Today marks two years until the start of London 2012. A breathtaking series of events are planned to mark the milestone, including the launch of a volunteering programme and the opening of the first official shop. Follow the thrills and spills here

3.54pm:

Right, that’s it. Most of the activities celebrating the fact the games start two years today have finished. So what have we learned, apart from the fact that there is now an official London 2012 shop open at St Pancras?

• Sir Chris Hoy can still ride a bike. This is good news.

• Londoners could make a small fortune letting out their homes during the games. Up to £5,000 per week, according to the Times.

• Wenlock, one of the official London mascots, is available in soft toy form. But he costs £25. You can also try and win him.

• If you decide to buy Wenlock, don’t try and use your Mastercard. “In recognition of Visa’s longstanding support of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the London 2012 Shop is proud to only accept card payments by Visa.”

• The Olympic park is really beginning to take shape. Some of the buildings, particularly the velodrome and the swimming arena, look amazing – as this Guardian gallery shows.

Thanks for following the blog today and for all your comments.

2.25pm:

Lord Coe is telling Sophie Rayworth that there will be more tickets widely available than any event in history.

He also says there is as much chance of getting a ticket for the 100m final through the ballot as there is for any other event.

If you so wish, you can register on the London 2012 website for the latest information on tickets.

Around eight million tickets will be available for the games, according to the website. The tickets go on sale next year.

Interestingly it seems people will only be able to make card payments using Visa at the Olympics. “In recognition of Visa’s support of the Games, the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are proud to accept only Visa cards (debit, credit and prepaid), along with cash and cheques.”

1.57pm:

Footage is emerging on the news channels of Sir Chris Hoy cycling around the makeshift track in the London velodrome. It appears Boris Johnson has also had a go around the temporary track, albeit somewhat more slowly.

PA reports that Hoy was “watched by a crew of cheering builders” on the 75m track.

“Just walking in here you get the feeling that this is an Olympic venue,” Hoy said.

“This is where it is going to take place and hopefully where I will win one more Olympic gold medal.

“Just looking up at the stand and even the cheers from the construction workers, you can feel what it will be like when it is full to the rafters and being in an Olympic final.

“You can really sense it is getting more enthusiastic – two years to go, I really cannot wait.”

1.33pm:

Another YouTube video, this time from Pearcesport. aka James Pearce, the BBC’s sports news correspondent, who was one of the people allowed into the Olympic Stadium this morning.

The video shows the short (very short) track which has been laid for Michael Johnson to run around on later today. According to the documents I have here, he will sprint against youngsters at 2.30pm. Hurray!

1.10pm:

My colleague Matt Wells, displaying a disturbingly close knowledge of Doctor Who, has sent me the following email explaining his “little shop” comment below the line.

The episode is Smith and Jones, starring Tennant. The doctor and his then assistant, Martha, are hiding from the Judoon (who are not very nice) in the Royal Hope hospital, which has been transferred to the moon, for the purposes of the plot.

“Ah, you’ve got a little shop. I like a little shop!” he says. It is ironic, obviously, to be thinking about retail opportunities, given the danger he is in.

That will be all.

12.55pm:

kayewiggins has uploaded a video of Boris Johnson talking about the volunteering scheme to YouTube.

He says at least 8,000 people will be able to be London ambassadors, maybe more if sufficient sponsorship can be acquired.

12.38pm:

BBC One is screening a live “special news” programme – called, fittingly, “London 2012: Two Years to Go” – from the Olympic stadium in Stratford from 2.15pm.

As KenBarlow points out below the line, you can purchase 30cm Wenlock soft toys rather than pitting your wits against others in a bid to win one.

The mascot is a snip at £25.00 (plus £4.95 standard delivery).

12.30pm:

We (Lexy Topping and I – it was doubles) lost. 11-3, 11-7. Mostly my fault.

12.03pm: Fittingly, given the subject of this live blog, I have to pause here to go and play table tennis – a first round match in the Kings Place Occupiers’ Championship. (Really).

Will be back shortly.

11.54am: Owen Gibson has written a comprehensive progress report on preparations for London 2012.

Two years from today, the Olympic flame will be lit in a stadium that is now all but finished on a site in east London that is looking more and more as it will in July 2012. This time next year, test events will begin. All of a sudden, there is not much time left.

Despite the worst recession for 70 years, the construction of the venues is on track. “We’re in a remarkably good place,” said the sports and Olympics minister, Hugh Robertson. “As at today, we are marginally ahead of where we ought to be in construction terms and on budget, which is an extraordinarily good position to be in.”

As confidence grows that the London Olympics will avoid an Athens-style meltdown, attention will turn to the operational issues for which the London organising committee (Locog), chaired by Lord Coe, is responsible.

You can also read progress reports on individual sports on our London 2012: two years to go keyword page.

If you don’t win a 30cm soft replica of Wenlock.

11.35am: The BBC has opened up its archive of footage from the 1948 London Olympics.

The 1948 Olympics section of its website has pictures, news stories, video and audio from the “austerity Olympics”.

When the Olympic Games came to London in 1948 it was visiting a city still suffering from the ravages of the second world war. Rationing was still in force, many people had been left homeless and yet the bomb cratered city rose to the challenge of hosting the world’s greatest sporting occasion.

These “austerity Olympics” were not only the first post-war games, but also the first Olympics where British television played a role. This collection of programmes and photographs looks back at the games, remembering the athletes who took part and revealing the BBC’s role in televising the events.

The collection includes a broadcast from Prime Minister Clement Attlee offering a “warmest welcome” to the athletes who have travelled to London, and a video news piece informing viewers that the BBC had used for the first time “its latest EMI outside broadcast equipment” to screen some events.

11.10am: To celebrate the fact there are only two years to go until the games, fans of weird-looking droplets of steel can win a soft toy of one of London 2012′s official mascots.

Three 30cm replica of Wenlock (the more aggressive looking one) can be secured by answering two questions on Twitter and Facebook.

More details about the competition on the official London 2012 website.

10.52am: The Times reports today that Londoners could rent out their homes for “up to three times the market rate during the Olympics”, with a four bedroom house potentially fetching up to £5,000 a week.

British athletes are training hard to win medals at the London Olympics but homeowners may also strike gold. Some properties will be rented out for up to three times the normal market rate during the event, with a fourbedroom house in London fetching up to £5,000 a week.

The paper quotes Tom Impey, lettings manager at Green Homes estate agents in Stratford, who says there are few hotels close to the Olympic area.

“If you had a property that would normally rent for £750 per week, you could push that up to £1,500 for the Olympic month,” he told the Times. “I’ve already had enquiries, as Londoners are looking to cash in.”

The article reckons homes in Greenwich which would normally be let for £800 a week could be listed for as much as £2,400 during the Olympics.

10.40am: Mayor of London Boris Johnson is heavily involved with the various ceremonies today. Judging from his Twitter feed, the good Mayor appears to be enjoying himself.

Amid messages notifying followers that “I’m on BBC Breakfast shortly talking about the Olympics“, the Mayor has posted a photograph from inside the Olympic stadium, and also had his picture taken with Diversity.

Amid his mingling the Mayor has also posted a link to the newly launched website for those wanting to volunteer to help out at the games.

The website has a quiz to enable hopefuls to find out if they’d be suited to the role.

The quiz takes the form of multiple choice. Question 5 asks “What are you really looking forward to?” (About being a volunteer).

One of the possible answers, C, is “Meeting Boris Johnson, what a legend.”

I wonder how hands-on the Mayor’s role was in preparing the quiz.

10.25am:

The BBC has reporters stationed around the Olympic Park, with one having just filed from the cycling velodrome where Chris Hoy will be showing his stuff later today.

The velodrome, although it has a roof, still looks pretty much like a building site. The track – which will be “Iberian pine” according to the reporter – hasn’t been laid yet, so instead the great Hoy will ride around a white marking on the concrete floor.

A report from the Basketball Arena, where later today former NBS star John Amaechi will shoot “into a temporary hoop”, according the PR stuff I have here, suggests Amaechi better not try bouncing the ball – the floor appears to be sand, giving it the look of an equestrian arena, rather than a basketball one.

10.00am: Rejoice! Rejoice! London 2012 is now a mere two years away. And the even better news is that the Olympic Delivery Authority has prepared an action-packed day of fun, lest the milestone pass unremarked.

Follow the latest here as the Olympic volunteering programme is launched (with the help of dance group Diversity and the Mayor of London) and a shop is opened at St Pancras International, before the media and dignitaries catch a train to the Olympic Park site.

From there, stay tuned as Chris Hoy cycles around the newly opened Olympic velodrome, Michael Johnson races, and presumably beats, youngsters on a temporary track in the stadium, and much, much more!*

And nobody mention today’s news that half of Britain’s Olympic sports could have their funding slashed. Besides, once that shop is open, worries over finance will surely pass into distant memory.

*not that much more.

]]> http://london-2012-olympics.net/News/london-olympics-2012-two-years-to-go/feed/ 0 http://london-2012-olympics.net/News/merlyn-diamond-namibia/ http://london-2012-olympics.net/News/merlyn-diamond-namibia/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:47:16 +0000 admin http://www.london-2012-olympics.net/2012-olympic-news/merlyn-diamond-namibia/ Merlyn Diamond competes in the 100m and 200m track events and is one of Namibia’s rising athletics stars. She is mentored by Frankie Fredericks, Namibia’s Olympic sprinter. Merlyn is still at secondary school in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, and also went to primary school in the city.

Nick Cohen condemns Hamas, but ignores the besetting sins of Israel

While agreeing with Nick Cohen on many issues, I am always baffled by his pro-Israeli stance (“Sympathise with Israel, but not the blockade” Comment). He goes on about Ba’athists or Iran or Islamists, as if their existence justifies any action of Israel’s. He decries Hamas, but Israel caused Hamas’s rise to power by her refusal to reach any compromise with Fatah. Now, Hamas can conveniently be used as an excuse for crimes like Operation Cast Lead, when one of the world’s most heavily populated cities was mercilessly bombed. In his eyes, Muslims/Arabs are to blame for everything and Israel can do no wrong. It’s time to face the truth, Nick: the total oppression of the Palestinians, appropriation of their land, ceaseless building of illegal settle-ments and intimidation or murder of its opponents make Israel a rogue state.

James Dixon

Manchester

Lend an ear to rabbit wisdom

“There is never any way to be sure if your rabbit will be tender,” says Nigel Slater (Magazine). But there is, Nigel, if you start your relationship with your rabbit far enough back. May I quote from the memoir of my 1930s childhood that I am writing for my family? “Rabbits were plentiful in season and boys would sell them at the door for sixpence each. You looked at your rabbit’s ears. If the fur on them was still soft and downy, the rabbit would be tender enough to roast with sage and onion stuffing but, if the fur was bristly, you had best make your rabbit into a pie or stew it with dumplings.”

Betty Birch

London SW6

Play fair with sports figures

It is incorrect to suggest (“Olympic legacy in doubt as sports cash fails to attract women and minorities“, News) that Sport England’s investment has failed to get people playing sport. The number of youngsters taking part has risen substantially since 2005, while adult participation has increased by more than 700,000. With just over two years to go until the Games, we are focused on delivering a lasting, mass-participation sports legacy. This will be the jewel in the crown of this country’s golden decade of sport.

Jennie Price

Chief executive, Sport England

Copy Canada at your peril

Nick Clegg has claimed that his government can learn from the “progressive” experience of Canada, Sweden and the US with budget cutting. (“No return to savage cuts of the Thatcher years“, News). I can assure him, despite my being a long-time member of the Canadian Liberal party, that the Canadian experience is a very bad guide for Britain. In addition to damaging healthcare, the cuts imperilled higher education, increased child poverty, damaged our infrastructure and prolonged higher unemployment.

Harold Chorney, professor of political economy

Concordia University, Montreal

Making sense of Cumbria

There’s been an awful lot of half-baked analysis about Derrick Bird. The articles by Euan Ferguson and Henry Porter (“A tragic old coast that will forever be haunted by the words ‘what if‘”, Focus, and “In the midst of horror, be amazed at the goodness of the survivors“, News) are the reason why the Guardian and the Observer are better equipped to deal with important events than any other news medium; good writers have been allowed space to reflect and have the talent to communicate their thoughts remarkably well. You helped me make some sort of sense of these terrible events.

Chris Lilly

London E14

Hats off to Jessica and Kate

Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson can presumably defend themselves from Barbara Ellen’s attack (“Actresses should stand up against violence in films“), but let me suggest a reason for their appearances in The Killer Inside Me. When you’ve appeared in endless adolescent Hollywood films, any star wanting to demonstrate talent is going to leap at an intelligent film based on a well-regarded writer with a respected director and a fine cast. I am grateful that lending their names to a serious film presumably helped get the project financed and provides a welcome alternative to TV spin-offs and blockbusters.

William Reiss,

London SW19

Don’t swallow pro GM guff

Professor Colin Blakemore claims the Food Standards Agency is not biased in favour of GM food (“GM food deserves better than this witch-hunt“, Comment). Prof Blakemore shows exactly this bias in contrasting the “scientific assessment of the risks and potential benefits of GM” with what he claims are the “unsubstantiated horror stories about GM and uncritical praise for organic farming”. Only one major international scientific assessment of farming systems has been carried out and the conclusions, which supported agri-ecological farming, have been backed by 40 governments, including ours. Prof Blakemore and the FSA are the ones guilty of ideological and unsubstantiated support for GM and unscientific and unjustified opposition to organic farming.

Peter Melchett

Policy director, the Soil Association

Bristol

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]]> http://london-2012-olympics.net/News/israels-abuse-of-palestinians-makes-it-a-rogue-state-letters/feed/ 0 http://london-2012-olympics.net/News/london-2012-and-glasgow-2014-to-learn-and-share/ http://london-2012-olympics.net/News/london-2012-and-glasgow-2014-to-learn-and-share/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 09:32:00 +0000 admin http://www.london-2012-olympics.net/2012-olympic-news/london-2012-and-glasgow-2014-to-learn-and-share/ London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 have made an agreement to work together to maximise benefits of hosting major sporting events.