The 2012 Summer Olympics, to be held in London, are getting closer all the time. As they’re working hard on preparing the various venues for competition, you can use Google Earth to follow their progress.
A handful of venues already have 3D models in Google Earth, including the London Aquatics Centre (model details), seen here:
Another great model is the London Velodrome (model details), which will house the indoor track cycling events:
A great overview of the venues can be found in this Google Sightseeing post from last week. In particular, you can grab their KML file
to quickly find the venues in question.Google added fresh imagery just prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, so I expect we’ll see some great new imagery in London sometime before the games begin next summer.
About Mickey Mellen
Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.
I really like the model of Anish Kapoor’s half completed landmark sculpture The Orbit with construction cranes, which is next to the Aquatics Centre.
The Orbit itself is almost complete now so the model is taking a little longer to construct than the original 😉
I hope Google will add also new imagery in Poland and Ukraine during Euro 2012 (check great Warsaw Stadium model). Street View cars already visit Poland so next year it should be ready also.