one place as high-quality homes – affordable and private rented or owned - are matched with newly created parklands, public squares and some of the best transport connections in the capital.
The Village Service Centre housing the Multi-Faith Centre and gym will become a world-class education campus to serve the new homes in the Village and existing local communities. It will specialise in the performing arts, with 1,800 places for students aged 4-19.