Tonight:
8°c
There comes a point where you can no longer keep saying that black is white and get away with it: a Stephen Byers moment, where someone once taken seriously sets out towards discredit and defeat. For the London Olympics, that moment arrived last week.
Until last week, I thought the greatest risk, come 2012, was that the Games wouldn't live up to expectations, that London would be an anticlimax after Beijing: the Atlanta to their Barcelona.
Team GB will probably win fewer gold medals in London than we did last year. Many of our stars will be past their peak, with fewer new ones to replace them. Our venues will be less impressive, our organisation less smooth. A terrorist attack is more likely than at any previous Games.
The risk I thought least worrying was that the venues wouldn't be ready on time. And indeed, the main stadium is going well. The Olympic Park is, we're told, on course.
But last week, London 2012 took a decision which makes it more likely that two other venues will not be delivered. They confirmed Woolwich Barracks as the shooting site, and reiterated their support for Greenwich Park as the equestrian one.
To any but the most closed mind, Woolwich is simply unworkable. There is a reason why shooting competitions are almost never held in built-up areas. They involve live bullets, and it isn't safe. Sooner or later, London 2012 will have to realise that - and it would be much less humiliating if they realised it sooner.
Greenwich is not quite as impossible as Woolwich, but it's still very difficult. The course designer, I'm told, is having great trouble devising a course that will both fit and not damage anything.
Unlike Stratford, these places are not empty earth from which all life has been evicted. Woolwich is a housing estate and working barracks. Greenwich is London's most precious park, stuffed with irreplaceable natural features and members of the public.
And unlike Stratford, where a special law gives the Games Draconian powers, Woolwich and Greenwich must go through the normal planning process. It will be the mother and father of all battles, taking months that the London Organising Committee (Locog) doesn't have.
All that adds up to a big problem for the Olympic crowd - one recognised by Lord Coe, who is clearly getting worried. In a newspaper article last week, he implicitly protested that Greenwich was consuming too much of London 2012's time.
There's an easy answer to that one, Seb: put the horses somewhere that no one objects to. The answer Coe chose was to crank out the usual nonsense, believed by nobody except himself: "the benefits are clear", the "existing equestrian venues are not equipped to host three events to Olympic standard". Similar claims were made about the alternatives to Woolwich. The frankly moronic mantra of "a compact Games" came out, too.
The only thing clear about the benefits is that there are none. The idea that existing venues, which already have facilities for their sports, are less well-equipped than two totally virgin sites with no facilities at all is self-evidently wrong. And the "need for a compact Games"? They talk of little else down the Dog and Duck.
What happened to Stephen Byers was that he could pretend for a while. But no pretence could, in the end, keep the truth at bay. Reality is approaching for Locog, too. They may not care about Greenwich Park or the wishes of local people. But they certainly should care about the real chance of being left with a very large hole in their perfect vision.
Boxing snobbish in Kensington
A SWIFT left hook, please, for residents around the Albert Hall, who are threatening court action after the hall was granted permission to renew its 140-year association with boxing. “The type of people attending boxing and wrestling matches aren't going to be your average Prom-goer,” sniffed one. As well as being snobbish, this entirely misses the point. The Albert Hall was always supposed to be a popular entertainment venue. What are the Proms themselves, if not a democratising force? If Chris de Burgh is allowed to perform at the Albert Hall, as he is indeed doing this spring, it is hard to see Amir Khan as a much greater insult to taste and decency.
The Tories lose a prime asset
AMID the Tories' tax mess, news of another blockage on the road to power. Lynton Crosby, the electoral maestro who turned around their Mayoral campaign, will be working for one of their opponents, Libertas, in this year's Euro elections. During the London contest, journalists who came into contact with Crosby developed a high regard for him. The Tories should be worried about his move — and make sure of his services when the general election comes round.
Reader views (11)
Andrew needs to ask why the rules for equestrian have been changed for 2012. Could it be to make the event fit into a too small venue? comparing it with athletics, for 2012 horse riders will be taking part in the equivalent of the 1500 metres but only need to run 1000 metres to win the Gold medal.
LOCOG have tried to do the same with shooting, asking the ISSF to change the rules to make the shooting fit at Woolwich. Unfortunately for them it is not just about Rules, the law also applies.
- Glynn Alger, Brookwood United Kingdom
Dj is living in cloud cuckoo land if he thinks (see comment below ) that thousands of local people will be able to attend the Olympics in Greenwich Park. LOCOG stated publicly at the O2 presentation that there would not be any free tickets for local people, so what are the chances of obtaining tickets? Despite Lord Coe's dismissive statements of the alleged unpopularity of equestrian sports, the facts prove the opposite. In Sydney 91% of tickets were sold for the equestrian events (average 86% for all sports). In Athens the figures were 97% (66% for all sports). As for getting a glimpse of the horses through the railings, forget that too as all the roads bordering the Park will be closed, as will the town centre roads nearby. I don't think Dj would be accusing others of nimby-ism if he lived in Greenwich, a congested World Heritage Site) and had to suffer several months of disruption to daily life, all for 16 days of events - not when there are venues accustomed to these events available.
- S D'Souza, London, UK
Lord Coe seems determined not to deal with reasoned argument. Why else is he persisting with Greenwich Park which will be more expensive when indirect costs are factored in; which will leave no sustainable legacy for the equestrian sport; which is too small for an Olympic course to avoid fragile ecological and archeological areas; which will deprive ordinary people access to this revered Park; which will cause mayhem on the roads; and which will bring extreme levels of disruption and security risk to the residents overlooking the Park?
Trying to justify the unjustifiable, he stands behind the notion of a 'compact Games'. This means he doesn't want the equestrians to feel left out. He is so focused on what's best for the athletes that he has ignored the feelings of local people. It is socially and morally unfair to close the Park, the only green space for miles, for the periods that have been confirmed by LOCOG, which is partially for 2 months in 2011 for the test event and for 7 months in 2012, and totally for 6 weeks of events. A temporary 23000 seater stadium is to be built at the bottom end of the Park, the bit that's close to the town and public transport. This means that for a period which includes 36 weekends people will be denied access to the most popular recreational areas. Why should such deprivation be endured when there is an alternative solution? Use a football stadium in East London for the pentatlon and develop temporary, sustainable facilities in Windsor.
- S D'Souza, London, UK
The idea that London can design and host the first ‘Invisible Games’ is an interesting proposition but its not until you begin to examine the benefits (or lack of) that you soon realise this story bears remarkable similarity to a fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen “The Emperors New Clothes”
With lines drawn in the sand the Emperor (Lord Coe) realises he has been found out but instead of just saying we cannot deliver on our promise of the (non-existent) Sporting Legacy, he pretends instead that he can for fear of appearing stupid; his cohorts and ministers do the same. And just like in the tale (The Emperors New Clothes)…The Emperor then goes on a procession through the capital showing off his new "clothes". Or in this case selling the promise… During the course of the procession, a small child cries out, "But he has nothing on!" The crowd realises the child is telling the truth. The Emperor, however, holds his head high and continues the procession… And that Lord Coe is not just ‘Intellectually Dishonest’ its also your Legacy’ albeit an invisible one…
- Martin Murphy, Greenhithe
I still say hold the equestrian events in Windsor Great Park. The Royal Windsor Show, a world-class event, is held at Windsor every year - what's so wrong with having the Olympics there? Even if they have to build new structures, I'm sure that would be great for future horse shows.
- K John, London, UK
Why should thousands of people who would like to attend the event in Greenwich Park be denied the pleasure because of the NINBY'S who beside the park?
Its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Olympics, and many would be denied that if the event was moved outside London. The cost of travel and the time it would take to go to Windsor would put it beyond reasonable access for thousands.
It's clear that a lot of money will be spent on the park and access. Infact it may be the biggest investment into the park for hundreds of years! That will leave a legacy that visitors to the park can enjoy for years to come.
I hope that everyone gets into the spirit of the games and that its a successful event for all involved.
- Dj, London, London,UK
Lord Coe's article in the Telegraph was published with a print showing the dressage and jumping ring. Sadly this was in the original position which L.O.C.O.G. altered months ago.
- Ann Glynn, london
Don't bet on it - remember the Dome. The Tories went out, Labour could have scrapped it, but didn't. Remember the security problems on the opening night? That was in an isolated site, but Greenwich Park bang in the centre of a town, with residential properties on three sides of it.
- Penny Aldred, London, UK
I was in Greenwich Park on Sunday; Now easily accessable by the DLR and and its surrounding attractions including the Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory of exceptional quality.....free for entry. However the Park is small. Why compromise and confuse the existing facilities and squeeze 10 weeks of tourist summer season already secured for something as esoteric and eletist as Horse Jumping; go to Windsor where there is acres of room a history of horse events and surrounding quality. Perhaps the Horsey people can mix with the Rowers at Dorney, if thats where they are goin g not the Roal Docks?
- Ray, London
A friend's daughter worked at the Albert Hall as usher and ticket seller, a job she enormously enjoyed. One thing all her work colleagues agreed on was that the Prom crowd were easily the most obnoxious, snooty and umpleasant.Wrestlers, rockers, religious,all were fine, but the staff would swap shifts to get away from the groundling Prommers if they could.
- Mdj E10, london uk
As regards the Olympics - Labour will be out in 14 months and the new team can be rationional for a period. All is not yet lost!
- W R Stevenson, London
