London Latest - Relaunch of 2012 Stadium Bidding Process; Giant Olympic Rings Unveiled

(ATR) The bidding process to take over the Olympic stadium after the 2012 Games reopened today, with football and rugby clubs invited to team up for a ground-share proposal.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company, which confirmed again that the athletics track will be retained in line with London's 2012 bid pledge to the IOC, also announced its intention to sell naming rights for the stadium as well as other venues on the Olympic Park.

As the new national athletics stadium, the venue has already been chosen to stage the IAAF 2017 World Athletics Championships. It is set to host major athletics events including the London Diamond League meeting that will transfer from Crystal Palace.

English Premier League club West Ham were chosen as the preferred bidders for the 80,000-seat stadium in February until the deal collapsed in October due to legal challenges. They remain firm favorites to secure the tenancy and are currently exploring the feasibility of having retractable seating over the running track - such a system has proved highly successful at the Stade De France in Paris.

But the OPLC are keen to get rugby involved to minimise the financial risks as part of its ambition to ensure "a commercially viable combination of uses that achieves both year round community access and wider public benefits". It cites the commercial model of Swansea City's Liberty Stadium; the Welsh Premier League football club shares the venue with rugby's Ospreys.

"The government is committed to securing a legacy from the Olympic stadium, and wants to see it re-opening in 2014," said Olympics minister Hugh Robertson.

"With the 2017 World Athletics Championships bid won, athletics will be at the heart of a multi-purpose venue that will also be a great asset to the local community. The Olympic stadium is an iconic venue and I am sure that it will attract interesting and exciting bids for its future use."

The OPLC is committed to spending nearly $150 million to convert the stadium to 60,000 seats after the Games. It will remain under public ownership. The legacy company is expected to form a joint venture with Newham Council to operate the stadium. Newham has offered up to $63 million towards the cost of transforming the stadium to its legacy configuration.

Deadline for the bids is March 23 with the OPLC planning to name the winning bid in May. The aim is for the stadium to reopen in 2014.

"The Olympic stadium will be a new national stadium for athletics and a multi-purpose venue that can host a full array of sporting, cultural and commercial events in one of the most exciting destinations in the world," said OPLC chief executive Andrew Altman.

"Plans for the Olympic Park are more advanced than any other host city and we are maintaining that pace by securing operators, tenants and events for all our venues before the Games have even started."

London mayor Boris Johnson said the stadium would become not only one of the world's premier destinations for sports, but also a first-class hub for culture and entertainment. "Opening up the bidding to other interested parties now shows just how far ahead we are in planning a great future for east London long after the Games have left town," he said.

Bidders must meet the following objectives:

- To deliver a viable, long-term, multi-use stadiumthat is deliverable and provides value for money;

- To re-open the stadium for operational use from 2014 to ensure consistency with the re-opening of the Olympic Park;

- To re-open the stadium with an athletics track that allows track and field events to be hosted at all levels including the World Athletics Championship;

- To allow flexible usage of the stadium by OPLC, tenants and other bodies, accommodating a vibrant program of commercial, sporting and cultural events, allowing year round community access.

Giant Olympic Rings Mark 20/12 Day

A giant set of Olympic Rings was today unveiled on the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in France to celebrate 20/12 Day.

The rings have been placed at the entrance of the Tunnel in Coquelles near Calais in northern France, one of the main gateways from Europe to the Olympic Park in east London.

They will be seen by hundreds of thousands of fans who are traveling from Europe on Eurostar trains to St Pancras International. Visitors will then take the Javelin train to the hub of Games action, a service that takes just seven minutes and will transport 25,000 visitors per hour during peak times.

The manufacturing and placement of the rings, which are 9.4m wide and 4.6m high, was privately financed by Eurotunnel, who worked closely with the French National Olympic Comnittee to deliver the project.

"The Olympic Rings are an iconic symbol, inspiring athletes and uniting people around the world," said LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe.

"To athletes they represent the culmination of thousands of hours of training and reaching the highest level in sport. To visitors traveling from Europe they will excite and inspire them about the Olympic Games taking place in London, and demonstrate that we are ready to welcome the world in 2012."

Reported by Mark Bisson

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