London 2012: the facts (and figures)
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The London 2012 Olympics will be one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Here are some of the simple facts in words and numbers.
The Basics
There are 26 sports played by 204 countries. The games will start on the 27th of July and finish on the 12th of August. Events will take place at 26 different venues.
People
There will be more than 10,000 athletes from all over the world. The new Olympic village will be big enough for 16,000 people. 80,000 spectators will be able to sit in the new Olympic stadium. Every day 9000 police officers will keep athletes and spectators safe.
News and media
With 200 kilometres of electrical cables, 20,000 journalists will report on the 2012 Olympics 24 hours a day. More than 4 billion people around the world will watch the opening ceremony and the rest of the games on TV.
Looking to the future
The 2012 Olympics hope to develop one of the poorest parts of London and provide new homes, jobs and shops. Three-quarters of all the money will help to make East London a better place to live in the future. The games will make 2818 new homes for people to live in.
Anything else?
During the games people will eat 232 tonnes of potatoes!
There will be 8000 Olympic torch carriers.
To find out how many days before the London 2012 start, visit the official website www.london2012.com
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Comments
Dear Paul Sweeney,
- First of all, I´d like to thank you regarding to dedicate your precious time to answer my question. One more time I want to say "Congratulation" for The British Government and the entire project team of the Olympic games. Brazil will host the FIFA Football World Cup in 2014 and I hope that British initiative is a great example to the Brazilian authorities.
Best Regards
Dear Members,
- Does anyone know if this is an initiative of the British Government? I mean investing money to build new houses for the poor? Who thought about it is so glorious! The world would be different if this type of initiative is very common in other countries instead of other things.
Congratulations!
Hi Tavora,
I think in general the plans for how to use the site after the Olympics was a very important part of the Olympics project. The other article in this section - A summer of sport and a city for the future - talks about this as well. The word used by government and in the official communications is "legacy" - usually to "leave a legacy" so they want the games to leave a legacy not only in terms of buildings which people can do sports in but also a place for real communities to live.
Best
Paul
The LearnEnglish Team
really amused 232 tonnes of potatoes