London Prepares series is the banner under which the test events for the 2012 Summer Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

were held. The events which make up the series took place in 2011 and 2012.

Purpose

The test events focussed primarily on the testing of the field of play, results, scoring and timing systems, as well as key operational procedures and functions. The programme was made up of three different types of events, namely: * International invitational events, created and delivered by

LOCOG The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Gov ...

(such as basketball, handball and volleyball) * International Federation (IF) events, delivered by LOCOG in partnership with IFs and national governing bodies (for example the UKA 20 km Race Walking Championships) * International events organised by national governing bodies and other organisations, with LOCOG testing operational aspects (for example

World Badminton Championships The BWF World Championships, formerly known as IBF World Championships, and also known as the World Badminton Championships, is a badminton tournament sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The tournament is one of the most prestigious i ...

and the London round of the triathlon world series and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

)

Ticketing

Unlike the tickets for the Olympics themselves, which were distributed via a ballot, tickets for the London Prepares events were sold on a first-come first-served basis. As part of their Olympic sponsorship, only

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

cards were accepted. Additionally, some tickets were offered for free to local residents.

Reception

British equestrian athlete

William Fox-Pitt William Speed Lane Fox-Pitt (born 2 January 1969) is an English equestrian who competes in eventing. His career highlights include winning three Olympic medals in the team event, with silver in 2004 and 2012, and bronze in 2008. At the W ...

praised

Greenwich Park Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Herita ...

as the equestrian venue in July 2011: "I've been here a few times when it has been empty to get a feel for the place, and when you walk in, you just go 'wow'. It has an Olympic feel already, and this is just the test event." However, there was criticism of the

London–Surrey Cycle Classic The London–Surrey Cycle Classic was a one-off, one-day bicycle race that served as one of three U.K. events in the year-long 2010–11 UCI Europe Tour and acted as the test event for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The race was part of the London P ...

on 14 August 2011, due to road closures causing delays for motorists in the area. Following the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

visit in October 2011, IOC Coordination Commission Chairman Denis Oswald said "We have once again been impressed by the overall level of planning and by the results of the first group of test events that were held this summer." In January 2012, LOCOG stated that the gymnastics test event at the

North Greenwich Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

"went well as workforce delivered the competition in a pre-existing venue and gymnastics technology including timing, scoring and results were tested and performed well. The transition of apparatus on the field of play between disciplines was also successful."

Test events

Other events

Other events which took place, but were not designated official test event status were: *2011 IFDS World Championships, which took place at the Olympic and Paralympic venue in Portland *

2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at The O2 Arena in London from 12 to 18 October 2009. Similar to the 2005 World Championships, there were no team competitions. Individual all-around and event finals were contested. C ...

which took place at the North Greenwich Arena (O2 Arena) where the event was held at the 2012 OlympicsArtistic Gymnastics World Championships 2009
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References

External links

* {{commons category, London Prepares series