Olympic Stadium

The construction of London's Olympic Stadium began in 2007 under the architectural guidance of Populous, a architectural firm specializing in the construction of large sporting venues. The 80,000 seat stadium will obviously be a landmark for the 2012 summer games, hosting both opening and closing ceremonies as well as many of the athletic events. Although there has been some controversy regarding the intricacies of the design of the stadium, the stadium all in all should prove suitable for continuing the great tradition of the Olympics. However, the legacy of the Olympic Stadium and use after the Olympic games was under great debate and was only just settled recently.

In November of 2010, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games announced it had received two bids for the Olympic Stadium following the Games. First, AEG and Tottenham Hotspur submitted a joint bid for the stadium. In the past, AEG redeveloped the Millenium Dome into The O2, a highly successful music venue in South East London. Personally, I believe that AEG's commercial interest in the stadium along with the LOCOG's commitment to preserving an athletic legacy for the stadium resulted in the stadium being rewarded to West Ham United of the English Premier League and Newham Council. West Ham United and Newham Council desired to bring a football club to the stadium, as well as ensure the venue could hold at least 60,000 in order to host international sporting events including NFL football, Live Nation events, and cricket matches.

Following the decision in favor of West Ham United, Leyton Orient, a football club in England, complained the stadium's proximity to their own would damage them financially and broke FA's rules. However, after a private investigation, the bidding process was not reopened at West Ham United officially was rewarded the stadium.

In conclusion, the legacy of the Olympic Stadium is to continue to promote sport and community activities in London. LOCOG's decision to rule in favor of West Ham United over AEG represents a philosophical commitment to this goal, as it could easily have given the stadium to AEG, whose interest in the stadium was way more commercially and financially oriented.

Finally, London also bid for the World Athletics Championships in 2015 against Beijing and Chorzow, Poland; however, London had to drop from the race because of the uncertainty and commotion regarding the stadium for these upcoming Olympic Games.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/23/observer-editorial-olympic-stadium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Stadium_(London)

http://www.london2012.com/olympic-stadium

http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/the-london-assembly/publications/2012-games/venue-legacy