The 2012 Olympics Basketball Arena is now completed in East London—more than a year ahead of next summer’s Games.
It is the quickest Olympic Park venue to be ready. Construction began in March last year, when the 1,000-tonne steel frame went up before being wrapped in 20,000sqm of recyclable white PVC membrane stretched over arched panels.
The 12,000-seat structure is 100ft high and is one of the largest temporary venues ever used for an Olympics, which will be dismantled afterwards to be reused elsewhere.
It is now set to be handed over to Seb Coe’s Organising committee, the Olympics authority announced today, ready for the first test event in August—the London International Basketball with six top men’s teams from around the world, Great Britain, Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia.
For next year’s Olympics, the venue houses all Basketball preliminary matches and Women’s quarter finals, in addition to the Handball men’s quarter finals, all semi finals and medal matches.
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