2012 London Olympics

The 2012 London Olympics Summer programme will feature 26 sports and a total of 35 disciplines. London's bid featured 28 sports, in line with other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games two days after it selected London as the host city.

The IOC reinforced their decision to drop both sports during the Turin Games after they lost votes for reconsideration. They will be Olympic Games sports for the last time at Beijing in 2008

The UK's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday 28 October 2005 that open-air swimming disciplines will be added to the Beijing and the 2012 London Olympics schedules. The paper also reported that women's boxing may be added to London; the IOC confirmed that women's boxing would not be including in Beijing because they "did not feel it merited inclusion in 2008".

The 2012 London Olympics facilities will include a mixture of newly built venues, existing facilities, and temporary facilities, including the 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium and the new Wembley Stadium. The majority of venues have been divided into three zones within Greater London: the Olympic Games Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. Some additional venues are, by necessity, outside the boundaries of Greater London.

T he 2012 London Olympics Village will have 17,320 beds and provide each athlete with 16m² floor space, a TV, Internet access, and a private courtyard. The dining hall will be able to feed 5,500 Olympic Games athletes at a time.

Public transport will undergo a massive redevelopment, including the expansion of the London Underground's East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line, and in addition for the 2012 London Olympics the new "Olympic Javelin" service.

There will be 8 million tickets for the Olympic Games themselves, and a further 1.6 million for the Paralympics. Organisers say that 75 per cent of all tickets will cost less than £50 and offer free travel on London transport, with the cheapest tickets for the athletics starting at £15. Additionally, there will be 20,000 £10 tickets for the 2012 London Olympics park to watch events on big screens.

Updates and further information about the 2012 London Olympics can be found on the official London Olympics website.

Also additional 2012 London Olympics details can be accessed on the BBC 2012 London Olympics pages.

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