4 Oct 2011

Track to stay at London Olympic stadium

7:48 am on 4 October 2011

London 2012 organisers showed off their newly laid Olympic track and assured visiting officials assessing a bid for the 2017 world athletics championships that it would be there for keeps.

The Sports and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson says the athletics track is a non-negotiable part of the legacy of the stadium and says they now have a letter of guarantee from the Treasury Solicitor that says the track will remain in the stadium in legacy mode and all the indications are that the argument has been put to bed.

The Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur are fighting a legal battle over the future of the Olympic Stadium in east London.

A court hearing into the awarding of preferred bidder status to take over the Stadium after the Games to West Ham United is scheduled for October the 18th.

Tottenham, who would have removed the running track after the Games had they won the bid, argue that a 40 million pound ($NZ 80 million) loan from Newham Council gave West Ham an unfair economic advantage.

The uncertainty had threatened the bid for the 2017 championships with the IAAF making clear that London had no chance without the Olympic Stadium being available.