The Hockey Stadium for the London 2012 Olympics is beginning to take shape at its position on the edge of the Olympic Park. The venue is one of the last to be constructed due to its location, which needed to be kept clear to ensure construction traffic had access to the more centrally located arenas. However, with many of the venues close to completion, the Hockey Stadium is now being developed at a rapid rate.
The first step in the construction is the laying of the two pitches – the competition pitch and the adjacent warm up pitch. This will be followed by the creation of the spectator stands, player facilities and administration areas. The whole facility is due to be finished in March 2012, two months prior to the men’s and women’s four-nation’s tournament which takes place at the venue in early May. These Test events provide an important opportunity to use all of the facilities ahead of the Olympic Games themselves, which begin at the end of July.
The Hockey Stadium’s fantastic location within the Olympic Park means that anyone coming to watch the matches will also be exposed to the true Games experience. Hockey fans will get the chance to walk past the main stadium, see the Olympic flame and enjoy the friendly spirit of the park setting, which is expected to have giant screens showing the latest action from the different sporting venues.
In preparation for the London 2012 Olympics, the FIH is in regular contact with the hockey staff at LOCOG, the Organising Committee behind the Games. In recent weeks, significant meetings took place in London between LOCOG and the FIH appointed Technical Delegates for the tournament. Women’s TD Laura Pigretti (from Argentina) and men’s TD Björn Isberg (Sweden) were shown around the hockey construction site by engineer Shaun Goudie, who is supervising the pitch installation for synthetic turf supplier STI (Sports Technology International). STI’s Poligras turf has been selected for the pitches at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
