Press Release: Coventry nominated as potential location for London 2012 torch relay

The Olympic flame could be set to light the streets of Coventry after the city was nominated as a potential location for the London 2012 torch relay.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership for the 2012 Games has put forward three venues in the region as possible stop-off points for the Olympic and Paralympic torch relay that will take place before the Opening Ceremony in 2012.

Coventry Cathedral has been nominated alongside Stratford-upon-Avon’s Courtyard Theatre and the historic Rugby School.

The city centre venue was chosen because the 2012 Games coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Cathedral’s consecration. Coventry Cathedral’s values of peace and reconciliation are synonymous with the values and ethos of the International Olympic Committee and the torch relay would add huge value to the birthday celebrations already planned.

Tom Clift, partnership manager for the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership for the 2012 Games, said: “To have just one venue in the region considered for the 2012 torch relay would be fantastic so to have three contenders is a remarkable achievement and a great offer to London 2012 to spread the Olympic message outside of the capital.

“This is a great opportunity for the region to play a key role during the immediate build up to the Games.

“Welcoming the Olympic torch would be a great inspiration to the people of Coventry and Warwickshire and a fantastic achievement for everyone involved.”

A draft route of the 2012 torch relay is due to be published by London 2012 organisers by the end of the year for consultation. The torch will tour the country in the weeks leading up to the Games with the aim of 95 per cent of the UK population being no more than an hour away from seeing it at some point during its journey.

Rugby School was chosen as a possible location due to its historic influence on Pierre De Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement. De Coubertin visited the school in the 1880s and was said to have been inspired by the use of sport in the British public education system - pioneered by former Rugby School headmaster Thomas Arnold.

Stratford has been nominated as it will play a key role in the four-year Cultural Olympiad, which aims to inspire people through art and sport during the run-up to the Games.

The Royal Shakespeare Company will host a World Shakespeare Festival to celebrate the Bard as one of ten national signature projects that form part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad programme.

ENDS

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