WEST HAM UNITED, currently bottom of the Premier League table, received a welcome boost today in the form of support from Britain’s top athletes for the club’s plan’s for the Olympic Stadium.
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Gold medalists Dame Kelly Holmes, Daley Thompson and Sally Gunnell were among 16 Olympians* and Paralympians to sign an open letter slamming the idea – put forward by rival bidders Tottenham – that the stadium should get rid of its athletics track after 2012.
“We believe the Olympic legacy HAS to be the Olympic Stadium complete with track,” said the letter.
“It would be unacceptable for the stadium to lose the track and effectively become an Olympic Stadium with NO Olympic connection or legacy.”
The athletes’ intervention can be added to support for West Ham’s bid from the local council and the British Olympic Authority. There is also the fact that in bidding for the 2012 games, London promised to keep an athletics track.
Given all that, it’s hard to see how Tottenham have a chance of winning control of the stadium, but the north London club have a couple of points in their favour.
First, along with West Ham, they are one of only two bidders approved by the Olympic Park Legacy Company and second, they have powerful financial partners in the form of entertainment giant AEG, the company that runs the O2.
Previous Olympic sites have often ended up as underused, loss-making, white elephants and it could be that the backing from AEG will light up the dollar signs in the eyes of the legacy company.
Also, Tottenham are almost guaranteed to be a Premiership side in two years’ time, generating big crowds, while West Ham could well be a lower division outfit. The cold argument could be that there will be no legacy at all if the cash runs out.
* The others were: Steve Backley, Jamie Baulch, Roger Black, Steve Cram, Lynn Davies, Brendan Foster, Tanni Grey Thompson, Katharine Merry, David Moorcroft, Alan Pascoe, Wendy Sly, Ian Stewart and Alan Wells.
