London 2012 Venue

Howzat! Home of cricket to stage archery

 

Archery will be staged at Lord's Cricket Ground, a venue founded by Thomas Lord in 1814, and more traditionally associated with the likes of W G Grace, Don Bradman, Ian Botham, Shane Warne and Andrew Flintoff.

 

"It highlights one of London 2012's key selling points - our ability to combine state-of-the-art new facilities in Olympic Park with existing iconic venues such as Lord's," said Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012.

 

"We were determined to avoid the use of 'white elephants' in our blueprint and this innovative use of some of the world's most recognisable landmarks epitomises our desire to showcase Olympic sports in spectacular settings."

 

It is envisaged that the competition during the Games will take place in front of the recently refurbished Pavilion (a Grade II* listed building) and the cricket square, possibly with the aid of the portable pitch technology that is being developed on the Nursery Ground at Lord's.

 

A special archery demonstration was staged at the ground in St. John's Wood during the lunch break of England's test match with Bangladesh in May 2005.

 

It was led by Alison Williamson, winner of a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. She said afterwards that Lord's would be an ideal Olympic venue for archery.

 

"Walking onto the outfield in front of the crowd was a tremendous moment," she admitted. "The history and tradition at Lord's is very special and to have the opportunity to practise our sport on the hallowed turf was amazing. Lord's would be a stunning home for archery at a London Olympic Games."

 

London organisers conceived the idea for staging the archery at Lord's after Athens used the marble Panathinaiko stadium, which hosted the first modern games in 1896, as its venue for the sport at the 2004 Olympics.

 

To ensure that Lord's is a fitting Olympic venue the Marylebone Cricket Club, who own and manage the ground, announced in August 2005 a further £1m investment in ground improvements, less than a year after an £8m refurbishment of the famous pavilion.

 

One of the most eye-catching pieces of redevelopment carried out at Lord's in recent years is the space-age award winning media centre but probably the most distinctive famous feature remains the weather vane in the shape of Father Time.