PREPARATION : LONDON OLYMPIC

One year after construction of the London 2012 Olympic site began, organisers have said building work is on time and on budget.
The 500-acre site in Stratford, east London, will include a stadium, Aquatics Centre and Olympic Village, to house athletes during the Games.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said preparations were "on track".
The ODA plans to finish construction by 2011 to give it one year to run test events on the site.

Building work for the 80,000-seat Olympic stadium is four months ahead of schedule, London 2012 chief Lord Coe said.

The original budget for the 2012 Olympics was £3.4bn but this was increased to £9.3bn in 2007.
Organisers said 105 of 112 steel terracing supports have been fixed to hold the 55,000 seats in the upper tiers, and 5,200 of 12,000 pre-cast concrete terracing units for the seating are so far in place.

ODA chairman John Armitt said: "One year on from the start of the 'big build' the Olympic Stadium is on track and already becoming a feature of the east London skyline.
"The steady and safe progress is a credit to the team on site and their suppliers across the UK.
"The stadium is on schedule to host the opening ceremony... and become a high quality facility in legacy for athletics and other sports."

Lord Coe said: "The Olympic Stadium will become the heartbeat of the Olympic Park in 2012 and home to spectacular sport not just at Games time, but for years to come.
"It has been a fantastic effort to get us this far, but the future promises much more.

"When the Games have left town, we will have changed the map of east London for good."
The £1bn Olympic village was to be funded by private investment but will now be met by public contingency funds.
The ODA admitted the economic downturn had affected private sector funding for the Athletes' Village and Broadcast Centre, but pledged the Games would not exceed its budget.

SOURCE FROM WWW.BBC.COM