Olympic medals revealed at London 2012 countdown

The building holds 17,500 people and will be used for swimming, diving and water polo events.

It had been expected to be among the first major projects to be finished, but has now been completed after the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium and four other buildings. The wave-shaped Aquatics Centre will be the gateway to the Olympic Park – with more than two-thirds of spectators entering on a bridge over the venue.

Triple jump gold medallist Jonathan Edwards, who now works with the organisers to promote the games, told Channel 4 News there’s a huge sense of excitement now preparations have reached this stage.

“I was like a kid in a sweetie shop going into the Aquatics Centre and seeing the reaction from the world’s media,” he said.

More from Jonathan Edwards - London 2012: race to the finish line and beyond

The size of the centre was reduced in an effort to bring down the costs of the project and in the hope of preventing it becoming obsolete once the games have finished. Two temporary seating wings have been added for use during the games.

Construction of the centre, which was designed by architect Zaha Hadid, began in 2008. It contains a 50m competition pool, a 25m diving pool, a 50m warm-up pool and a warm-up area for divers. The water polo competition will be held in an adjacent temporary water polo arena.

More work to be done

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said there was “massive excitement” about the centre, but that there was still more work to be done.

“This looks terrific, (but) you could not stage an Olympic championship in there tomorrow,” Lord Coe said.

“The athletes have to come here knowing it absolutely works.”

Official events are taking place to mark the 366 days to go until the games, with the pool used for the first time by Team GB swimmers and synchronised swimmers, along with diver Tom Daley. This evening there will be a celebration in Trafalgar Square in central London which includes cultural and musical performances.

The design of the winners’ medals will also be revealed as International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge formally invites the world’s athletes to take part in the games.

The games in numbers
• 17 days
• 26 sports
• 32 venues
• 3.5 million tickets sold

Taking part
• 70,000 volunteers
• 15,000 athletes
• 10,000 team officials
• 20,000 accredited media

Medals unveiled

The medals for London 2012 will be made in Britain and were designed by British artist David Watkins. It is traditional for the summer Olympic medals to show the image of the Greek goddess of Victory, Nike. On the other side, the medals show the London 2012 logo.

They will be made at the royal mint headquarters in Llantrisant, south Wales. The design and designer of the paralympic medals will be announced later this year.

This is the third time that London has staged the games. The 1908 London medal featured a figure of England’s patron saint, St George, and the medals from the 1948 games depicted a person being carried by the crowd.

Gold medals have only been awarded as the prize for first place since the 1904 games in St Louis. At the first event in Athens, in 1896, the winner was crowned with an olive wreath and given a silver medal.