Olympic Summer Games London 2012
27 July - 12 August

The host city for the Games of the XXX Olympiad will be the city of London, United Kingdom. Following four rounds of voting by members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, London eventually won by taking 54 votes from a possible 104. This gave London the majority that it needed to be elected as the host city for the 2012 Games. London had to overcome stiff competition, however, in the form of Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid in its bid to get the Games.

The Organizing Committee promises to:

• Transform peoples' lives through improving the social, physical and economic
  landscape in the poorest and most deprived areas of London.
• Inspire a new generation to greater sporting activity and achievement, helping to
  foster a healthy and active nation.
• Support the Olympic Movement by protecting and enhancing the Games.

Their aim is to achieve four main legacy benefits:

• To leave behind world-class sports facilities which meet a clearly defined sporting
  need and become the heart of existing communities.
• To enhance the opportunities and support available to Britain's competitors across
  the range of Olympic and Paralympic sports.
• To drive the regeneration of the east of London, delivering a high-quality environment
  for business and opportunities for local people.
• To create a major new urban park, the biggest created in Europe in 150 years.

A new home for sport

London 2012 will deliver a new home for sport, with facilities for both elite and grassroots competitors. The Olympic Park will feature a range of new world-class facilities - but permanent venues will only be built where their long-term use has been identified. There will be no white elephants after the London Games.

Five of the nine competition venues in the Olympic Park will be retained, offering Athletics, Swimming, Diving, Hockey, Cycling and a range of indoor sports. These will provide much needed competition and training facilities to elite athletes, grassroots sport and the local community. London will be able to host major national and international competitions in the future.

Together, these facilities would form part of the London Olympic Institute. The Institute will be open to all abilities and will focus on promoting the Olympic ideal to all, through sport, culture and the environment, leaving a lasting legacy beyond the Olympics.

One of the Olympic Park indoor arenas will be retained as an indoor sports centre, becoming a training and competition venue and a regional home for indoor sports. Two of the other indoor arenas are being innovatively designed to allow them to be relocated after the Games, providing sports facilities for other parts of the UK.

The London Olympic Institute

The London Olympic Institute will provide a permanent home for Olympic ideals in the capital after the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Based in the main Olympic Stadium, the organization will include a new institute of sport, a dedicated sports medicine facility and a centre for the study of the Olympic Movement. The 80.000-capacity stadium will be reconfigured as a 25.000-seat home for International Athletics after the Games and the Olympic Institute will lie at the heart of a new 500-acre park in east London.

London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe said that the Olympic Institute was an integral part of the bid team's pledge that 2012 Games will deliver a lasting legacy to the city; "The London Olympic Institute in an exciting, dynamic and innovative concept for a new facility dedicated to De Coubertin's vision of building a better world through sport and the Olympic Movement," said the double Olympic champion.

Jude Kelly, Chairman of London's Culture and Education Advisory Committee, highlighted the role the Institute will play in the regeneration of east London: "The Institute will look at how the pillars of the Olympic Movement can be integrated to help build stronger communities and cities linked to sport, culture and the environment," she said.

The London Olympic Institute will be an independent not-for-profit organization.

Source: London 2012