How is/will Leeds prepare for the 2012 Olympics in the UK?

[LDN_EUROPE]

2012 will be the perfect opportunity to atract millions of tourists/sports fans to visit/stay in Leeds. What will Leeds do to prepare for this opportunity? 6 years and counting...

[Jonaldo]

Originally Posted by LDN_EUROPE

2012 will be the perfect opportunity to atract millions of tourists/sports fans to visit/stay in Leeds. What will Leeds do to prepare for this opportunity? 6 years and counting...

It's a good job we have a sense of humour up here LDN_EUROPE

[LDN_EUROPE]

A sense of humour but how about an entrepreneurial spirit?... how will Leeds grab this opportunity?

[Jonaldo]

We'll spin them round town in our shiney new Supertram.

[LDN_EUROPE]

Sounds fun! Joking aside - I really hope many of the Olympics tourists make it up to Leeds. They will be amazed by its quality at street level and (hopefullt by then!) its skyline.

[rhinomatt]

i would rather have a supertram!

[di Livio]

Yorkshire gets Olympic cash boost - from Oz
BY NIGEL SCOTT
BUSINESS EDITOR
YORKSHIRE'S bid to cash in on the 2012 London Olympics is about to get a big hand from Down Under.
Leeds-based regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, says a potential multi-billion pound bonanza is up for grabs – and it wants to ensure local companies are ready to grab their share of the spoils. With that in mind, the organisation is linking with the Aussie state of Queensland to find out how it benefited from the hugely successful Sydney Games in 2000.
Yorkshire Forward's chairman, Terry Hodgkinson, travelled to London to sign a Statement of Intent accord with Queensland Premier and Minister for Trade, Peter Beattie.
The document forms an agreement between Yorkshire and Queensland to work together to develop trade links both in the sporting arena and beyond.
The first step is the commissioning of a piece of joint research between Yorkshire Forward and Queensland's Gold Coast City Council to assess the economic impact of the Sydney Games on the Gold Coast.
Queensland lies a similar distance from Sydney as Yorkshire does to London, and the findings of this research will help the region to better understand its opportunities in the run-up to 2012.
Capital expenditure on the Olympic Games is expected to be in excess of £10bn, and companies across the UK have the opportunity to bid for contracts large and small.
A Yorkshire Forward spokeswoman said the region was already well placed to benefit from the Games, having already carried out an audit of its sporting facilities to identify where it may be able to host training camps.
The Department for Culture and Sport also recently recognised the region's role in preparations for the Olympic Games, holding its only road show outside of London on the opportunities for regional companies to tender for Olympic contracts in Leeds.
Mr Hodgkinson told the YEP: "Yorkshire is developing a sound reputation for delivering major cultural and sporting events, and has been a strong supporter of London's Olympic bid.
"By developing our relationship with Queensland and the Gold Coast, we will be able to put even more weight behind our commitment to ensuring regional businesses are able to benefit from the 2012 Olympic Games and develop links with the region that will last far beyond the Games."
nigel.scott@ypn.co.uk
12 November 2006

I can't really see Leeds cashing in on the tourist front (after 7/7, a Canadian newspaper famously referred to Leeds as 'the home of poverty, hatred and alienation'), there are so many more natural destinations to choose from. York might do some trade. But let's be honest, this was always a London bid, and the benefits for 'provincial cities' such as Leeds will be minimal at best.

[JOliver]

Olympic games are used either to a) help to develop a city and promote world-wide to attract tourists (Barcelona) or b) serve political ambitions at huge costs to a country (Athens). I doubt London need/can sustain any more tourists. New 35,000-house city? WHY in London? Spend these 1.5 Bn in Leeds (or Bradford, Birmingham, Manchester...) and you will regenerate and transform the whole city. In London it will only add to the existing problems with over-population. I can go on, but as you can see I don't share your enthusiasm to London games. We will have to wait up untill they are finished before we can get any significant government/lottery funding for ANYTHING.

[Awayo]

The benefits of city-hosted jamborees seem to be very focussed.

Around the time of the Manchester Comm Games, a report was comissioned by one of the regional quango entities to find out how much benefit comparitively nearby Liverpool would benefit from the Manchester Games, its results, very little. As for cities two hundred miles from the London Olympics, well, as Di Liv reckons, they'll barely notice its happening.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by di Livio

I can't really see Leeds cashing in on the tourist front (after 7/7, a Canadian newspaper famously referred to Leeds as 'the home of poverty, hatred and alienation'),

Oh come on di-livio, that was just one dickhead pissing in the wind, those comments will have long faded into nothing long before 2012.

As for the original question, Leeds will grasp whatever opportunities come it's way, but with the Londo-centric governments we have who are all out to protect their 'capital' investments, the northern cities will probably just continue to bankroll London more than usual, without much of a sniff of the huge benefits London will see (again).

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by Jonaldo

We'll spin them round town in our shiney new Supertram.

spot on.

aside from a potentially quicker GNER service (or alternative franchise), I can't really any tangible benefit in the North. Maybe a few more tourists heading oooop north to seek out the birthplace of Daphne Crane (nee Moon), but that's it.

Why another London 2012 thread on the Leeds forum?

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by Rob

Oh come on di-livio, that was just one dickhead pissing in the wind, those comments will have long faded into nothing long before 2012.

I know, sorry, i used a very extreme example to illustrate that Leeds won't be the first destination people think of when they decide they want a short break from the games.

[di Livio]

Having said that, Leeds should be a mighty fine city by 2012.

[mistertee]

With the S Leeds stadium facilities (track, pool, field event stuff) and those at Carnegie, Leeds will be an ideal base for foreign teams to acclimatise.

No doubt Manchester and Birmingham City Council's have already wooed the big countries. Ours is too busy buying patio furniture at Wickes and putting it on Briggate and declaring Leeds to be the Paris of the North.

[Stig282]

Originally Posted by MrT

Ours is too busy buying patio furniture at Wickes and putting it on Briggate and declaring Leeds to be the Paris of the North.

Too funny!!

[Val Verde]

Apologies for reactivating a thread which has been dormant for over 2 years (and could this be moved to the Skybar) but I noticed on Look North earlier that Serbia has chosen to base it's Olympic team in Sheffield and Leeds for training prior to the 2012 games. http://insidethegames.com/show-news.php?id=5662

Serbia head to Yorkshire for London 2012


May 11 - Serbia have agreed to set up a pre-Games training camp in Sheffield and Leeds before the London 2012 Olympics.

Serbia's interest in locating themselves in Sheffield had been revealed by insidethegames in January 2008.

Now, following 18 months of talks, Serbia has formalised its intention to use Leeds and Sheffield for its international training camps over the next three years with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The document, a formal agreement between Serbia, Leeds and Sheffield which declares their intention to work together, was signed in Belgrade during a Yorkshire/Serbia conference focused on developing relationships and building business links.

The meeting in Belgrade was the fourth time the Serbian Olympic Committee, which is led by former NBA superstar Vlade Divac, had met with representatives from the region since discussions began in 2007.

The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Frank Robinson said: “I am delighted to sign this agreement on behalf of the city of Leeds.

"I am confident the Serbian athletes will enjoy their time in our region, and hopefully the time they spend here will help them hone their skills to be able to perform at their best in the London 2012 Olympics, which we are all greatly looking forward to.”

Sylvia Dunkley, the Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Streetscene at Sheffield City Council, said: “The signing of this agreement is testament to the outstanding facilities and sporting proficiency we have in Sheffield and Leeds and we are delighted to have secured this agreement.

“We look forward to welcoming the Serbian athletes to Yorkshire in the near future and will be encouraging them to meet with and get involved with the local communities while they are here.”

Kate Auld of Yorkshire Gold, the region’s London 2012 Committee, said: “Yorkshire’s already starting to attract major international interest in our world class training facilities for the London 2012 Games – and we’re still three years away.

"Hosting pre-Games training camps will give people the chance to get involved with events happening on their doorstep; whether its watching Olympic hopefuls in training or local businesses securing contracts to take care of the teams when they arrive.”

Yorkshire has already seen a financial benefit as international training camps and similar events held over the last three years has generated more than £1 million for the region’s economy.

Serbia made its Olympic debut at Stockholm in 1912 but then competed as part From 1920 to 2006 Serbian athletes participated as part of the Yugoslavian and Serbia and Montenegro team.

In 1992 they participated as Independent Olympic Participants before returning as an independent nation at Beijing last year.

They sent a team of 92 athletes in 11 sports.

This figure is likely to increase considerably year on year up to London 2012 and also in the longer term due to closer business and cultural ties being developed, officials claimed.

The sports that are expected to base themselves in Sheffield include boxing, judo and athletics.

The sports which are likely to feature in the Leeds camps are swimming, diving, gymnastics and cycling which could possibly mean swimming star Milorad Cavic (pictured), who pushed Michael Phelps all the way as he claimed silver behind the American sensation in the 100 metres butterfly in Beijing, coming to the region.

Other sports which could be focused on in the camps include basketball, handball and volleyball, which Serbia are recognised as being highly competitive in.

Apart from making use of the training facilities, the athletes will also be taking part in English-language courses and working with coaches in Leeds and Sheffield in areas such as nutrition and physiology.

The Serbs will also be working with the UK Centre for Coaching Excellence based at Leeds Metropolitan University and the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science at Sheffield Hallam University.

Serbian athletes will share training sessions with Yorkshire-based athletes and take part in competitive fixtures against local teams.

Have any other countries chosen to locate in Yorkshire yet for pre-games training? It would certainly be a benefit for Yorkshire and Leeds the more countries which base here.