The list of planned test events has been revealed, with the BUCS event set to be staged at the 80,000-seat venue from May 4-7 next year, less than three months before the opening ceremony. The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) will sell tickets for the Championships and other test events, including an invitational marathon in May this year.
“Our approach to operational delivery is similar to that of an athlete,” said LOCOG chair Lord Coe. “You do not want to face any conditions at competition time that you have not prepared for. When the world's greatest Olympic and Paralympic athletes come to London in the summer of 2012, every aspect of our delivery needs to be the best it can be.”
The Olympic Velodrome will host a leg of the Track Cycling World Cup in February 2012 and the BMX circuit will stage part of the 2011 BMX Supercross World Cup. The International Swimming Federation (FINA) Diving World Cup will also take place at the Games’ Aquatics Centre in February next year before the British Swimming Championships is held at the venue the following month.
Basketball will be the first sport to be tested at the Olympic Park while the Badminton World Championships will take place at Wembley Arena. The London ExCel Arena will also hold test events for boxing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling.
