The London Prepares series, the official London 2012 sports testing programme helped to test vital areas of operations ahead of the London 2012 Games.
From May 2011 to May 2012, 42 test events took place in 28 venues, allowing approximately 350,000 spectators to enjoy world-class sport in Olympic and Paralympic venues.
The London Prepares series saw world-class sporting events come to London's iconic existing venues, as well as brand new venues in the Olympic Park.
View the full list of London Prepares series events
The official sports testing programme
The programme allowed London 2012 Organising committee to test vital areas of operation ahead of the London 2012 Games. The series focused on testing aspects such as the field of play, results, timing and scoring systems, how teams work together and how people move around venues.
The programme allowed London 2012 Organising committee to test vital areas of operation ahead of the London 2012 Games. The series focused on testing aspects such as the field of play, results, timing and scoring systems, how teams work together and how people move around venues.
The London Prepares series combined ticketed events with several free-to-watch events, including the cycling road race in London and Surrey and the marathon swimming at Hyde Park. This enabled hundreds of thousands of spectators to see world-class sporting action ahead of the London 2012 Games.
From Olympic qualifying matches to international competitions, over 8,000 elite athletes competed across 183 days of competition, spanning all Olympic sports and disciplines and six Paralympic sports: Goalball, Wheelchair Rugby, Wheelchair Tennis, Paralympic Archery, Boccia and Paralympic Athletics.
‘Lessons learned’
LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: 'We set out to run events which would test the venues, the sporting field of play and our workforce, whilst at the same time allowing members of the public to enjoy world class sport in an Olympic setting.
'We have done just this and all these events, without exception, have gone well. Of course there will be some lessons learned from each event, but we have not had to make any major changes to any of our venues or our plans. We are in great shape and on course to stage the world’s greatest sporting event.'
