Olympic Newsdesk: London 2012 Pictograms, Commonwealth Fed Backs CEO

London Launches Pictograms for 2012 Games

(ATR) London 2012 organizers unveil their Olympic pictograms, the visual representations of each Olympic sport to be used in the build-up to and during the Games.

The 38 pictograms represent the sports and disciplines at the Games and will be used for signage, on tickets and on the field of play at Games-time.

“The pictograms will be a vital wayfinder for spectators at Games-time and will become recognizable come 2012, but by unveiling them now we have a fantastic opportunity to use them as a tool for people to find out more about the Olympic sports,” London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said.

“Over the next three years, each sport has a golden opportunity to tell its story and educate the British public about what is on offer at London 2012.”

He added that LOCOG would work with all of the sports’ governing bodies “to ensure that knowledge of all the Olympic sports increases between now and 2012.”

The pictograms were developed in consultation with the 26 Olympic sports federations of the Games. They will come in two different formats – a silhouette version for standard use and a dynamic version inspired by the connectivity of the London Underground map, which will be used on merchandise, posters, sign posts and wayfinding materials.

Denis Oswald, head of the IOC Coordination Commission for London 2012, praised the design.

“The London 2012 pictograms are a strong and dynamic representation of the 2012 sports and are instantly recognizable as part of London’s look. This is particularly true of the dynamic version, which draws its inspiration from the London Underground map, forever linking these Games to this great city,” he said.

The IOC member from Switzerland, who is also president of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, added: “The Olympic summer sports are delighted by these designs and I hope that they will not just help people to find their way to the events but will also encourage young people to try out different Olympic sports as we head towards 2012.”

British Olympic Association chair Colin Moynihan said: “They look fantastic and I am confident that they will become a key visual icon of the London 2012 Olympic Games.”

The first Olympics pictograms were used at the 1948 London Games and have become a regular feature of the Olympics since the 1964 Tokyo Games.

The 2012 pictograms will be featured on limited edition adidas t-shirts on sale from Oct. 24 to celebrate 1,000 days to go until the London Games. A full set of Paralympic pictograms will be launched later this year.

Commonwealth CEO Has Support

The Commonwealth Games Federation rejects calls by the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee for CGF CEO Mike Hooper to step down.

Suresh Kalmadi, chief of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Dehli, publically called for the removal of Hooper earlier in the week and said that Hooper was "no use to us." On Friday, the CGF announced that Hooper had the total support of the board.

"We are naturally very surprised and disappointed in receiving this request to remove Mr. Hooper from Delhi given his unquestionable commitment to the successful celebration of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi,” CGF President Mike Fennell said in a statement.

Tensions between the Delhi organizers and the CGF are over concerns that the preparations for the 2010 Games are severely behind schedule. On Monday, Fennell formed a Technical Review Panel to work with Delhi organizers to speed up the pace of construction.

Following the CGF announcement, Kalmadi called for the CGF to relocate Hooper, who has been stationed in India for the past two years. Kalmadi says to discuss the situation with with Fennell in two weeks in London.

"The Organizing Committee expected Mr. Hooper to play the role of the advisor and guide it," Kalmadi told Indian media outlets. "I am very unhappy to say that he has offered us little advice. With one year to go for the Games, I need the right people here and I cannot be getting into a confrontation with the CGF."

Meanwhile, Fennell made it clear in the press release that he wants organizers to focus on preparations for the Games that will runs from Oct. 3-14.

Briefly…

…The Birmingham Council is urging the new owners of Birmingham City FC to host football for the 2012 Olympics.

… Two-time Olympic gold medalist Steven Lopez of United States won a fifth World Taekwondo Federation World Championship when he beat Spain's Nicolas Garza Hemme in welterweight championship.

With reporting from Mark Bisson and Sam Steinberg

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