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London ahead of schedule for 2012 Olympic Games
A handout aerial photograph shows construction workers forming a giant ‘2’ on the site of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games in Stratford, east London. Photo/AFP
Posted Thursday, July 29 2010 at 00:00
Meanwhile John Amaechi, the British former NBA star with Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz, was to demonstrate some of his skills at the Basketball Arena, a temporary venue built with giant steel arches.
Construction is currently well within the event’s budget of 9.3 billion pounds (11 billion euros, 14.2 billion dollars).
The figure includes 1.2 billion pounds of a contingency fund, which has yet to be used.
Away from the Olympic Park on Tuesday, thousands of people were expected at London’s main Trafalgar Square for a day of 2012-themed interactive games and celebrity appearances, plus a “3D Future Zone” with six special pods allowing people to watch Olympic footage in high definition.
The square was the scene of wild celebrations in July 2005, when London edged out Paris for the right to host the Games.
London Mayor Johnson was using the two-year milestone to launch an appeal for 70,000 people to volunteer at the Games as everything from city guides to press officers.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is the great people of this country, with their warm welcome and ‘can-do’ attitude, on whom the success of our Games will depend,” he said.
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