London 2012

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012.

London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.

Pierre de Coubertin (1 January 1863 – 2 September 1937) on 23rd June, 1894 Coubertin announced that he intended to revive the Olympic Games and established the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at a meeting held at the University of Sorbonne in Paris. He is considered to be the father of the modern Olympic Games. He was a talented sportsman, taking part in boxing, fencing, horseriding and rowing.

• ‪2012 Summer Olympics‬ - Events and Results

2012 Organizing Committee

(Bold links are to Geni profiles, others to Internet web pages)

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is responsible for preparing and staging the London 2012 Games.

BOARD

• Chairman Sebastian Coe

• Sebastian Coe (Wikipedia entry)
  
• Mail Online article about Seb Coe's ancestry.
  

• Chief Executive Paul Deighton born 18 January 1956
• Sir Keith Mills (born 15 May 1950, Brentwood) – Deputy Chair
• HRH The Princess Royal - President of the British Olympic Association and a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1988.
• Sir Charles Allen CBE (born 4 January 1957)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Allen_(businessman) Wiki page

• Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari MBE born 2 October 1953 Tangail, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) - a leading intellectual and activist within the British Muslim Community.
• Sir Philip Craven MBE b. 4 July 1950, Bolton, England)
• Jonathan Edwards CBE is the Company's athlete representative on the Board

Wiki page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(athlete)

• Tony Hall CBE is the Chair of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Board
• Andrew Hunt is the Chief Executive of the British Olympic Association (BOA).
• Justin King CBE is the Mayor’s appointee to the Board, and is also a member of the Audit Committee
• Stephen Lovegrove is the Government’s appointee to the Board, and is also a member of the Audit Committee
• Lord Moynihan is Chairman of the British Olympic Association. Wikipedia entry
• Adam Pengilly
• Tim Reddish OBE
• Sir Craig Reedie CBE
• Martin Stewart
• Sir Robin Wales
• Neil Wood MBE is the Chief Financial Officer of LOCOG.

SENIOR TEAM

• Doug Arnot, Director of Games Operations
• Jackie Brock-Doyle, Director of Communications and Public Affairs
• James Bulley, Director of Venues and Infrastructure
• Sebastian Coe, Chair
• Paul Deighton, Chief Executive Officer
• Richard George, Director of Transport
• Nigel Garfitt, Director of Villages and Games Services
• Chris Holmes, Director of Paralympic Integration
• Sue Hunt, Director of Strategic Programmes
• Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport
• Ian Johnston, Director of Security and Resilience
• Julian Lindfield, Director of Health and Safety
• Mike Loynd, Director of Readiness, C3 and Event Services
• Terry Miller, General Counsel
• Sir Keith Mills, Deputy Chair
• Bill Morris, Director of Ceremonies, Education and Live Sites
• Jean Tomlin, Human Resources (HR) Director
• Chris Townsend, Commercial Director
• Neil Wood, Chief Financial Officer

The Athletes' Committee

The Athletes' Committee looks after the interests of the athletes who will participate in the London 2012 Games, and plays a leading role in the development of Games services and policy on their behalf.

• Jonathan Edwards CBE – Chair

Jonathan Edwards (born 10 May 1966 in London), competed in Triple Jump at four Olympic Games, winning gold at Sydney 2000 and silver at Atlanta 1996. His world record jump of 18.29m at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg is yet to be beaten, currently making him Britain's only male world record holder.

• Baroness Grey-Thompson – Vice-Chair

Tanni Grey-Thompson (Born 26 Jul 1969, Cardiff, Wales), is considered to be one of the most successful disabled athletes in the UK and has competed in events over a wide range of distances. During her career, she has won a total of 16 Paralympic medals, including 11 golds, held over 30 world records, and won the London Marathon six times between 1997 and 2002.

• Ade Adepitan MBE – Paralympian

Ade Adepitan (born 27 March 1973 Maryland, Lagos, Nigeria)

• Tim Brabants MBE – Olympian

Tim Brabants MBE (born 23 January 1977 in Chertsey) British sprint kayaker

• Simon Clegg CBE – Consultant

Simon Clegg CBE (born 8 November 1959, in Harlington, Middlesex) Chief Executive of Ipswich Town Football Club

• Stephanie Cook MBE – Olympian

Stephanie Cook MBE (born February 7, 1972 in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland) is a retired modern pentathlete and Olympic gold medallist.

• Tim Henman OBE – Olympian

Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE (born 6 September 1974)

• Tim Hollingsworth – BPA Chief Executive
• Andrew Hunt – BOA Chief Executive
• Debbie Jevans – LOCOG Director of Sport

Former British junior tennis champion Debbie Jevans

• Peter Keen – Director of Performance, UK Sport

Peter Keen national cycling coach.

• Simon Mason – Olympian

Simon Brindley Mason (born 30 March 1973 in Harpenden, Hertfordshire) hockey goalkeeper

• Aileen McGlynn OBE – Paralympian
• Karen Pickering MBE – Olympian

Karen Pickering (born 19 December 1971 in Brighton) is a former freestyle swimmer

• Shirley Robertson OBE – Olympian

Shirley Ann Robertson, OBE (born 15 July 1968, Dundee) is a Scottish sailor and Olympic gold medallist

Olympic Torch Relay

The Olympic Torch Relay will help shine a light on the whole of the UK – from dynamic urban areas to places of outstanding natural beauty.

Torchbearers will carry the Flame through more than 1,000 cities, towns and villages in the UK.

Olympic Torchbearers

8,000 inspirational people will carry the Olympic Flame as it journeys across the UK. Nominated by someone they know, it will be their moment to shine, inspiring millions of people watching in their community, in the UK and worldwide. Read their stories at the above link.

Olympic Torch Relay route

The Olympic Flame will come within 10 miles of 95% of people in the UK, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. It will enable local communities to shine a light on the best their area has to offer – including celebrations of local culture, breathtaking landscapes and dynamic urban areas.

The interactive map(Follow link above) shows each of the 1,019 communities the Flame will be carried through. Zoom in to see the detail of the route street-by-street. Live in the UK? Enter a postcode in the search box to find out where and when the Flame will be near you... then start planning how you will welcome it! You can also find the locations of evening celebrations, which take place at the end of almost every day of the Relay.

Opening and Closing Ceremonies

"The Opening Ceremony (27 Jul 2012) is a celebration showcasing the best of the Host Nation. It also features a parade of all competing nations and the highly anticipated entrance of the Paralympic Flame, which ignites the Cauldron and signals the start of the Games".

Artistic Director

The Olympic and Paralympic Opening Ceremonies are being developed by world-class directors and their teams. -

• Danny Boyle Artistic Director of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

A British filmmaker and producer, he is best known for his work on films such as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, 127 hours and Slumdog Millionaire. For the latter, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director.

• Bradley Hemmings Artistic Director of the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony.

He is the Artistic Director of Greenwich+Docklands Festivals, an organisation with a national and international reputation. He has broken new ground in outdoor performance and is at the forefront of the development of a new body of outdoor work by deaf and disabled artists.

• Jenny Sealey Artistic Director of the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony

She is Artistic Director of Graeae, the UK’s flagship disabled-led theatre company. Her career has spanned 20 years' working with Deaf and disabled artists, and in 2009 she was awarded an MBE for services to disability arts.

Executive producers

The Executive Producers overseeing the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are:

• Stephen Daldry CBE Executive Producer, Creative (Chairman)

Stephen began his career at the Sheffield Crucible where he directed various award winning productions. He has won innumerable awards on Broadway as well as the West End. Daldry made his feature film directorial debut with Billy Elliot. His next film was The Hours followed by The Reader. Stephen has received an Academy Award nomination for all three of his films. His stage musical adaptation of Billy Elliot, with music by Elton John, opened in London in 2005. The production opened on Broadway in 2007, winning 10 Tony Awards and is the most honoured British production in the history of the American theatre.

• Mark Fisher Executive Producer, Production Design

Mark is an architect with an international reputation for creating spectacular live entertainment. He has designed some of the most memorable rock concerts ever staged, including ‘The Wall’ for Pink Floyd, every Rolling Stones show since 1989, and every U2 concert since 1992. He also designed the theatre, scenery and acrobatic effects for Cirque du Soleil’s ‘KÀ’ at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and the opening and closing ceremonies for both the 2006 Turin Winter Games and 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

• Hamish Hamilton Executive Producer, Broadcast

Hamish is a Grammy and BAFTA Award nominated British television director, arguable the best live television director in the world. He is most known for directing concert videos and award shows. He has directed several concert DVDs for U2, Madonna, and Jennifer Lopez, as well as the MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, the Super bowl half time show and this year’s Academy awards. Hamish joins the team to ensure that, from the outset, our creative ideas evolve with television in mind.

• Catherine Ugwu Executives Producer, Production

Catherine has been involved in some of the world’s largest and most prestigious public events, she was the Senior Producer for the Strategic Phase of the Opening, Closing and Victory Ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, she produced the Opening Ceremony for the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar in 2006, the Closing Ceremony for the XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and a large-scale performance spectacle to mark the opening of the Millennium Dome London in 2000. She has been a consultant and programmed numerous international arts festivals in Mexico City, Adelaide, Antwerp, Accra, Los Angeles and New York.

"The Closing Ceremony (12 Aug 2012) celebrates the achievements of athletes at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and includes a Handover from one Host City to the next. In 2012, London will hand over to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Paralympic Games. The Closing Ceremony also features the extinguishing of the Paralympic Flame, signalling the end of the Games".

• Kim Gavin is the Artistic Director of the Olympic and Paralympic Closing Ceremonies.

... the creative force behind some of the biggest live events in recent years, including the Concert for Dian in 2007, the 2010 Help for Heroes concert and Take That’s critically acclaimed stadium tours – Circus in 2009 and Progress in 2011.
... a leading UK live events, theatre and TV choreographer and creative director.
... the creative force behind the live performances of record-breaking British band Take That, including the critically acclaimed Circus shows in 2010 and the European Progress Tour with Robbie Williams in 2011.

• Es Devlin born 24 Sep 1971

Es Devlin Personal Web Page
...an award-winning international stage and costume designer. Her work crosses a range of genres: opera, dance, film, theatre, tv and concerts. She also works as creative director for number of pop / rock / rap artists.

• David Arnold born 23 Jan 1962

... English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, the 1998 film Godzilla and the television series Little Britain and Sherlock.

London 2012 ceremonies board

- responsible for building and managing the huge team of people who will be developing and producing the ceremonies.

The members of the Board are -

• Bill Morris, London 2012 Director of Ceremonies, Education and Live Sites;
• Martin Green, Head of Ceremonies;
• Catherine Ugwu, Executive Producer, Production;
• Scott Givens, Managing Director;
• Sara Donaldson, Chief Operating Officer;
• Dion Carter, Finance and Commercial Director;

and Non-Executive Directors

• Frank McCormack
• Alan Robertson.