London Met wins entry into London 2012 Pre-Games Training Guide

London Metropolitan University has won its application to be featured in the London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide for Basketball and Fencing.

The successful bid means that basketball and fencing Olympic teams from around the world can apply to use the University's facilities to train in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic Games. The teams will be training in the Science Centre facility which has to date received £30 million investment.

Olympic teams are expected to start training in the UK up to two years before the Games start, so that they can become acclimatised to the London environment.

The University’s facilities were approved by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). The news is yet another success story for London Met's Sports Department.

LOCOG only approve facilities with the highest standard of excellence, because the Olympic Games are the most high-profile sporting championships in the world. The Committee has strict technical requirements for facilities wishing to offer services to Olympic teams and so London Met’s success in winning their bid to feature two sports is a great achievement.

The Olympic Games take place only every four years and preparation for the London Games began in July 2005 when it was revealed that London would be the host country. It will be the first time the Olympics has been held in Britain since 1948.

The University will hope to focus on fostering a special relationship with the Olympic teams of one country. Since the University's students hail from 186 different countries, there are plans to utilise this diversity to appoint student ambassadors to help accommodate the Olympic teams while they train here.

Kevin Kumar, Corporate Projects Manager at London Met said of the news: 'This is very exciting for the University. The standards required to act as a host to Olympic teams are very high and it shows the quality of the facilities in our new Science Centre that we were successful in our application. Sport plays a big role in the life of the University and is one of our key strengths, so it will be great to have some of the world's best athletes on campus.’

London Met is also in the running to be selected as a training camp for a number of Paralympic sports, so there could be more good news on the way soon. Results of this bid are to be announced by LOCOG at the end of March.

The application to act as a training camp is part of wider efforts by the University to support the staging of the Games and to help deliver a lasting legacy for London Met's reputation in the sporting field.

11 March 2008