London 2012 Olympic Running Track Unveiled by Lord Coe

The new, super-fast running surface at the 80,000-seater Olympic stadium in east London was officially unveiled by Olympics chief Lord Sebastian Coe and British medal hopefuls.

British 2012 hopefuls have been putting it through its paces. Paralympic gold medallist Dan Greaves, long jumper Chris Tomlinson and World Championship silver-medallist Hannah England tried out the new surface at the £486million venue.

The red Mondo track, which was laid in August, is set to be a fast surface for 2012 competitors.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said: ‘Today marks a huge milestone for the project as the Olympic Stadium starts to come to life and people get a glimpse of how it will look in less than 10 months’ time when we welcome the world’s athletes to London. There is still a lot of work to do on the stadium but seeing some of our top British athletes on the track with local school children really underlines the stadium’s potential for 2012 and beyond.’

The 80,000-seater stadium for the Games is set to be shrunk to a 60,000-seater venue for football, athletics, concerts and community use, and the new home of West Ham football club after 2012. West Ham’s proposals are part of a joint bid with Newham Council.

Hannah England commented on her first outing on the 2012 track: ‘It feels really really fast – even today in just getting a jog on it you can tell it is going to be really fast. It is quite a sophisticated surface by Mondo who really make the best tracks in the world. These are the tracks that you see world records created on by people like Usain Bolt.

‘This is like a culmination of all the little tricks to make a track fast and they have brought them all here. This feels like the calm before the storm – the track is amazing and there are a few people here today. I can only think that once it is full (for 2012) it is going to be one of the best events that has ever been put on.’