Four North Lanarkshire sports facilities are in the running for selection as 'Pre-Games Training Camps' for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, providing a fantastic opportunity to showcase the North Lanarkshire area at an international level.

The four facilities form a bid submitted to the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. If successful, the facilities will be included in a guide that will be provided to each of the 203 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and 161 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) identifying suitable facilities for training camps within the United Kingdom prior to the 2012 Games.

The North Lanarkshire facilities included in the joint North Lanarkshire Council/North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd bid (and the associated sports) are:

• Broadwood Stadium/sports facility/gymnastics academy, catering for football, gymnastics, basketball, trampoline, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, indoor volleyball, wrestling.

• Ravenscraig regional sports facility, catering for athletics, badminton, basketball, football, handball, judo, table tennis, indoor volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling.

• Strathclyde Country Park, catering for canoeing, rowing, triathlon.

• Wishaw Sports Centre, catering for athletics, badminton, football, judo, taekwondo, indoor volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling.

Each of the sports facilities will also be bidding to cater for Paralympic sports equivalents.

Closing date for the submission of all bids was yesterday (31 January 2007) and assessment of all suitable facilities across the country will take place throughout the year.

Final selection will be carried out by the London 2012 Organising Committee by January 2008, and the guide of pre-games training camps will be distributed to NOCs at the closure of the Beijing Games in 2008.

Councillor Jim Logue, Convener of North Lanarkshire Council's Community Services Committee and Chairman of the North Lanarkshire Leisure Board, said:

"If successful, this bid is a great opportunity to showcase the world-class facilities we have on offer here within North Lanarkshire, some of which – like our rowing course at Strathclyde Country Park – are already of an Olympic standard. It would also be a fantastic chance for local sportsmen and women – together with young people in the area – to see world class athletes in action on their doorstep.

"And not only that, we are in a prime location, with close links to the motorway network and the major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, providing any international teams who may train here with easy access to the transport network.

"We have already hosted a number of major sporting events across this area, so we have the infrastructure in place to manage something like the pre-Games training camps. We know that there will be a lot of competition for inclusion in the training camps guide, but I will keep my fingers crossed that we will see a positive outcome for the North Lanarkshire bid."

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