London Latest -- Hyde Park Olympic Venue Preview; Young Journos

Hyde Park Preview

Plans to hold Olympic events in London’s most famous park are previewed ahead of being submitted for government approval.

London organizers want to stage triathlon and marathon swimming events in Hyde Park.

A planning application to Westminster Council will be submitted by LOCOG to win official permission. Both events have been planned for Hyde Park since the days of the London bid five years ago. The Serpentine Lake will host the marathon swimming race as well as the swimming event in triathlon. Temporary and existing facilities will be used.

Consultations will take place this month in Westminster prior to a planning commission vote later this year. The Olympic project does not yet appear on a council listing of applications.

"Hyde Park is an iconic location which is very close to great landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Whitehall and the London Eye. We are going to hold a lot of consultation with local residents and businesses to make sure we work with them to reduce any disturbance during the two weeks," says James Bulley, LOCOG Director of Venues and Infrastructure.

Security is another area which will be examined Bulley says.

"The security in such an open plan location like Hyde Park is very important to us and we have done a lot of risk assessment to make sure any security threat is dealt with," he said.

Mark Camley, Chief Executive of the Royal Parks said that Hyde Park should be able to be used for the Olympics.

"Hyde Park is used to staging large concerts and events and we look forward to welcoming visitors from around the world. The Rolling Stones, Oasis and other big bands have put on major events here with massive crowds and they passed off successfully," said Camley.

In July, the Dextro Energy ITU WorldChampionship final was held at Hyde Park, which has hosted other triathlon events as well.

Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport for London 2012 said British spectators will find plenty to cheer for at Hyde Park.

"In the triathlon Britain has a good chance of winning medals as we already have world champions in the event. The triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports. We have nine British hopefuls for medals after the team did well in the Beijing Olympics," she said.

British Marathon Swimmer and Olympic bronze medalist Cassie Patten posed for photos in the Serpentine at the briefing.

"Triathlons and swimming races have been held in the Serpentine before and the water quality was always good. I am focusing on swimming faster in open water and if I qualify for the Olympics I look forward to seeing large crowds here," she said.

Young Journalists Bound for London Games

Three budding journalists will get the opportunity of a lifetime at London 2012.

The IOC handpicked the trio from a pool of youngsters covering last month’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games to move on the London 2012.

Twenty-nine reporters, broadcasters and photographers aged 18 and 24 covered the two-week competition in Singapore as part of the IOC’s Young Reporters Program.

Alan Harris of Barbados, May Chen of Singapore and Sonali Prasad of India stood out from the rest.

Harris and Chen, both 23, will join LOCOG’ for a six-week internship as part of its press operations team.

Prasad, 19, will intern for six weeks on the editorial desk of UK news agency the Press Association.

Written and reported in London by Neil O’Shea and in Atlanta by Matthew Grayson.