Olympic test events announced

Fans will have the chance to gain a flavour of what next year’s Olympics will be like over the next 18 months in a number of test events that were announced today.

Every venue that will host an event in the 2012 Olympics will undergo a test event in the run-up to the Games.

Some events are invitational competitions specifically organised by the London Organising Committee (LOCOG), to test the venues but others are scheduled international tournaments and Olympic qualifiers.

Britain’s students will get a chance to sample what competing in the stadium is like ahead of the world’s best athletes when they take part in the British Universities (BUCS) championships in the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium between May 4-7 2012.

The Olympic Velodrome will host a high-profile test event when it stages a leg of the Track Cycling World Cup in February 2012, while the BMX circuit is to put on part of the 2011 BMX Supercross World Cup.

The Aquatics Centre will host the FINA Diving World Cup in February next year before the British Swimming Championships take place there the following month.

Members of the public will be able to buy tickets to the test events, with LOCOG determined to give fans the chance to experience what a event in the Olympic venues will be like before the Games begin next summer.

LOCOG director of sport Debbie Jevans said: “To have competitive sport which will allow us to test all our officials and the venues themselves will be good for us, but for the spectators themselves, having the chance to be in the stadium where the world’s greatest athletes will be competing will be an amazing experience.”

LOCOG also hope that giving students a chance to compete inside the Olympic showpiece knowing the likes of Usain Bolt will be running there soon after, will inspire them to pursue a career in athletics.

“It will be inspirational for the young athletes that take part,” Jevans added.

“You heard Chris Hoy last week talking about how inspirational it was just being in the Velodrome.

“To have our young athletes in the Olympic Stadium knowing what they can be aiming for can only be a good thing.”

Some British athletes had been hoping Team GB trials could be held in the Stratford stadium, but a timetable that satisfied both LOCOG and UK Athletics could not be agreed.

Basketball will be the first sport to be tested at the Olympic Park in Stratford with an invitational event comprising teams from China, Serbia and France competing against Britain’s own squad in August.

An invitational marathon that covers part of the Olympic route will take place just after the Virgin London Marathon in May.

The Badminton World Championships will be the sport’s test event at Wembley Arena in the same month while the North Greenwich Arena will host a gymnastics Olympic qualifier next January.

The London ExCel Arena, meanwhile, will hold test events for boxing, table tennis, wrestling, weightlifting, judo and taekwondo.

Paralympic athletes will have to wait until May 2012 to get their first taste of competitive action in the Olympic Stadium when they take part in the London Disability Grand Prix inside the park showpiece.

Lord’s will host an invitational archery event in October while Horse Guards Parade will be taken over by a beach volleyball competition in August.

LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton is happy with the range of competitions chosen and has vowed to leave no stone un-turned in his bid to make the Olympics one of the best in history.

He said: “The World Cup event in cycling in February will be a tremendous christening for the Velodrome, there is a big swimming event in March at the Aquatics Centre and a big diving event too so the big new venues are going to get a preview of what is to come.

“For the basketball event there will be some pretty fancy, world-class competition in France, China and Serbia coming to take on Team GB in London.

“We need to make sure that we test everything in the locations – catering, transport and the event itself,” he added.

“The by-product of that is that we get to have some great sport in 2011 and 2012. A number of these events are world-class events.”