WThe 2012 Summer Olympics was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, United Kingdom. The first event, the group stage in women's football, began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, followed by the opening ceremony on 27 July. 10,768 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated.
W"Anywhere in the World" is a collaborative single by English DJ, guitarist, music producer, artist Mark Ronson and English singer-songwriter Katy B. It was recorded as part of Coca-Cola's Move to the Beat promotional campaign for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The single was released as a digital download on 30 March 2012 in Belgium and it was released in the UK on 13 May 2012.
WNine cities submitting bids to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics were recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Committee shortlisted five of them—London, Madrid, Moscow, New York City, and Paris—from which London eventually prevailed; thus becoming the first city to host the Olympic Games for a third time. The bidding process for the 2012 Olympics was considered one of the most hotly contested in the history of the IOC. Paris was seen by some as the front-runner for much of the campaign, but skillful lobbying by London's supporters and an inspirational final presentation by Sebastian Coe led to the success of its bid.
WBow Quarter is a gated community in Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The building was originally the Bryant and May match factory, and was the site of the Match Girls' strike in the 1880s. The factory was redeveloped in the 1980s, in one of east London's first urban renewal projects.
WThe 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics cauldron was used for the Olympic flame during the Summer Olympics and Paralympics of London 2012. The cauldron was designed by Thomas Heatherwick and described as "one of the best-kept secrets of the opening ceremony": until it was lit during the Olympics ceremony, neither its design and location, nor who would light it, had been revealed. For the Olympics it consisted of 204 individual 'petals', and for the Paralympics 164, one for each competing nation.
WChariots of Fire is a 2012 stage adaptation of the 1981 Oscar-winning film of the same name. Production of the Olympic-themed play, which opened at London's Hampstead Theatre 9 May 2012 and transferred to the West End on 23 June 2012, was partially inspired by the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
WThe Clays Lane Estate was a housing estate in Stratford, East London, and the UK’s largest purpose built housing cooperative. It was an experiment in building close-knit communities as a way of helping vulnerable single people. It became the subject of significant controversy when it was demolished to make way for the site of the London 2012 Olympic games.
WThe closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry of Wales representing Queen Elizabeth II. Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge was also percent at the ceremony. The closing ceremony was created by Kim Gavin, Es Devlin, Stephen Daldry, David Arnold and Mark Fisher. The worldwide broadcast began at 21:00 BST (UTC+1) and finished on 13 August 2012 at 00:11, lasting three hours and eleven minutes.
WEast Village is a housing development in Stratford, East London that was designed and constructed as the Olympic Village of the 2012 Summer Olympics and has been converted for use as a new residential district, complete with independent shops, bars and restaurants. The area was formerly contaminated waste land and industrial buildings to the north of Stratford town centre.
WEpisode 4466 of the BBC soap opera EastEnders was broadcast on BBC One on 23 July 2012, between 9pm and 9.30pm. It was written by Matt Evans, directed by Clive Arnold, and executively produced by Lorraine Newman. It included seven minutes of live footage, during which the character of Billy Mitchell, played by Perry Fenwick, carried the Olympic Torch as an official torch bearer as part of the official torch relay for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and Lola Pearce, played by Danielle Harold, gave birth to her daughter. The storyline for the episode was announced in November 2011, with the fact that Lola would give birth being reported in July 2012. The episode received positive reviews, with Karen Edwards from Heat calling it "special" and praising Harold's performance, and Jane Rackham from the Radio Times calling it "highly topical", though Boyd Hilton from Heat felt that Billy's torch bearing was a "gimmick" and the whole episode should have been live. It was watched by an average of 7.32 million people on its initial broadcast. It was accompanied by a special, one-off BBC Red Button episode called "Billy's Olympic Nightmare". The episode received an All About Soap award nomination for Best Episode, under the name "Billy and the Olympic Torch", and a British Soap Award nomination for "Spectacular Scene of the Year", both in 2013.
WHere East is a media complex located in the Olympic Park in East London, built specially for the 2012 London Olympics. It is located at the site of the former Hackney Wick Stadium close to the Riverbank Arena in Hackney.
WThe 2012 Olympic hunger summit was an international gathering on 12 August, the closing day of the 2012 Summer Olympics, held at 10 Downing Street London. The event was organised largely by the Department for International Development. It was co-hosted by Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, and by Brazil's vice president Michel Temer. The summit was attended by several high-profile athletes and by delegates from various national governments, the United Nations, NGOs and from the private sector.
WIsles of Wonder is the official soundtrack album of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. It became available as a download at midnight on 28 July 2012 and as a two-disc CD on 2 August 2012. The soundtrack is mostly pre-recorded and does not include live elements of the performance such as the drumming from Evelyn Glennie, but the two Arctic Monkeys songs are actually credited in the album sleeve as being recorded during the rehearsal at the stadium on 23 July.
WThe London 2012 Olympic Legacy is the longer-term benefits and effects of the planning, funding, building and staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in summer 2012. It is variously described as:economic – supporting new jobs and skills, encouraging trade, inward investment and tourism sporting – continuing elite success, development of more sports facilities and encouraging participation in schools sports and wider social and volunteering – inspiring others to volunteer and encouraging social change regeneration – reuse of venues, new homes, improved transportation, in East London and at other sites across the UK.
WLondon 2012: The Official Video Game is the official Olympic video game of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. It was published by Sega and developed by Sega Studios Australia, making this the first Olympics title to be developed in-house by Sega. The iOS and Android versions were developed and published by NEOWIZ.
WThe London 2012 Olympic Torch was carried around the UK for 70 days in the London 2012 Torch Relay, from 19 May to 27 July 2012.
WThe London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) was established in 2012, replacing the Olympic Park Legacy Company. It was formed as a mayoral development corporation under the powers of the Localism Act 2011. The mayoral development area covered by the development corporation is the Olympic Park and surrounding areas.
WThe London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed following the decision of the International Olympic Committee to stage the 2012 Olympic Games in London. It is intended to facilitate the organisation of the Games, and to aid the UK in compliance with its responsibilities and obligations.
WThe London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and the British Olympic Association and was structured as a private company limited by guarantee. LOCOG worked closely with the publicly funded Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), which is responsible for the planning and construction of new venues and infrastructure.
WManor Garden Allotments were allotment gardens occupying 4.5 acres (18,000 m2) between the River Lea and the Channelsea River in Hackney Wick, London, England. They are also sometimes referred to as Eastway Allotments, particularly in the 2012 Summer Olympics planning application documents. They were demolished to make way for the Olympic site. The site was formerly in the London Borough of Hackney, but after ward boundary changes in the 1990s the footprint sat within London Borough of Newham. At the time of eviction the site was owned by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority. The "Eastway Allotments" were known more locally as "Abbott's Shoot" or "Bully Fen".
WMario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is a 2011 sports and party game developed by Sega Japan. As with the previous two Mario & Sonic titles, it was published by Nintendo in Japan and by Sega in all other regions. The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through exclusive licensee International Sports Multimedia. It is the third installment in the Mario & Sonic series after the commercial success of its predecessors and is an official video game of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The game was released on the Wii on November 15, 2011 in North America, November 17, 2011 in Australia, November 18, 2011 in Europe, and December 8, 2011 in Japan. It was also released for the Nintendo 3DS in February 2012. The game is the first, and the only one to come in a yellow keep case instead of a standard white case, similar to how New Super Mario Bros. Wii was the only game to have a red keep case. The Wii version, like the original 2007 Olympic Games version, does not support the Balance Board; the 2009 Winter Olympics version does.
WThe 2012 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in London, the capital of the United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August. A total of 10,768 athletes from 204 nations participated in 302 events in 26 sports across 39 different disciplines.
WMerrythought is a toy manufacturing company established in 1930 in the United Kingdom. The company specialises in soft toys, especially teddy bears. It is the last remaining British teddy bear factory to still make its products in Britain and is located at Ironbridge in Shropshire.
WThe Minister for Sport is a junior minister in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for sport and Civil Society in England. The office is currently held by Nigel Huddleston.
W"Moment" is a song by Japanese band SMAP. Released as a single on August 1, 2012, the song was used as the theme song for the Tokyo Broadcasting System Television broadcast of the 2012 Summer Olympics, for which SMAP member Masahiro Nakai was the main sportscaster. It was written by the band Sakanaction's vocalist and songwriter Ichiro Yamaguchi, while the single's B-side "Te o Tsunagō" was written by producer Kenichi Maeyamada. The single was commercially successful, reaching number one on Oricon's singles chart, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
WHMS Ocean was a Landing Platform Helicopter, formerly the UK's helicopter carrier and the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy. She was designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force. She was constructed in the mid-1990s by Kvaerner Govan on the River Clyde and fitted out by VSEL at Barrow-in-Furness prior to trials and subsequent acceptance in service. Ocean was commissioned in September 1998 at her home port HMNB Devonport, Plymouth.
WThe Olympic Bell was commissioned and cast for the 2012 London Olympic Games, and is the largest harmonically-tuned bell in the world. Cast in bronze bell metal, it is 2 metres high with a diameter of 3.34 metres, and weighs 22 long tons 18 cwt 3 qr 13 lb. The bell is now displayed in the Olympic Park.
WThe Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) was a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, responsible for ensuring the delivery of venues, infrastructure and legacy for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Together with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), the ODA was one of the two main agencies that organised the London Olympic Games.
WOlympicene is an organic carbon based molecule formed of five rings, of which four are benzene rings, joined in the shape of the Olympic rings.
WThe opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the ceremonial opening of this international sporting event with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's culture. The spectacle was entitled Isles of Wonder and directed by Academy Award-winning British film director Danny Boyle.
WThe Our Greatest Team Parade was a victory parade to celebrate the achievements of British athletes who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. It also recognised the contributions of all the other participants and workers involved in the games. It was held on Monday 10 September 2012 at 1:30pm. The parade took place the day after the closing ceremony of the Paralympics to ensure that the maximum number of athletes were able to participate and to avoid clashing with other commitments.
WTo commemorate British gold medal winners at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, various post boxes in the home towns of the medal winners around the United Kingdom, plus one each on Sark and the Isle of Man, were repainted gold. It marked the first occasion in modern times that the colour of post boxes in the United Kingdom had been changed from their traditional red. Originally intended to be a temporary measure, due to the positive public response it was later decided the colour change would become a permanent tribute, with boxes additionally receiving their own special plaques.
WPrivate Games, written by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan, is the second book of the Private London series. The Private London series is itself a spin-off of the Private series. This book was first published on January 1, 2012 by Little, Brown and Company.
WThe security preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics—with the exception of the air counter-terrorist plan, which was a RAF responsibility—was led by the police, with 13,000 officers available, supported by 17,000 members of the armed forces. Royal Navy, Army and RAF assets, including ships situated in the Thames, Typhoon jets, radar, helicopter-borne snipers, and surface-to-air missiles, were deployed as part of the security operation. The final cost of the security operation was estimated £553m.
W"Spinnin' for 2012" is a song by British soul singer-songwriter Dionne Bromfield and rapper Tinchy Stryder. It was released on 23 September 2011 to Amazon and iTunes as a digital download in the United Kingdom. It is the Official Olympic Torch Relay Song for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The song appears on Bromfield's album Good for the Soul.
W"STARS" is a song by Superfly and Tortoise Matsumoto. The first new single from Superfly in nearly a year and her first collaboration since "I Spy I Spy" with JET.
W"Survival" is a song by the English rock band Muse. The track is the first single from the band's sixth studio album, The 2nd Law. "Survival" served as the official song for the London 2012 Olympics and was released following its premiere on BBC Radio 1.
WA Symphony of British Music is the official soundtrack album of the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. It became available as digital download on 12 August 2012 and as a two-disc CD on 20 August 2012. It features studio recordings of the performances at the closing ceremony for the London Games.
WThe 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011.
WTwenty Twelve is a BBC television comedy series written and directed by John Morton. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes and Amelia Bullmore, the programme is a spoof on-location mockumentary following the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. It was first broadcast on UK television station BBC Four in March 2011 to coincide with the 500-day countdown to the opening ceremony.
WWavertree Sports Park is a large sporting, exercise and leisure complex located in the Wavertree area of Liverpool, England. The sports park is home to the Liverpool Aquatics Centre, Liverpool Tennis Centre and Wavertree Athletics Centre alongside numerous other health and fitness related facilities.
WWenlock is the official mascot for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and Mandeville is the official mascot for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, both held in London, England, United Kingdom. Named after Much Wenlock and Stoke Mandeville, they were created by Iris, a London-based creative agency. The mascots were unveiled on 19 May 2010, marking the second time that both Olympic and Paralympic mascots were unveiled at the same time.
WZiL lanes are lanes on some principal roads in Moscow dedicated to vehicles carrying senior government officials. Known officially in Russian as rezervniye polosy notably but not exclusively used by ZiL and Chaika brand limousines transporting high ranking government and military functionaries of the Soviet Union. ZiL lanes emerged in the 1960s during the rule of Leonid Brezhnev, replacing the previous system of having other vehicles flagged down to make way for those of top officials. A two way lane was inserted into the middle of some of Moscow's main highways in place of the central reservations, and were off-limits to all traffic but authorised civilian and emergency service vehicles. ZiL lanes and restricted routes caused considerable disruption to Moscow's traffic because of the absolute priority given to their users. The Guardian's Martin Kettle described the frustration they caused to ordinary motorists in the mid-1980s:You can spend up to 20 minutes sitting in a lengthening queue on the bridge that crosses the main access road to the Kremlin. The lights are controlled by the Kremlin's own traffic control centre, and other cars simply have to wait. About a kilometre farther down the same road is the Oktyabrskaya Hotel, reserved for guests of the Central Committee. They, too, have a traffic priority, and when the cavalcades are leaving the hotel while the ZiLs are heading into the Kremlin, the whole of central Moscow can grind to a halt.
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