London Update: Stadium Design Reaction, Elite Training and New BBC Show

The London Olympic Stadium design has been compared to “a plastic take-away dish” and “an IKEA stadium”. (LOCOG)Divided Opinion on London Stadium

The London 2012 Olympic Stadium design has received a mixed reaction from the British public and leading architecture critics.

The 80,000-seat stadium design unveiled at the Olympic Park Wednesday met with an underwhelming response from the assembled dignitaries and media.

Public comments that followed suggest an appreciation for a commitment to legacy represented in the design. After the Games the $1 billion showpiece will be converted into a 25,000-seat multipurpose stadium.

But favorable comments are outweighed by negative ones.

“Bland and uninspiring” and “pretty insipid” were typical criticisms posted online by bloggers, who were quick to express disappointment at the stadium’s lack of any ‘wow’ factor.

“This stadium is barely capable of writing ‘woo’ on a post-it note, let alone sky-writing London’s name across the globe,” wrote one vociferous critic.

“Doesn’t say much for half a billion fat ones, does it?” wrote one blogger of the £496 million price tag.

The design was contrasted with iconic Olympic stadia, including the Bird’s Nest stadium for Beijing, designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, and Santiago Calatrava’s main stadium for Athens 2004.

Building magazine has even launched a competition to nickname architect HOK Sport’s design effort, which has already been dubbed the “Gasometer” and the “Fruit basket”.

While the public backlash to the stadium design has not matched the furor over London 2012’s logo, criticism has covered a range of issues.

Many bloggers said the lack of a fully-covered roof was shortsighted and could come back to haunt organizers. Only two-thirds of spectators will be covered by the cable-supported roof. A cross-section of the stadium. (LOCOG)

Questions were also raised over how much it would cost to downsize the stadium and whether a football or rugby club would want to relocate to a venue with an athletics track, which puts spectators so far away from the action.

The Olympic Delivery Authority is reportedly preparing to invest up to $80 million on a roof to cover all seats in the venue’s legacy mode. It is hoped this will attract an anchor tenant, whether it be a rugby club like Wasps or Saracens or football’s Leyton Orient.

Architecture critics writing in the British press also joined the stadium debate. The Guardian’s Jonathan Glancey said the design “looked rather tame”, describing it as “safe, sensible and pragmatic”. The Times’ architecture correspondent Marcus Binney said it resembled “a bowl of blancmange”.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, architecture critic Ellis Woodman focused on the lack of flair: “The intention to make the stadium truly sustainable is really welcome, but it does not excuse the low level at which the bar of architectural ambition has been set.”

The ODA defended the design, saying it had expected such a mixed reaction. “I think most people recognize it will meet requirements for the Games and leaves a fitting legacy,” a spokeswoman told Around the Rings.

Details of the legacy plan and rugby or football’s role in it have yet to be defined, but the ODA official said discussions about legacy “are going to escalate”.

“There will be more talk about marrying the interests of athletics with other sports and community use,” she said.

British Olympic Association Elite Performance Program

The British Olympic Association plans to recruit 10 sports experts to help deliver its goal of fourth place in the London 2012 medal table.

Coaching, nutrition, conditioning, sports medicine and motivation experts are among those who will work with selected athletes at a reported annual cost of $300,000 per athlete. BOA elite performance director Sir Clive Woodward says his brief from the BOA was to come up with a program to add value to and compliment services from UK Sport and NGBs. (Getty Images)

The BOA director of elite performance, Sir Clive Woodward, unveiled the proposals in a program launched Thursday, which is designed to groom 25 promising athletes for gold medals at the Games.

“The most important thing is identifying talent as early as we can and putting the support systems in place to ensure that they have every chance of delivering in 2012,” said Woodward of the $40 million program which will be funded by the BOA from private sector partners.

UK Sport, the government's elite sport funding body, says it will work in harmony with the new program. The initiative will complement schemes currently operated by the NGBs of each Olympic sport.

The 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning coach has spent one year working on the project at the BOA. Successfully piloted over the last 9 months on 20-year-old golfer Melissa Reid, who is about to turn professional, the program is being rolled out to judo. Edinburgh’s Euan Burton, a bronze medal winner at this year’s World Judo Championships, is the next athlete taking part.

Olympic Dreams on TV

A new BBC television series called ‘Olympic Dreams’ will follow the fortunes of Britain’s rising stars and medal hopes for London 2012 over the next five years.

The first five episodes screen on BBC1 from Nov. 12 to 16. They will feature athletes from seven sports including heptathlete Jessica Ennis, a serious medal prospect for Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Reported from the U.K. by Mark Bisson

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