The Year Ahead - London 2012 Olympics

(ATR) Security plans, venue openings and test events are front of mind for organizers of the London Olympics as they move from planning to operations in 2011.

Of the nine 2012 Olympic Park venues, the 6,000-seat velodrome is the first slated for completion, in February. Most other projects will be finished by the summer, including the 80,000-seat main stadium and Zaha Hadid's iconic aquatics center. The construction contract for the BMX circuit will be awarded shortly.

LOCOG tells Around the Rings that the schedule of test events will be announced later this month.

The Olympic security budget and counter-terrorism plans will be the subject of much debate in the coming months.

The Home Office, the government department with oversight of London 2012 security, is keen to trim the budget from $936 million to $740 million through savings in payments to police.

Security experts are scheduled to tour the Olympic Park in January to scope out the project.

Two more London 2012 merchandising outlets are set to open in the coming months, one possibly at the end of February, and more shops later this year as LOCOG seeks to maximise revenues towards the $3.1 billion operating cost of staging the Games.

Around the 500 days to go mark in March, ticket sales will launch for the 26 Olympic sports - another major source of LOCOG's revenues - just weeks after the 2012 sports schedule is set. Ticket pricesrange from £20 to £2012.

The IOC Co-ordination Commission led by Denis Oswald will hold the first of its 2011 inspections March 30 to April 1.

Legacy Competition for Olympic Stadium

The Olympic Park Legacy Company has a busy year ahead.

West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur are vying for the right to move into the Olympic Stadium after the Games. The Hammers' plan to retain the athletics track has won the backing of London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and UK Athletics, with the club firm favourite to be chosen over their London rivals.

The OPLC is scheduled to make a decision before the end of March.

In the weeks ahead, the body responsible for planning, developing and managing the Olympic Park after 2012, will begin issuing tenders for post-Games use of other venues.

SportAccord in London in April provides a major test of the city's ability to host the Olympic Movement.

Coe, IOC member Craig Reedie, British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson will be among 2012 stakeholders using the event to inform and impress the gathering of 1,500 leaders drawn from the IOC, federations and NOCs. Venue visits and Olympic Park tours are expected to take place.

London's Olympic plans will also come under scrutiny at the IOC Executive Board meeting in the British capital on April 5 to 6.

In the summer, torch relay plans will be unveiled. July 27 marks the one-year countdown to the Games; Aug. 29 is one year to the Paralympics.

The IOC Co-ordination Commission visits again in the autumn, a period when a wave of test events will put venue operations and staff through their paces.

Withreporting from Mark Bisson

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