2012 London Olympics

London will be hosting a summer Olympics, so you won't see any figure skating. However, you will get to watch these great events:

• Aquatics: diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo
  
• Archery
  
• Athletics: running, hurdles, steeplechase, relays, marathon, walking, high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, javelin throw, decathlon
  
• Badminton
  
• Basketball
  
• Boxing
  
• Canoeing: slalom, flatwater
  
• Cycling: BMX, road, track, mountain bike
  
• Equestrian: dressage, eventing, jumping
  
• Fencing
  
• Field Hockey
  
• Football (aka Soccer in the US)
  
• Gymnastics: artistic, rhythmic, trampoline
  
• Handball
  
• Judo
  
• Modern Pentathlon
  
• Rowing
  
• Sailing
  
• Shooting
  
• Table Tennis
  
• Tae Kwon Do
  
• Tennis
  
• Triathlon
  
• Volleyball: beach volleyball, volleyball
  
• Weight Lifting
  
• Wrestling: freestyle, Greco-Roman
  
  Note that baseball and softball are no longer a part of the program.

The IOC is starting to become concerned. Although the London Games are less than 3 years away, badminton and rhythmic gymnastics are still homeless; that is, they don't know where they are going to hold the events.

Sebastian Coe, Chief of the London Games, has said that they will find venues for the two sports by the end of the year. However, the end of the year is approaching, and it looks like they are trying to locate the events in Wembley Arena. A final decision is now expected to be made in early 2010.

Photography by: %u963F%u5706

If you plan on going to the games, it's time to start thinking about getting tickets. Between now and April 26th, they are taking ticket applications for the different events (if there are more people that want tickets than availability for certain events, I guess they have a way of deciding who gets them). This is for people living in the United Kingdom and certain European countries. You can go to Tickets.London2012.com to get started. Members of the United States, Australia, and a few other countries will have to go through the official reseller for the 2012 Olympics, Cosport.com. Everyone else can see this list to see where they are selling tickets for your country. You'll be able to find tickets on eBay too.

There will be about 8.8 million tickets available for the regular games, and 1.5 million tickets available for the paralympic games. It is estimated that 50% of the tickets will go on sale for less than £20.

The official prices have been announced. Tickets for the Opening Ceremonies will range in price from £20.12 to £2,102. Tickets for the Closing Ceremonies will go up to £1,500. Although most of the tickets will be under £50, some high-demand events will cost £725. Some of the tickets will be sold by a "pay your age" scheme. If you're 16 or younger, for some events, the tickets will cost your age (in pounds), or, if you are 65 or older, you can pay £16.

As an added bonus, if you buy a ticket to any of the events, you'll get to use the city's transportation system for free for the day. That will probably save you a ton of money on parking, and will help reduce congestion.

If that's too steep for you (after all, who knows if we'll still be in a worldwide recession by then or not), you can see the marathon, triathlon, and road cycling for free.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, seems to think so. The building of new structures will get people to work, although with a high price tag. Because of the recession, London is trying to focus on using existing venues for the events, and constructing buildings that will have a long lasting value to the city. Tessa Jowell, London Olympics minister, said that if they knew the downturn that the economy was going to take, they wouldn't have bid on the 2012 Olympics.

The recession might not be the only thing that is concerning about the 2012 London Olympics. What about the riots? Austerity measures? England is literally on fire. If the country can't get their problems under control, will they even be capable of hosting the Olympics?

So many things can happen between now and 2012. What if North Korea decides to send out nukes? What if war breaks out? I'm hoping that this won't be a disaster. If we can have a peaceful 2012 Olympics, that will be a good thing. I think that with the financial crisis that is underway, we'll all want to take a couple of weeks off to think about simpler things, like sports.

2012 will be the third Olympics that London will host. The first two were held in 1908 and 1948.

1908 - The 1908 Olympics were originally scheduled to be held in 1908, but when Mount Vesuvius erupted in Naples in 1906, Italy decided to spend money to reconstruct Naples instead, so London got the job. The opening ceremonies were held on April 27 by King Edward VII, and the closing ceremonies weren't until October 31st! 22 nations participated, and only 2008 athletes competed. 37 of the athletes were women. Many of the events were held in White City Stadium, which had a track that was 1/3 of a mile long (as opposed to 400 meters which is customary now), had a pool in the middle for swimming and diving events, and had a platform in the middle for wrestling and gymnastics. This was also the first year that winter Olympic events were held, although not as a separate games.

1948 - The 1948 Summer Olympics were the first Olympic games to be held since the 1936 games in Berlin. 59 nations participated, including 4,104 athletes (390 of these were women). The games were opened on July 29 by King George VI, and closing ceremonies were held August 14.

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