London 2012 Games venues to be finalised soon

The 2012 London Olympics venues will be finalised soon after rhythmic gymnastics and badminton reluctantly agreed to move to Wembley Arena, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday.                                           

"We have pushed London organisers to finalise the venue masterplan," Denis Oswald, IOC chief inspector for the London Games, said.                                           

"There have been a few difficulties. Nearly all have been resolved. We still have a situation with (rhythmic) gymnastics and badminton. We are very close to a final agreement. It is only a question of weeks," Oswald told an IOC session.                                           

Games organisers opted to move the two sports to avoid building temporary venues in an effort to save more than $30 million during the economic downturn.                                           

Resistance by the federations, who argued the travel time across London to the stadium in the northwest of the city would damage athletes' performances, forced organisers to miss the original March 2009 deadline to finalise the venues masterplan.                                           

"We would like to express gratitude to these federations who have accepted to move to Wembley rather than forcing organisers to build a temporary venue," Oswald said.