Full-Scale Olympic Park Test; Economic Impact Forecast; WADA Blasts BOA

(ATR) LOCOG has unveiled details of its Olympic Park test event - delivering six major sports events in five venues over the next week when more than 140,000 people will visit the future hub of Games action.

The May 2 to 8 full scale operational test of the Olympic site and general spectator areas will focus on security processes, ticketing operations, mobility services and Park-wide logistics, plus venue and sport-specific testing.

A total of 11,000 workforce, including volunteers, will be staffing the three Olympic and three Paralympic events; 3,000 athletes will take part in hockey, wheelchair tennis, water polo, athletics, Boccia and Paralympic athletics.

At peak times over 60 pedestrian screening areas will allow access for a minimum of 4,000 spectators to enter the Park each day, peaking at approximately 75,000 on Saturday.

That's when the Olympic Stadium will host the BUCS Visa Outdoor Athletics Championships and the Visa LondonDisability Grand Prix; over 40,000 spectators will pour into the stadium on the evening of May 5 for the ‘2012 hours to go’ event which will see the stadium officially opened.

The Riverbank Arena, Eton Manor and the Water Polo Arena will host their first sporting competitions - the Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament, Eton Manor Wheelchair Tennis International and Visa Water Polo International. Field of play testing will also take place at the London Boccia Invitational 2012.

"When this final group of events is delivered we will have carried out 42 test events in 12 months, across 28 venues, which isone of the most comprehensive testing program for an Olympic and Paralympic Games," said Debbie Jevans, LOCOG's director of sport.

"The coming days are the big final test of our Olympic Park operations and sporting venues and also our workforce, who have been excellent throughout all of the events."

Moody’s Predicts Little Economic Benefit From Olympics

For people hoping to cash in on economic gold during the London Olympics, you might come up short.

Moody’s, the investment ratings agency published a report on Tuesday saying: "The 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games are expected to provide a huge marketing opportunity for corporates but are likely to provide only a short-lived lift to their earnings."

The report added: "Overall, we think the Olympics are unlikely to provide a substantial macroeconomic boost to the UK in 2012. The impact of infrastructure developments on UK GDP has probably already been felt. We expect the net impact of the Games on UK tourism will be positive overall, but less than gross visitor numbers would suggest."

According to the report, the Games will provide the biggest rewards to sponsors and hotels but notes the benefits may not last.

"Given the largely one-off impact of the Games on corporate profits, we would not expect this alone to have an impact on our ratings, which tend to take a longer-term view," Moody’s wrote about corporate sponsors.

With a massive influx of visitors to London, hotels "will be a clear beneficiary and can expect some very positive revenue per room (revpar) numbers during and around the events themselves. However, this could result in some weak year-on-year comparable results in 2013."

WADA Hits Back at BOA

WADA's spat with the British Olympic Association continued Tuesday when its director general David Howman accused the organization of "wasting a lot of time and money" in its unsuccessful campaign to keep its lifetime ban for drug cheats.

After the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Monday that the BOA's bylaw was illegal, Howman said the BOA should have scrapped its rule months ago and now had until May 18 to do so to ensure compliance with the WADA code ahead of London 2012.

"Their appeal was totally rejected," Howman was quoted by the AP as telling reporters in a conference call. "The issue for the BOA is that the rest of the world is looking on saying, `What have you done this for?"

In a radio interview in New Zealand on Tuesday, Howman had claimed the BOA was being "held up to ridicule" for its management of the appeal.

On Tuesday, Britain's five-time Olympic gold-medal winning rower Steve Redgrave described the CAS decision as "a sad day not just for British sport, but for world sport".

Writing in a column in the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph, Redgrave said the BOA bylaw was "one of the last bastions in the anti-doping battle, one of the final proper deterrents to would-be offenders".

"It is not just me who feels this way; if you ask most of our top Olympic athletes in Britain today – and I have talked to many of them – they all feel strongly that there has to be a realistic punishment for the cheats and agree that transgressing should lead to any offender having to miss out on the biggest event of all," he stated.

Duran Duran Headline Olympics Gig

The line-up for the BT London Live opening ceremony celebration concert will feature Duran Duran representing England.Snow Patrol, representing Northern Ireland, Stereophonics for Wales and Paolo Nutini for Scotland are also slated to take the stage for the July 27 concert.

Tickets go on general sale on Friday.

Royal Guests for BOA Gala

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are among the star guests at the British Olympic Association gala celebration of Team GB and ParalympicsGB on May 11 at the Royal Albert Hall.

They will join Team GB legends such as Kelly Holmes and Denise Lewis in encouraging fans throughout the U.K. to unite in showing their support for the 900-plus athletes who are preparing to represent Britain at this summer's Olympics and Paralympics.

Coming just one day after the Olympic flame is lit in Olympia, Greece, the BOA said the 'Our Greatest Team Rises' celebration would also help raise critical funds to provide the final layer of support for Britain's participation at the London Games.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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