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London demands real 2012 legacy
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent01.09.08
The Evening Standard today demands that the 2012 Olympics delivers a lasting sports legacy for London.
The call comes as a poll for the Standard shows widespread dissatisfaction with public sports facilities in the capital.
Our campaign challenges the Government and the Mayor to maximise the benefits of hosting the Games by boosting participation in sport and improving community facilities.
Triple jump silver medallist Phillips Idowu, from Hackney, revealed how he struggled with poor athletics facilities as a youth and called on councils to scrap charges for children to encourage their attempts to become future Olympic stars.
US swimmer Michael Phelps gave his full support to the "Standard's idea of using the 2012 Olympics as a mobilising force to encourage better sports facilities from the grassroots level upwards". He said it could introduce "a whole new generation to sport" which can "transform the lives of ordinary young people".
Phelps, from Baltimore, said: "I was a kid from a broken home. I had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and was told by my teacher that I would never amount to anything.
"Taking up swimming at the age of seven gave me a sense of focus that transformed my life and I would love it if the 2012 Olympics inspired more young Londoners to take up competitive sport."
The sports legacy campaign will gather momentum in the run-up to 2012 after Phelps pledged regular visits to the capital.
Speaking in London, Phelps, 23, who with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, was one of the stars of the Beijing Olympics, said he was amazed that there was only one functioning Olympic-sized pool in London. He said: "Surely there is more than that."
He added: "I want swimming to become more than a once-every-fouryear sport. In America I co-founded a 'Swim with the Stars' programme of swimming camps for children. I will be visiting London quite a bit in the lead up to 2012 and I would be thrilled to get involved here in a similarly practical way."
Sebastian Coe, chairman of the 2012 organising committee, said: "There will be no better opportunity in my lifetime to drive sports legacy". Lord Coe urged ministers and council leaders to seize the feelgood factor of Britain's 47-medal haul in the Beijing Games to end decades of neglect in the capital's sports infrastructure. He said: "In terms of boosting participation in sport in this country the red carpet has been rolled out with a gilt edge attached."
Marathon runner Paula Radcliffe called for urgent action to tackle the lack of funding for athletics coaching.
The women's world record holder said the current system, under which coaches only receive financial assistance once their athletes become successful, needs to be overhauled for 2012.
She said: "It's appalling they're not paid at all. The coaches at grassroots level are dedicated people, who love the sport.
"We've already seen the results that can be achieved by proper support and funding at Beijing and there's no reason why we can't top that at London." A poll conducted by the Standard shows almost one third of those questioned described council-run facilities as either poor or very poor. A further 14per cent said they either had no such facilities or never used them.
Lack of public swimming pools was the greatest concern, with 40 per cent of respondents complaining there was no pool near them.
The findings will be seized on by critics of the Government's £140million scheme offering free swimming to children and pensioners which it is claimed will fail to work due to the sell-off of many pools. The poll reveals that one in five Londoners want more publiclyrun gyms, tennis courts and sports halls.
Fifteen per cent demanded a new athletics track while a new park or ice-skating rink was wanted by 19 per cent.
Asked how the London Olympics could deliver a sports legacy, two thirds of Londoners called for a moratorium on the sale of school and council facilities while 46 per cent said they would like improved access to existing topclass facilities.
One third said they would like authorities to ring-fence expenditure on grassroots sports.
The survey showed 48 per cent of children are doing up to two hours school sport per week. Around half of London schoolchildren do up to two hours of sport outside school.
The poll of 1,049 Londoners was carried out between 27-29 August.
The Evening Standard's charter to deliver an Olympic legacy
• Create sporting inspiration and facilities "that last for the generation to come"
• Secure access to top-class sporting facilities for all
• Ringfence money to secure Olympic legacy and ensure millions more participate in sport
• No more sell-offs of school or council sports facilities
• Establish a system of "Olympic Champions" with top athletes going into schools to inspire children, teachers and parents
Reader views (7)
The Olympics are a wonderful thing for England and we should all be grateful. I genuinely cannot fathom why people are against it?
It will showcase to the world a different Olympics, based on British\English heritage. England is unique, that is why so many tourists come to this country? BTW I am not English but am a British citizen and still very proud!
Yes the costs have risen and probably will rise more for this project - unfortunately we are in bad times now.
The benefits are immense for this country and its image. London is more than red buses and Buckingham Palace as most people envisage it...
In London you have one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, famous sites and buildings etc. Yes it is expensive to live here but it is one of the cities that offer incredible opportunites.
Look at what East London was like before and now until the makeover...it had not progressed much beyond World War 2. Soon you will have an up-to-date Olympics stadium and many other facilites - it was time East London had that to match other magnificent sports arenas, such as Wembly and the Emirates Stadium that you find in North London.
The world will be watching and they will be envious at what they will see and we take it for granted living here.
- Mr Haralambos, London, Enfield
The Olympics have only ever left a legacy of underused or not used facilities, unpaid bills, insufficient infrastructure and no responsibility taken by the great and the good who championed the spending of other peoples money. The ES should demand to know who faked the original budget, should demand that all contracts and invoices are made publicly available immediately and who is approving the expenditure.
- Peter Bench, London
London is probably the worse place in the UK to have this as we have nothing!
Manchester has a cycling centre, 50m swimming poor and athletics track already!
- Mark, Watford
I think you will find that the majority of Londoners want to have nothing to do with the Olympics and would rather it was hosted in another country.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
I agree - please donate the 2012 games to Paris. Londoners might want them, though I doubt it, but the rest of Britain doesn't. We can't afford it.
- Sylphlike1, Reading, UK
London does not demand a real 2012 legacy, so please do not put words into our mouths. Please change your headline to read "The Evening Standard demands real 2012 legacy".
Personally, if I were to demand anything concerning the Olympics it would be that London donate the games to Paris.
- Jeremy Perkins, Fulham, London
A proper network of cycle routes in the capital would be a good start. Not just the odd few yards of narrow on-road cycle lane here and there, as we have now.
- Tom, London
