News

Journalists shown London’s Olympic progress

By Raoul Simons
Sports journalists from across the globe gathered at a London hotel for the 2012 London Olympic organisers’ first world press briefing this week. The London Olympics may still be three years away but organisers were keen to highlight how much progress has been made since the capital was awarded the Games in 2005.

Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, introduced the event at the Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury, referring to the written press as an important “client group” which “needed to be serviced”.

The IOC’s press commission chairman Kevan Gosper also spoke, stressing the importance of strong media relations and recalling mistakes made in the build-up to the 2000 Sydney Games, when selected media outlets were favoured by organisers.

Journalists were then supplied with a packed lunch and invited on a four-hour coach trip of the Olympic Park, Wimbledon and other 2012 venues.

The second day involved discussions about the logistics of covering the Games, including information on accommodation, transport and technology.


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