It seems we can’t just host the Olympic Games in 2012. Oh no. The games have to have a ‘legacy’, which, as far as we at Boriswatch Towers can tell, means ‘finding alternative uses for a load of white elephant sports venues built for three weeks of events’.
(By the way, is it just us or does every day that goes by at the current Commonwealth Games make you feel a little bit more confident that our Olympics might actually be OK?)
After announcing that the Olympic Park will be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after the games, the Olympic Games Legacy Committee (no, we haven’t made that up) also tried to clear up some confusion as to what’s going to happen to the Olympic Stadium.
Two football teams – Spurs and West Ham – have expressed an interest in moving to the stadium after the Games, but Spurs are not keen to keep the athletics track. I don’t blame them, frankly – athletics tracks around the edge of football stadia mean the crowd are so far away from the action that they might as well stay at home and watch the game on the telly.
Bozza rejected the chance to rule out bids for the stadium that involved pulling up the running track. “I don’t want to get into the detail of the bids and how it’s all going to work,â€? Johnson told City A.M. “There are discussions to be had. But you’ve got to be in conformity with the bid and I’m sure that they will be. Everybody at the moment is.â€?
The centrepiece of the Olympic Park is, of course, the giant Arcelor Mittal Orbit, a gigantic sculpture commissioned especially for the Games. Whilst it presumably is designed to capture the inherent spirit of the Olympics, Boris had a more prosaic description of the tower, calling it a “giant mutant trombone”. Continuing his appreciation of the capital’s skyline, Boris later in the day had this to say about London’s 1950s tower blocks.
“A lot of them are in need of blowing up.”
Prince Charles has never had that level of architectural eloquence, has he?