Comment: More problems for 2012 legacy

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Once again the future of the 2012 Olympic stadium is in doubt. The latest suggestion is that the main Olympic stadium may have to be demolished after the Games. The costs of maintaining the £525 million building as an athletics venue on the one hand, and the financial attractions of selling it to a football club which might rebuild it for its own purposes, were always obvious. But there has been a failure of vision here: a solution that would make sense for the taxpayer, while preserving a legacy for sport without football's big money, should have been firmly in place by now.

The new battle over the stadium comes as this newspaper's campaign for a proper sporting legacy from the 2012 Games gains momentum. As we report today, sports facilities are being neglected in the new city academies. School sport promotes fitness, encourages teamwork and discipline and provides an outlet for potentially disruptive energies. Ministers, most recently the Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, have reiterated their commitment to increasing the number of hours of sport that school pupils do each week.

Yet of eight new academies opening this week in London, costing a total of £220 million, not one has a swimming pool - even though swimming is on the curriculum. Only three have running tracks, tennis courts, grass playing fields or gyms. Already those secondary schools being renovated as part of the £45 billion Building Schools for the Future programme do not usually get funds for swimming pools. Where there are no council pools or playing fields locally, building entirely new schools with inadequate or even minimal sports facilities is shortsighted. Ministers must ensure that new schools have the facilities to allow children real opportunities in sport - otherwise the promises of school sport for every child will be no more than words.

Winning the 2012 Olympics was a great achievement but their legacy, both physical and sporting, must now be a priority.