Venues

Two-thirds of the venues to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are in place:

Existing venues:

• Wembley, the state-of-the-art 90,000 seat stadium presently under construction and due to open in 2007. The original Wembley stadium hosted the 1948 Olympic Games and the 1966 World Soccer Cup Final and will be used for the football finals in 2012
• Wimbledon, the world’s premier tennis centre, will stage the Olympic tennis tournament
• Lord’s, the home of world cricket, will host archery
• Horse Guards Parade will stage the ultra-modern sport of beach volleyball against the historic backdrop of Westminster and St James’s Park
• Hyde Park, a short walk from potential IOC hotels, will offer a scenic central London setting for triathlon and road cycling
• Greenwich Park, a World Heritage site, will provide a unique backdrop for the equestrian events and the modern pentathlon riding and running competitions
• ExCel, the state-of-the-art exhibition centre will host boxing, judo, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling and table tennis.
• The Dome will stage artistic gymnastics, trampolining and basketball and handball finals
• Eton Dorney will stage the Olympic rowing and flat-water canoeing events in 2012. The newly-extended and improved Eton College Rowing Centre hosted the 2006 world rowing championships
• The Royal Artillery barracks at Woolwich will stage shooting
• Earl’s Court will host volleyball
• Weald Country Park (near Brentwood, Essex) will host mountain biking
• Weymouth-Portland will stage sailing. The newly-reconstructed world-class venue hosted the 2006 world youth championships
  

The preliminary rounds of the football tournament will be held at

• Hampden Park, Glasgow
• Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
• Old Trafford, Manchester
• St James’s Park, Newcastle
• Villa Park, Birmingham
• Windsor Park, Belfast

Additional venues:

• Olympic Park Stadium, athletics, opening/closing ceremonies
• Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, modern pentathlon swimming, water polo
• Olympic Park Velodrome, track cycling
• Olympic Park BMX track, BMX cycling
• Olympic Park Hockey Complex, hockey
• Olympic Park Multi-sport complex, three indoor arenas staging basketball, handball, fencing and modern pentathlon shooting and fencing
• Greenwich Peninsula Hall for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics
• Broxbourne, canoe slalom

NB: an Olympic Park tennis complex will be used as an Olympic training venue and a Paralympic competition venue.

View maps showing venue locations, plus London 2012's Marathon route.

Leaflets are available about the Games for residents and about business opportunities. For a paper copy of these leaflets, a walking guide to the venues and existing attractions (called Walk the Olympic Park), contact the Tower Hamlets Olympics team; tel. 020 7364 4912, olympics@towerhamlets.gov.uk