The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

London Olympics stadium decorative wrap given green light

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 08:36 AM PDT

LONDON, Aug 4 — London's £500 million (RM2.4 billion) Olympic Stadium will have a glossy makeover for next year's Games, with the steel girders and grey concrete that form its exterior being covered by a decorative wrap, organisers said today.

Chemical giant Dow, the newest worldwide partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will foot the bill for a temporary fabric wrap that will consist of 336 individual 25-metre-high vertical panels.

The Games stadium in east London, which celebrated the year-to-go milestone on July 27, 2011, with the official opening of the Aquatics Centre. — Reuters pic

The sleek 80,000-seat bowl-like stadium, completed in May, was originally designed to be covered by a wrap but the plan was ditched last October to save around £7 million from the project unless a private partner could be found.

Dow would be allowed to advertise on the wrap until a month before the Games, after which all venues must be clean, organisers said.

"Having the wrap is the icing on the cake," London Organising Committee (LOCOG) chairman Sebastian Coe said in a statement. "The stadium will look spectacular at Games time."

In an image released by LOCOG, the wrap resembles a series of white vertical blinds. A spokesman said exactly how they would be decorated was still being discussed.

However, after criticism in some quarters that the stadium looked rather stark compared with the eye-catching Bird's Nest in Beijing, the wrap will allow coloured lights and images to illuminate the structure that has now become a landmark on the east London skyline.

In line with London's emphasis on providing a "green" Games, organisers said Dow's Performance Plastics Division were working on resins that would make the wrap 35 per cent lighter than using conventional materials.

The wrap would also include post-industrial recycled material and environmentally friendly inks.

Vice-president of Dow Olympic Operations, George Hamilton, said the company was investigating "several options" for the post-Games use of the wrap, which will adorn the stadium by early 2012.

London celebrated the year-to-go milestone last week with the official opening of the Aquatics Centre — the last of the five permanent Games venues in the park to be completed.

Organisers are now in the middle of a series of test events although the stadium, which is yet to have the track installed, will not see its first action until next May, with the British Universities and College Sport Championships. — Reuters

Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

Motivated Tiger a ‘scary’ prospect on return, says Mahan

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 06:45 AM PDT

AKRON, Ohio —Tiger Woods may have been sidelined by injury for three months but fellow American Hunter Mahan expects the 14-times major winner to return to form with a vengeance at this week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

The spark returns for Tiger Woods at practice on the driving range at Firestone, August 3, 2011. — Reuters pic

While Woods is likely to be rusty on his return to competition following a lengthy layoff, Mahan believes the former world No. 1 will have extra motivation after being written off by many as a shadow of his former dominant self.

"I've never seen anyone like Tiger," Mahan told reporters yesterday ahead of his title defence at Firestone Country Club. "He's one of those 'once-an-era' type of guys who's kind of changing the game forever. It's great that he's back.

"He was the standard of the game that we've never seen before, getting his game back there and back to where he knows he's capable of doing because it was pretty special for a while. I think he's very motivated and that's very scary."

Asked why the prospect of Woods being extra motivated was scary, Mahan replied: "Because there's so much doubt now. We always used to doubt him and he'd always prove us wrong.

"But this is serious doubt because we have no idea how healthy he is. I don't think anyone knows except him and probably his physicians."

Woods, a seven-times winner at Firestone, hurt his left knee ligaments and Achilles tendon during the Masters in April.

He has not competed since he withdrew from the Players Championship at Sawgrass on May 12 after completing just nine holes and later said he had made a mistake in deciding to play that PGA Tour event.

Ready to go

"Tiger's been sitting on his rear end for a few months trying to get healthy again," said Mahan, who won last year's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by two shots. "He's ready to go.

"I think he's just focused about trying to get back and win. I'm guessing he's finally healthy. I don't think he'd come back if he was not healthy again. I just don't think you'd want to go through that setback again.

"This is a great place for him. I know he didn't play well (here) last year, but I don't expect that to happen again. It's just good timing for him to come back and start really playing good golf."

Mahan felt Woods had added incentive at Firestone with so much recent media speculation on players such as US Open champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Irishman being the "next Tiger".

"There's a lot of talk of all these other players — this guy is going to be this guy, he's going to step right in there — which is kind of crazy," said Mahan, a three-times winner on the PGA Tour.

"For some of the young guys, they've never seen Tiger Woods play 'Tiger Woods' golf. They've never even come close to seeing it.

"I don't think Tiger has to prove anything but . . . he takes every single thing that someone says and he's going to turn it into this massive gas on a fire that he's got burning right now. I think he's ready, man." — Reuters

Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Khamis, 4 Ogos 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

0 ulasan:

Catat Ulasan