Latest view of games site as inspectors prepare to check on progress

Big build: the major venues are starting to take form at the Olympic Park
13 April 2012

Here is the latest view of the 600-hectare Olympic Park - ready for a key inspection by international Games chiefs this week.

It shows for the first time how major venues, including the Olympic Stadium, aquatics centre, velodrome and basketball arena, will dominate the skyline.

London 2012 chiefs released the photograph before the two-day grilling by the co-ordination commission of the International Olympic Committee. It begins tomorrow and is expected to focus on security, transport and the timetable of events.

Games bosses will also face questions on their plans for the gymnastics and badminton events, which are currently "homeless". The inspectors will also be led on a tour of the Olympic Park in Stratford, to be followed by a series of briefings.

There are now 976 days to go before the Games start.

Today ministers were urged to protect London's Olympic heritage after the event. The head of the British Olympic Association, Andy Hunt, said the venues and park must retain the word "Olympic".

Click on the image below to see a larger version

Although the BOA backs a government initiative to name the Stratford complex after the Queen, it insists its full title must be the "Elizabeth Olympic Park".

Mr Hunt said there were few reminders of London hosting the 1948 Games at White City, and the mistake must not be repeated after 2012. Only a plaque at White City and a few pointers at the Wembley stadium site - such as Olympic Way- remain of the event 61 years ago.

Mr Hunt said: "It's about the legacy that sport has in the park, not just Olympic sport but community sport as well. It's important to us because there are so few reminders of 1948."

Mr Hunt said Sydney had failed to retain the fabric of its Olympic park after the 2000 Games, but he was impressed by Munich's, which kept its character despite being home to Bayern Munich FC. The BOA is in negotiations with Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell over a name for the park.

Names of sports venues may be sold off to sponsors but this could not happen until after the Games. Negotiations on future venue naming rights will be led by the Olympic Park Legacy Company, jointly owned by City Hall and the Government.

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