Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

About Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Sporting complex in Greater London, England

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and large public park in east London spanning Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow across four boroughs, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest. It was purpose-built for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games adjacent to the Stratford City development, was simply called the Olympic Park during the Games and was later renamed to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, although it is not an official Royal Park. Part of the park reopened in July 2013 and most of the rest in April 2014. The park contains the Olympic stadium, now the London Stadium and home of the local Premier League football club, the Aquatics Centre with its Olympic pools designed by Zaha Hadid and open to the public, the Velopark cycling venue, the former athletes' village now a residential quarter and the Olympics media centre, and it is overlooked by the ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower by Anish Kapoor, Britain's largest piece of public art, which according to Wikivoyage incorporates the world's longest tunnel slide spiralling around the tower. Lawns and wetland gardens spread along the River Lea and its channels, with children's playgrounds, walking and cycling trails, cafes and the vast Westfield Stratford City shopping centre at the entrance. The park is today a model of the regeneration of derelict industrial land, a favourite weekend destination for families, and a venue for major sporting events and concerts.

Where:

London, United Kingdom