LONDON 2012: Mayor insists Olympics will be one big party – and the whole world is invited
LONDON mayor Boris Johnson is in no doubt that next year’s London Olympics will be an unrivalled success, and is inviting the whole world to the party.
CONFIDENT: Boris Johnson swatted aside recent issues with London 2012 ticketing - although he admitted he landed basketball seats himself (Getty Images)
Despite problems with ticketing and protesters during the first test event in Greenwich Park this week, Johnson remains upbeat that 2012 - when he will also stand for reelection - will be a big year.
“I want the whole world to come and see what we’re doing,” he said, during a visit to the Westfield Stratford City site three months ahead of the opening of the vast shopping complex on the edge of the Olympic Park.
“I want the rest of the world to realise that London is going to be the place to come and visit in 2012.
“We’re going to put on the most fantastic party, we’ve already got the huge investments that are going in here in East London, and I really want people to come and look at that.
“We’re going to have the biggest, most exciting, knockout Cultural Olympiad that anyone has ever seen."
And dispute the fiasco of ticketing process, which came under heavy criticism during both the first and second rounds of public sales, Johnson is backing the Games to feature sell-out venues.
“I’m very confident that you’ll see the venues full during the Games,” he added.
“You’ve already seen the evidence people want to get into the Olympic Games and I’ve no doubt tickets will go.
“I’m very confident of people’s appetite to take part in the Olympics, in one way or another, to get into the Olympic Games, and I’ve no reason to doubt that the tickets will be sold.
“One thing I have said is if in the Games time itself, if it looks like we’re going to have some venues that aren’t full, then we may come up with ways to get more people in – for example, if the corporate sponsors haven’t used the tickets they said they were going to use.
“We’ll come up with ways to get local people into the Park just so we don’t have that empty-venue look.”
As for his own quest for tickets – Johnson was famously one of the casualties of the first round of ticketing – he was delighted to reveal he had at last secured some tickets for the basketball competition.
But even if tickets are proving hard to come by for others, he insists will be many more opportunities for Londoners and visitors alike to experience the Olympics around the city.
“If you can’t get into the Park, you’ll be able to go to road events and watch from the side, there are going to be fantastic live sites where we’re going to put on huge screens where you can watch the Games live as they happen,” said Johnson.
“I’ve no doubt at all that some of the athletes, after their Games, are going to want to come round those parks and soak up some of the atmosphere and some of the excitement with the crowds.
“And the other thing that’s going to happen is that those parks will be amazing live music venues, so there’s going to be an incredible party atmosphere.”
© Sportsbeat 2011
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