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London 2012 London won the right to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and plans to transform 1,500 acres of east London's Lower Lea Valley into the main Olympic site. |
LONDON - From the grass courts of Wimbledon to the prime minister’s neighborhood, the venues for the 2012 Olympics in London will provide a variety of backdrops — both traditional and new.
The All England Club, annual site of Wimbledon, will be the setting for the Olympic tennis tournament when London hosts the 2012 Olympics. It’s one of several London landmarks which will double as venues, along with a new 80,000-seat stadium in the East End suburb of Stratford.
“It’s the first time that the Olympic tennis event has been played on grass since 1920 Antwerp and the second time that the All England Club has hosted the event (1908),” International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti said. “We are confident that the 2012 Olympic tennis event will be outstanding.”
Beach volleyball will be played on Horse Guards Parade — next door to No. 10 Downing Street, the residence of Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Down the road, the triathlon will be in Hyde Park, while softball and baseball will be in Regent’s Park and archery at Lord’s cricket ground.
The soccer finals will be at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium. The preliminary games will be at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium; Aston Villa’s stadium in Birmingham; Newcastle’s St. James’ Park; Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales; and Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland.
In Stratford, a suburb east of London, a 500-acre plot of land will be transformed into a main Olympic stadium and the athletes village.
Arenas near the Dome will host badminton, boxing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, wrestling and weightlifting. At nearby Greenwich Park, equestrian events will be held. Shooting will be in front of the historic Royal Artillery Barracks.
Satellite venues include rowing and canoe/kayak at Eton Dorney, 25 miles west of London, and sailing at Weymouth, about 120 miles southwest of the city on the country’s southern coast.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) - As the glow fades from the Giants' Super Bowl triumph, some New York sports fans are tuning in to basketball and hockey, with the Rangers in first place and the Knicks' overnight sensation, Jeremy Lin, sparking "Lin-sanity.''
Robins: This year, six new breeds will be making their debut on the green carpet for the Westminster Dog Show, which begins Monday.
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