Press Release: Olympics chief visits 2012 Host City Coventry

The man responsible for leading the team behind the 2012 Games has visited Coventry for the first time since it became Host City for the Olympic football tournament.Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), was a special guest at City of Coventry Stadium as he checked out the facilities at the complex first hand.The £113 million venue, home of Coventry City FC, will host between five and ten Olympic football matches during the Games when it will temporarily renamed from Ricoh Arena to the City of Coventry Stadium while the Olympic football competition takes place.Deighton met with Tom Clift and David Moorcroft from the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership for the 2012 Games and Daniel Gidney, chief executive of the Ricoh Arena, to discuss plans in the build-up to 2012 and to be given a tour of the facilities.Gidney said: “We were delighted that Paul has made time in his very busy schedule to come and check out our wonderful facilities.“He had some very positive things to say and we are excited about working with him and LOCOG even more closely as we prepare to play a significant part in hosting the greatest sporting event in the world.“Our bid team worked very hard to secure Coventry’s status as a Host City for the football and we are determined to make the region and the entire country proud.”The venue is one of just six picked to host Olympic football matches alongside Wembley, the Millennium Stadium, Old Trafford, Hampden Park and Newcastle’s St James’ Park.Deighton said: “Coventry put together a great bid document, it was obvious they really wanted the Olympic football events here.“We were very impressed with the detailed application, the sheer will and enthusiasm from all the team in Coventry coupled with some outstanding and unique facilities.”ENDSNotes to editors:The Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership for the 2012 Games (CW2012) is a unique combination of public, private and voluntary organisations, working together to maximise opportunities for the sub-region arising from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.For more information visit http:// london2012.cswp.org.uk* Coventry has been named as a Host City for London 2012 football matches and will host Olympic football matches in 2012 as part of the UK-wide Olympic football competition at the City of Coventry Stadium in Phoenix Way.* Coventry has been awarded a London 2012 Live Site which will join the national network of 18 large Live Site screens around the UK in showing news, events and live screenings of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games from its location outside Coventry Transport Museum. * CW2012 has uncovered over 100 Coventry and Warwickshire Olympians and Paralympians dating back to 1900 to create a Hall of Fame and the first ever archive of its kind. The project has received special recognition from London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) – having been awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark.* Coventry and Warwickshire has 10 venues in the official London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp (PGTC) Guide and has hosted visits from several national Olympic committees in an ongoing attempt to attract teams to use the region as a training base.* Coventry and Warwickshire has over 2,000 registrations from companies interested in applying for 2012 Games-related contracts via the CompeteFor system, and businesses in the sub-region have won more contracts than any other area of the West Midlands.* Coventry will represent the whole of the West Midlands as part of London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad after a project called Godiva Awakes was named as the region’s representative in the Artists Taking the Lead project, funded by Arts Council England. * The Festival of Sport is the second project from the Partnership to receive the Inspire Mark and is designed to provide schoolchildren with an Olympic and Paralympic experience in a festival environment and encompass the values of the Games.Media enquiries:Simon GilbertAdvent Communications2 Edison BuildingElectric WharfSandy LaneCoventry CV1 4JATel: 024 7663 3636http://www.advent-communications.co.uk