London Olympics 2012: Meet Wenlock and Mandeville, drips off the old block

In the end they were neither animal, vegetable nor mineral. Nor, as some cynics had predicted, did they resemble white elephants.
Instead, Wenlock and Mandeville, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic mascots, elicited mostly baffled reactions as to just what they were at their unveiling today.
With a metallic finish, a single large eye made out of a camera lens, a London taxi light on their heads and the Olympic rings represented as friendship bracelets on their wrists, they resemble characters dreamed up for a Pixar animation.
But London 2012 organisers, for whom the launch of the mascots marks the start of a crucial period in which the games will become public property, pointed to the delighted reaction of a hall full of primary school children at today's launch as evidence that they would connect with their target audience.
"They remind you of aliens, which is really weird and cool," said 10-year-old Ali. "It reminds you of the Olympics, which is worldwide so it's something you'll want to remember forever," added 11-year-old Zanyab as they cavorted with life-size mascots for the cameras.
The pair are based on a short story by children's author Michael Morpurgo that tells how they were fashioned from droplets of the steel used to build the Olympic stadium. They will be crucial in raising funds and spreading messages about the games.
Wenlock, named after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock that helped inspire Pierre de Coubertin to launch the modern Olympics, and Mandeville, inspired by the Buckinghamshire town of Stoke Mandeville, where the Paralympics were founded, will become very familiar in the next two years. The chairman of the London organising committee of the Olympic games (Locog), Lord Coe, said the mascots were aimed squarely at children and designed with the digital age in mind. He said they had the most positive reaction in workshops to road test them.
Among the designs rejected at the start of an open pitch process were anthropomorphic pigeons, an animated tea pot and a Big Ben with arms and legs.
Children will be encouraged to interact with the characters, inviting them via Facebook, Twitter and the web to visit their school and, said Coe, inspiring them to take up different sports.
"The story itself is very rooted in the nations and regions. Young people will be able to decide where they go, what sports they pick up. There is a real interactivity there, it is a language and a flexibility that is driven by young people," he said.
The pair were introduced in an animated film that followed their story from the Bolton steelworks where the frame of the Olympic stadium was made. They will become a range of up to 30 cuddly toys, including versions based on celebrities and sports stars, as well as adorning badges, T-shirts, mugs and more.
Organisers hope Wenlock and Mandeville will rank alongside the more fondly remembered mascots, such as Waldi the dachshund from the 1972 Munich games and Misha the bear from the 1980 Moscow Olympics – rather than the much maligned Izzy of Atlanta 1996. "The games have got a few stupendous assets – the mascot, tickets, the volunteers, the torch relay – and you have got to really use those to bring home your key messages," said Locog's chief executive, Paul Deighton.
"If you link them together you begin to have a really powerful story that people will respond to."
The unveiling of the bold London Olympics logo in 2007 was controversial, with many criticising its graffiti-like design. Organisers, who hired Wolff Olins at a cost of £400,000 to design it, stood firm, arguing that it was supremely adaptable and perfect for the digital age. But they were forced to withdraw a launch film after it emerged that it had the potential to trigger epileptic seizures.
The mascots, conceived by London design agency Iris and costing, said Deighton, just "a few thousand pounds", are an important staging post from a financial and marketing point of view. They will pour up to £15m into the coffers of the organising committee via dozens of licensing deals, part of an overall licensing target of £70m to £80m towards Locog's £2bn privately raised budget.
In 1984, the Los Angeles games ushered in the money-spinning Olympic era. The event was the first to use its Disney-designed mascot to raise funds, since when they have become a cash cow for organisers.
But the story behind the mascots is also designed to help make the Olympics relevant to the whole nation. That will be crucial if organisers are to maintain support for a project that is also costing the public £9.3bn, particularly as cuts in public services begin to bite.
After a spell of behind-the-scenes work devoted to raising £700m in sponsorship revenues, Locog is entering a more public phase when everything it does, from the unveiling of the mascot to its ticket pricing policy, will come under scrutiny.

GB put to pick strong team for London 2012 Olympics

GB put to pick strong team for London 2012 Olympics

Great Britain is set to be symbolized by at least 500 athletes at the London 2012 Olympics, an add to on the 311 sent to the Beijing games in 2008.

The development, which is subject to funding, was agreed at a meeting of the National Olympic Committee which also sets the qualifying criteria.

The BOA will set the selection criteria for Team GB after the International Olympic Committee and the individual sports' international federations release international qualification standards in the summer.

Olympic Stadium will use for Twenty20 cricket after the 2012 Games

Essex announced on Thursday that they were bearing in mind a joint offer with West Ham and Newham Council to turn the stadium in Stratford into a multi-sport venue capable of staging football, cricket and athletics.

The club would continue to play County Championship matches at their Chelmsford headquarters but would use the stadium as a 'festival ground' for Twenty20 matches.

UK's pre-Olympics increase shift to Loughborough

The BOA declared on Wednesday it would now stand its pre-Games training headquarters and its uniform distribution centre at Loughborough University, rather than Aldershot.

The army could not illuminate the crash the decision would have on Aldershot's multimillion pound sporting renewals. When the initial BOA deal was released, Aldershot was allegedly earmarked for a £400 million upgrade, including two new indoor arenas, a running track and hockey centre.

Olympics enhances London housing market prices

The residential property developer yesterday said full-year results will be "materially ahead of market expectations" after a sharp boost in sales during the first three months of 2010.

"The housing market in East London has shown positive signs of recovery, with regeneration surrounding the build up to the 2012 Olympics continuing to stimulate demand," said Andrew Wiseman, chief executive.


About £1.7bn has been set aside in the Olympic budget for investment in renewal, with Telford benefiting from the boost to infrastructure and stature that the project has brought.

In the year to March 31, the company got 389 completions, compared to 350 in the previous financial year, according to its trading statement.

A total of 70 pre-sales were made on developments with overseas investors, a reflection of the improved market in East London.

Skipping Worlds won't keep LeBron, Bosh out of Olympics

INDIANAPOLIS — Skipping the World Basketball Championship this summer won’t necessarily keep LeBron James and others off the 2012 U.S. Olympic team after all.

Speaking to Sun Media after the 2010 hall of fame class was announced Monday, USA Basketball head honcho Jerry Colangelo clarified statements he made earlier this week that raised the ire of James.

“We appreciate the fact they’re willing to give their time. We have to be flexible,” Colangelo said. “Some players may have to miss for whatever the reason may be — contracts, injuries, family issues...free agency this year is big.”

Previously, Colangelo had said he would not provide “free passes” in terms of playing in London in 2012 for players who skipped the worlds without a valid excuse.

That had sparked an angry response from James, the likely NBA MVP.

“There’s a lot that goes on with being a professional athlete other than just basketball,” James told reporters. “I’m not trying to bash Jerry or anything like that because he’s a good guy and I respect him. I don’t respect (his statement) because of the commitment we’ve all given to the U.S.A.”

Colangelo said he realizes James, Dwyane Wade and the Raptors’ Chris Bosh will have a lot on their mind this summer — like who to accept millions of dollars from — and he wasn’t speaking particularly about them.

“The point I made regarding London is, we will give credit for all the equity people have put into it," he said. "Bosh has equity, so does Wade, so does LeBron. Things happen. We just have to be flexible."

The trio has been involved with USA Basketball since 2003.

London 2012 Olympics: Locog opens ticket registration website

Locog, the London 2012 organising committee, this morning launched for UK and EU residents interested in buying tickets for the Games, which go on sale next year.

Reigning Olympic women's 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu was among those due to be present at Trafalgar Square for a media event to mark the launch and the first day of London becoming the next Olympic and Paralympic host city, following the closing ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic Games last night.

The ticket registration site tells its users that "they will be among the first to hear about ticketing news and other exciting events and offers" although signing up does not give users any head start in the application process.

Locog will be hoping that the launch helps begin to appease the London Assmebly, which last week issued a list of 18 hard-hitting questions amid demands for transparency and affordability in the ticketing strategy.

While London bidders promised a range of tickets at less than £30, there have been recent indications from Locog that that price barrier is too low to meet a £441 million ticketing revenue target.

The Assembly submission called for specific details about price, the availability of tickets, whether there will be any priority access and the purchasing arrangements.