The London 2012 Paralympics will be
centred upon the Olympic Park in Stratford but will also take part in venues in
and around London – with a showpiece Marathon on the final day that passes some
of the capital’s most iconic landmarks. The only venues outside London are
Brands Hatch in Kent, Eton Dorney in Surrey and Weymouth and Portland in
Dorset on the south coast of England.
Fifteen London Paralympics Venues
Held from 29 August
until 9 September, the London 2012 Paralympic Games welcomes 4,200 Paralympic
athletes from 166 nations to take part in 20 different sports and a total of
503 Paralympic events in seven venues in the Olympic Park in East London, five
central London venues and three venues outside London.
Seven Olympic Park Venues
Surrounded by waterways
and colourful wild flowers, the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in the
wonderful Olympic Park in East London is at the centre of all the action,
hosting both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as a comprehensive
programme of Paralympic Athletics. The stingray-shaped 17,500-seat Aquatics
Centre welcomes the Paralympic Swimming races. Wheelchair Rugby and Wheelchair
Basketball take place at the 12,000-capacity temporary Basketball Arena. The
7,000-seat Copper Box hosts Paralympic Goalball, while the iconic 6,000-seat
Velodrome – nicknamed ’The Pringle’ – hosts the Paralympic Track Cycling
events. The temporary Riverbank Arena hosts Paralympic 5-a-side Football and
7-a-side Football on its eye-catching pink and blue pitches in front of up to
15,000 spectators. Eton Manor – the only Paralympics-only venue in the Park –
features ten striking blue courts (four indoor and six outdoor) for Wheelchair
Tennis and three training pools for swimmers.
Five venues around London
The River Zone in
South-East London includes the North Greenwich Arena (Wheelchair Basketball),
the Royal Artillery Barracks (Paralympic Shooting and Paralympic Archery) and
Greenwich Park, one of London’s oldest and grandest Royal Parks, which hosts
the Paralympic Equestrian events with a stunning backdrop of the City. Across
the Thames – and linked to North Greenwich Pier by the stunning new Thames
Cable Car – the Excel Centre is the largest competition venue at the London
2012 Paralympics and hosts six events: Boccia, Table Tennis, Powerlifting,
Sitting Volleyball and Wheelchair Fencing.
Marathon through London’s historic
centre
London’s famous city
centre is showcased in the four Marathon events which start and finish in the
shadow of Buckingham Palace on The Mall. The route starts with a 2.2-mile loop
around Westminster and St James’s Park before three eight-mile circuits around
central London, taking the Paralympic athletes along Victoria Embankment, up
and around the City as far as Tower Hill and then back along the Thames via
Manson House. With the exception of the ticketed area on The Mall, the route
will be free for spectators – and iconic landmarks passed include the Houses of
Parliament, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London.
Three venues outside London
Outside London, three
venues host the remaining Paralympic events. The Paralympic Rowing will be held
at Eton Dorney, 40km west of London, on a 2.2km-long rowing lake in the vast
parkland of the famous Eton boy’s school. Located near Windsor Castle, Eton
Dorney can be reached by train in under an hour from London Waterloo.
Paralympic Road Cycling will be held at Brands Hatch, the renowned motor racing
circuit in Kent, 30km South-East of London. The nearest train station is
Sevenoaks, 30 mins from central London. A shuttle service to the venue from
Sevenoaks also takes half an hour. The furthest venue from London is Weymouth
& Portland in Dorset on the south coast of England, 215km from London.
Spectators can watch the Paralympic Sailing races from The Nothe, which is
roughly a 30-minute walk from Weymouth Station. Half-hourly trains to and from
London Waterloo take just under three hours.
About the London Paralympic Venues
diagram
This map showing the
London Paralympic venues was created by the team at LondonTown.com, in
particular by Katherine Baxter and Steven Potter.
LondonTown.com, the consumer website of
LondonMarketing, has 18 years experience assisting business and leisure
visitors to London.
Diagram key: All coloured buildings
in the diagram are actual London Paralympic Venues, with famous landmarks
illustrated in grey to assist with orientation. The Marathon route has been
marked in red (the three central London circuits) and blue (the mini-loop
around St. James’s Park).
Any comments? Email sarah@mashmedia.net
