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Sir Steven Redgrave, the five-time Olympic gold medal winning champion rower from Britain, held discussions with H.E. Ali Saeed Bin Harmal Al Dhaheri, Managing Director, ADNEC (Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company), during his visit to Abu Dhabi last week.
Simon Horgan, ADNEC Group CEO, Mohamed Al Jeaidi, ADNEC’s Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs, and Christian Margettes, Political Attache at the UK Embassy in Abu Dhabi, were also present at the meeting.
The discussions focused on preparations being undertaken at the ADNEC-owned ExCeL London, for the London 2012 Games.
ExCeL London, which has been owned by ADNEC since 2008, will host 7 Olympic and 6 Paralympic events for London 2012. 80 Olympic medals for Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Weightlifting and Wrestling and 74 Paralympic medals for Table Tennis, Judo, Powerlifting, Volleyball (Sitting), and Wheelchair Fencing will be presented during the various events to be held next year at the 100 acre state-of-the-art exhibition venue in London’s Docklands.
ExCeL is also the first location around the UK to be used to recruit the 70,000 volunteers for the Games.
Welcoming Sir Steven to Abu Dhabi, H.E. Al Dhaheri said: “Sir Steve Redgrave is the epitome of the modern day Olympian and it is an honour to welcome him to Abu Dhabi on behalf of His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of ADTA and ADNEC. Since acquiring ExCeL London, ADNEC has been unwavering in its commitment to support the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Our strategic development of the ExCeL site has enabled the venue to play a vital role in the Game’s success; indeed more Olympic medals will be awarded at ExCeL than at any other Olympic venue.”
Sir Steven, who was visiting the UAE capital in his role as ‘See Britain Ambassador’ ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, expressed his appreciation for expansion and improvements being carried out at ExCeL London for London 2012. The 49-year-old rowing champion was an instrumental player in the UK capital securing the 2012 games.
ADNEC has made substantial investments in the venue since acquiring ExCeL. In June 2010, ADNEC opened ExCeL London Phase Two, a GBP 165 million expansion with facilities including a 5,000-seater auditorium, a breakout area for 2,500 delegates, a 3,000-seat capacity banquet hall, and addition of exhibition space taking the total space to 97,500sqm, making ExCeL one of Europe’s largest exhibition centres.
ADNEC is also constructing a 252-room Aloft hotel at ExCeL (‘Aloft London ExCeL’), at a cost of UKP 48m. The hotel will open in advance of the Olympic games.
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