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Basketball Venues

Olympic Park Basketball Arena & North Greenwich Arena

At the London 2012 Olympic Games, one of the world’s most popular and fastest-growing team sports will be showcased at the Basketball Arena and North Greenwich Arena. Basketball was invented in 1891 by Dr James Naismith, a Canadian physical education teacher who wanted to create a game that could be played indoors during the winter by his students at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. The first game, which took place in December 1891, used peach baskets for goals. In the 120 years since these humble beginnings, basketball has grown into one of the most exciting and popular team sports in the world.

Venues: Basketball Arena – Olympic Park (preliminaries, women’s quarter-finals); North Greenwich Arena (men’s quarter-finals and women’s semi-finals onwards)

Dates: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 12 August

About the Basketball Arena

Construction on the Basketball Arena began in October 2009, with work to erect the 1,000-tonne steel frame starting in March 2010. Construction was completed within budget in June 2011. It is one of the largest-ever temporary venues built for any Games.During the Olympic Games there will be a period of just 22 hours to transform the venue from the Basketball competition to the Handball competition finals. This will include removing the Basketball posts and installing the Handball goals and field of play mat.

About North Greenwich Arena

Originally built for the Millennium celebrations, North Greenwich Arena has been transformed into a sports and entertainment arena with shops, restaurants and more. It opened to the public in June 2007. Works to transform North Greenwich Arena into an Olympic and Paralympic venue will start in May 2012. This will include the installation of temporary items such as tents, cabins, signage, services and equipment in and around the venue. A planning application was submitted to Greenwich Council to seek permission to transform North Greenwich Arena and stage the Games at this venue in 2012.