IOC approve new marathon route

The International Olympic Committee have given their approval to London’s plans to change the marathon route for the 2012 Games.

Organisers say the decision to move the route so that it starts and ends in the Mall in central London, rather than finish in the Olympic Stadium in the east of the capital as was originally planned, is one of the toughest they have had to take.

The change means Tower Hamlets will no longer have two miles of the marathon running through the borough and that has led to protests from MPs and council leaders.

London 2012 took their new route to the IOC and international athletics body the IAAF and have been given the go-ahead by both organisations.

“The new route has been approved by the IAAF and the Olympic Board, and agreed by the IOC,” said a London 2012 statement.

The route will begin and end at the Mall in central London and be run in four loops.“

The new route will see a short 2.2mile loop and three longer ones each of eight miles beginning at the Mall and going past Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, along the Thames to Tower Bridge and then back though the City via St Paul’s Cathedral to Trafalgar Square and finally the Mall.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: “This is one of the hardest decisions we have had to take – and we realise that this may be disappointing for Tower Hamlets.

“We have agreed with the leader of Tower Hamlets Council to develop a proposal creating other opportunities for the borough to be part of the Games.

“The vast majority of the sporting action will take place in the Olympic Park in the heart of east London, and the brand new sporting facilities and new housing we leave behind after the Games will be transformational for east London.”

Coe said the new route aimed to minimise traffic chaos in the capital.

The start point was to be Tower Bridge but that was ruled out since it did not have sufficient space needed for “operational facilities” and broadcasting positions.

Organisers say the original route would have needed Tower Bridge and a number of other major roads to be closed which risked causing disruption to the many other sports taking place simultaneously in the Olympic Park and other parts of London.

The loop circuit has been devised to allow spectators to see the small field of 80-100 athletes several times rather than just once during the race.