Control exercise held to test plans for London 2012 Olympics

PanARMENIAN.Net - Four thousand people were taking part Tuesday, April 24 in a final government-led command and control exercise to test plans for the London 2012 Olympics, which start in less than 100 days.

According to AFP, the third and biggest "command post" exercise runs until Wednesday and will simulate a number of incidents that could happen during the Games, which take place from July 27 to August 12.

The exercise involves Olympics organizers, the government, emergency services, local authorities, health providers and transport operators.

It will test "the effectiveness, resilience and decision-making capability of key Games-time command and control structures and processes," the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said.

"These will include communication between the Games organizers, the government and other partners, as well as communication with the media, the general public and operational staff."

The three-day exercise mimics August 4 to 6, when 26 sports will be taking place across 14 venues, including tennis at Wimbledon, triathlon in Hyde Park and beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade.

London's already congested transport network will have to deal with an extra three million daily journeys during the Games, as 10,500 athletes, 9,000 officials, 20,000 journalists and millions of spectators descend on the city.

Last week London marked 100 days to go to the Games, at which they unveiled its motto: "Inspire a Generation".

Although construction of the key venues such as the main stadium and the velodrome is complete, several temporary venues have yet to be completed, with some 200,000 temporary seats yet to go in.

A few test events are still to take place.