Olympic Newsdesk -- London, Vancouver Mayors Meet; Construction Ramps Up

London and Vancouver Mayors Talk Olympics

Johnson says he will be going to the Vancouver Olympics. The announcement followed a meeting with his counterpart in Vancouver, Gregor Robertson at city hall in London where they shared ideas about the Olympics.

Johnson heard Robertson explain how Vancouver plans to reduce road traffic by 30 per cent in Vancouver during the Games in February.

“This is just a start of the friendship between London and Vancouver. I believe we will learn much from each other’s experiences of managing major sporting events and the challenges of running large cities in the 21st Century,” Johnson said.

“I look forward to visiting Vancouver when they host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in February. It will be a fantastic opportunity to build on the ideas we have discussed today and to see first-hand how they have managed such a high-profile and complex operation.”

Robertson said it was a productive meeting about Olympic preparations and environmental initiatives. “With the Summer Olympics arriving in London in 2012, both of our cities have a lot to share in terms of what it takes to prepare for the Games,” he said.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s plans for a multimillion dollar monument at the Olympic Park in east London are moving forward. Five major artists are said to be in contention to be commissioned for the landmark structure, which would be funded with private donations.

“The mayor is keen to see stunning, ambitious, world-class art in the Olympic Park and has been working with the Olympic Delivery Authority over many months to explore a series of commissioning projects,” a spokesman for the mayor told the Sunday Times newspaper.

London 2012 Ramps up Construction Effort

The Olympic Delivery Authority overseeing building preparations for the 2012 Games announced Tuesday that the construction workforce for the Olympic Park and athletes’ village has risen to 7,270.

The ODA figures reveal that 4,842 workers are busy on the Olympic Park site in East London that includes the main stadium and aquatics center, while another 2,428 work on the Olympic Village adjacent to it.

ODA chairman John Armitt said the ‘big build’ of the Olympic Park and village was on track, adding: “Our steady progress on regenerating this part of east London is testament to the workforce on site and hard work of thousands across the U.K.”

Australia Olympic Chief protests Funding Cut

The head of the Australian Olympic Committee blames a decline of medals on the lack of government funding and warns against future cuts.

An AOC survey finds Australia's medal count fell below 40 for the first time in 10 years. This year at world events, Australians won 38 medals including nine golds, 15 silvers and 14 bronze.

With speculation that an unreleased government review of Olympic funds will recommend cutting funds to sports that rarely medal, AOC chief John Coates went on the offensive. He told Australian media on Tuesday that any cuts would continue the country's slide down the medal standings.

While Coates is protesting possible cuts, he is asking the government an additional $84 million USD a year on top the $128 million the committee receives from the government.

Coates said the AOC needs more money to remain at the top of the medal tally. At the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, Australia finished fourth overall in medal tallies at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics but the study finds the Aussies trailing several countries.

“It is no fluke the countries investing money in their athletes, Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy are either ahead of us or not far behind," Coates said.

"While we might be level with Great Britain at this stage in the four year cycle I expect them to peak at their home Games. We jumped from 41 medals in Atlanta to 58 in Sydney. Team GB won 47 in Beijing and I would expect them to similarly improve to over 60 in London in 2012.”

Australia won 41 medals at the Atlanta Games in 1996, 58 medals at the Sydney Games, 49 in Athens and 46 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Briefs…

…Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS met with IOC President Jacques Rogge at IOC headquarters in Lausanne Monday. The two met to discuss the IOC’s role in helping to fight AIDS through sport. “By working together in the spirit of the core values of the Olympic Movement—friendship, excellence and respect—we can be a force for positive change” Sidibé said.

The partnership between the two organizations began in 2004 when they signed a Memorandum of Understanding. "The partnership between our two organizations has been strong in the past and will be even stronger in the future,” said Rogge.

…An Olympic Solidarity seminar on NOC management was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Monday. The focus of the presentation was on marketing. Damjan Pintar led the seminar. “The topics were to clarify marketing possibilities, professional approach, expectations of business partners and steps to achieve the professional goal in sports marketing which is being developed around the world at this moment," Pinter was quoted by local media.

Written by Mark Bisson, Ed Hula III and Sam Steinberg .