London 2012: Make Way for the Olympics
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The Tower Bridge has been given a glittering makeover to mark the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
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A set of Olympic rings stand in front of the apartments for athletes at the Olympic and Paralympic athlete's village in London. The London Olympics begin on July 27.
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A cable car leaves the station during the launch of the newly opened Emirates Air Line cable car which operates between the O2 Arena in Greenwich and the ExCeL exhibition centre at the Royal Docks in London. The service crosses the Thames at a speed of 8.9 miles per hour and at a height of almost 300ft; is capable if carrying up to 2,500 people per hour.
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A team of horses mows Olympic rings into the grass at Richmond Park in London. The rings are visible on the flight path to Heathrow airport, ready to welcome athletes and visitors to the London 2012 Games.
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U.S. torchbearer Michael Johnson, a former Olympian, holds the Olympic Flame in Stonehenge, England.
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Actress Ino Menegaki, dressed as a high priestess, lights the torch at a ceremony in Panathinean stadium in Athens. The torch begins its 70-day journey to arrive at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, from the Greek capital.
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Markings are seen on one of the Olympic Lanes in central London in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
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A worker exits a cable car on London's new gondola lift during tests. The scheme includes a 0.62 mile cable car line that crosses the River Thames from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks, linking two important Olympic sites. Consisting of 34 gondolas, each carrying a maximum of 10 passengers, it will run across the river when the project is finished, though there are spreading doubts that it will be open in time for the summer Olympics.
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The ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture after its official unveiling at the Olympic Park in London. The steel sculpture designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond stands 376 feet high. About 63 percent of the sculpture is made of recycled steel and incorporates the five Olympic rings.
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A high-speed 12-seat inflatable boat, run by the Protection Services International company, travels past London's financial district. Companies like Protection Services International are just one of the many catering to the super rich who are coming to the London games and demand top security and easy transport.
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Fabienne Coulon from Belgium, a 'Games Maker', collects her accreditation for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
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Technology experts work in London at the Technology Operations Centre, operating for the 2012 Olympic games. The experts who will run the 11,000 computers and servers at the logistical heart of the Games say they are confident of defending their systems against attempted cyber attacks. Its systems handle venue scoreboards, tournament data, accreditation and workforce management.
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THE HMS Ocean, Royal Navy helicopter carrier, sails through the Thames Barrier on the River Thames in London to dock at Greenwich as part of 2012 Olympic Games security preparation exercise. The HMS Ocean forms part of a coordinated defense against possible threats to the London 2012 Olympic games, involving all three British armed services.
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A sailor stands guard at the bow of the Royal Navy Helicopter Carrier HMS Ocean as she makes her way up the River Thames as part of security rehearsals. The exercise is aimed at testing military capabilities to ensure operational readiness before the start of the Olympic Games.
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A Rapier air defense system ahead of a training exercise in London. The Rapier surface-to-air missile has the power to take down a Boeing 747 full of passengers if needed to protect a stadium full of 80,000 Olympic spectators in a terrorism nightmare scenario. The British military has insisted that the missiles, with a range of up to five miles, could be deployed as the last line of defense.
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A general view of the Olympic stadium at the Olympic Park in London, England.
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Gymnast Alaina Williams performs on a trampoline in New York's Times Square during U.S. Olympic Team festivities. The event marked 100 days until the London Olympics.
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A tug boat pulls a barge with giant Olympic rings that were launched on the River Thames to mark the countdown to the London Olympic Games.
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The British transport police prepare for the Olympics with role playing exercises as they lead a man away posing as a protester during training in Oxenhope, England.
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A police boat passes in front of Canary Wharf during a combined Police and Royal Marines security exercise on the River Thames. The security exercise was performed in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic games.
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Men stage an attack during a training session for the Olympic Torch Security Team who will be protecting the torch bearers and Olympic flame during the torch relay's progress through the United Kingdom.
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A simulated casualty is evacuated during an emergency services drill in preparation for the Olympics. The drill was a major exercise to test the emergency service and Government response to a terrorist incident during the Olympic and Paralympics Games.
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Analysts Myriam Kabu and Damon Maheux work in the anti-doping laboratory which will test athletes' samples from the London 2012 Games in Harlow, England. The facility will test more than 6250 samples throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games. More than 150 anti-doping scientists will work in the laboratory, which measures the size of seven tennis courts, 24 hours a day.
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A woman stands on a train at an Underground station in London. The network has undergone several years of upgrade work and refurbishment in preparation for the Olympic Games.
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People gather around the Olympic countdown watch at Trafalgar Square in London to watch the Chinese New Year celebration. Trafalgar Square will host a giant video screen free to the public, showing events from the London 2012 Olympics.
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Builders work to finish the London 2012 ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture at the Olympic Park.
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An overlook of the parklands area south of the Olympic Park, looking towards the Olympic Stadium in London.
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A man films a canoeist paddling down the white water course at the Lee Valley White Water Center in north London. The white water course will host the London 2012 Olympic canoe slalom competitions. The center is open to public for white water rafting until April and after the Olympics.
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A general view of Greenwich Park which will be used as the venue for the Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon events and the Paralympic Dressage competition. Greenwich Park has been a controversial choice of Olympic venue as many have complained that there will be no legacy for the sport since the park is to be restored to its pre-Games state after the competition.
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A general view during the evening session on day one of the British Gas Swimming Championships at the London Aquatics Centre. The Aquatics Centre will be one of the main venues during the Olympic Games.
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The Olympic Velodrome in London.
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An aerial view reveals a section of Olympic Stadium.
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Courtyard garden apartment blocks at the Olympic Village in the Olympic Park. The Olympic Village will contain 2,818 apartments.
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An interior view of the world's largest McDonald's restaurant and their flagship outlet in the Olympic Park in London. The restaurant, which is one of four McDonald's to be situated within the Olympic Park, will have a staff of 500. After the Olympic and Paralympic Games conclude the restaurant will be dismantled and all fixtures and fittings will be either reused or recycled.
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The mayor of London Boris Johnson poses for the media with a plate of food in the athletes' dining hall during a media opportunity at the Olympic and Paralympic athlete's village.
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General view of an apartment bedroom in the Athlete's Village at the Olympic Park.
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A journalist works on a laptop in a communal area of an athletes' apartment building during a media event at the Olympic and Paralympic athlete's village in London.
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An apartment bathroom in the Athlete's Village at the Olympic Park.
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Workers carryout the installation of artist Monica Bonvicini's 'RUN' sculpture in the plaza of the London 2012 Handball Arena at the Olympic Park.
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A general view from a rest stand of buildings in Shoreditch in east London. For some time, east London has been all but ignored by tourists who stick to the West End, the home of blockbuster musicals, royal palaces, Harrods and Oxford Street. This year, those prejudices are likely to change as the Olympics inject huge investments into changing the face of the East End.
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Customers visit the newly opened Westfield Stratford City shopping centre in east London. Europe's biggest urban shopping centre opened in a deprived area of east London, where it will act as the gateway to the 2012 Olympics. Westfield Stratford City, which has risen from a derelict wasteland in one of the poorest areas in Britain, houses more than 300 shops, 70 restaurants, a 14-screen cinema, three hotels and Britain's largest casino.
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The London 2012 Olympic Stadium at sunset in the Olympic Park.
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The Olympic rings are seen atop the iconic Tower Bridge in London. The giant rings, which are fully retractable to allow for tall ships to pass through the bridge, will remain in position for the duration of the Games.
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