2012 boxing venue row rumbles on without resolution

REBECCA Adlington snapped away like a tourist as she made a flying visit to London's 2012 Olympic park.

EXCITED: Rebecca Adlington, with Lord Coe and Dame Kelly Holmes, at the site of the London 2012 Olympics (courtesy of Laureus World Sport Awards)

She talked excitedly about the beauty of a compact Games, which will enable her to walk from her apartment in the village to the pool.

Meanwhile, just a few yards away, London 2012 (Locog) chairman Lord Coe was doing his best to justify why boxing should relocate from Docklands to Wembley Arena in north London - 18 miles from beating heart of the Games.

He wants to shift boxing to allow badminton and rhythmic gymnastics to be staged at the Excel centre - saving an estimated £20 million on a temporary venue on the Greenwich peninsula.

In their recent co-ordination visit, the IOC greenlighted the controversial proposal, despite previously setting an early April deadline for London to finalise all their venues.

However, they stated London 2012 must win the backing of the international federation responsible for boxing, the AIBA.

And their support for the switch is lukewarm at best.

2012 VENUE?: London 2012 organisers want to save money by staging boxing at Wembley Arena in north London

London officials state the traveling time from the Olympic Village to Wembley is between 35 and 45 minutes - the AA claim those estimates are wildly optimistic and counter the journey is more likely to take nearer on hour, providing traffic is minimal.

Locog counter that a network of priority traffic lanes - which have yet to be finalised by the Department of Transport - should be taken into account.

London organisers are trying hard to strike the balance between delivering a compact Games - as they outlined in their bid document four years ago - and delivering a value for money, especially with costs elsewhere rising dramatically.

But they are mindful of the problems experienced by Atlanta in 1996 - where athletes were hugely critical of the transportation that took them from accommodation to venue.

BOXING EXAMPLE: James DeGale won middleweight boxing gold for Great Britain at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (Getty Images)

They are also following the gold standard example of Beijing - where athletes were given the full VIP treatment, as roads were cleared of traffic to hurry them from village to venue and back again.

AIBA officials have recently been in London to trial the journey - and depending on the time of day estimated it could take between one and three hours.

They are particularly concerned about officials who might be required to make several trips a day, with different fighters competing at different times.

At present the IOC is letting Locog and AIBA trade punches but they are watching developments with keen interest, although it wasn't discussed at this week's Executive Committee meeting in Lausanne.

However, they've made it known they expect a resolution by the time Denis Oswald and his inspection team return for their fifth visit this November.

 

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