London Schoolchildren Design Olympic Cross Country Jumps

Lisa Mayor

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Schoolchildren in Greenwich are getting the opportunity to put their mark on the London 2012 Olympics.

      Nineteen schools across the London district have sent in 117 cross-country jump designs to the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), to vie for a chance to get them on the Olympic field.

      The schools attended a workshop in June and the Olympic test event in July to learn more about the sport and see what cross country jumps look like. From there, they began designing cross country jumps, five of which will be chosen to be part of the London Olympic Games.

      The course will have 40 jumps with 27 jump zones, one of those being Greenwich themed. The children were asked to focus their designs on things that remind them of Greenwich. Not only will there be five Greenwich jumps featured, but Greenwich-themed decorations in the zone as well.

      The children who made the winning designs will get to work closely with architecture students from Ravensbourne College in London to turn their ideas into workable models.

      "We've worked hard to get our schoolchildren engaged with the Games and it was fantastic to see how inspired they were by the test events,” leader of Greenwich Council Chris Roberts told media. “Using that inspiration to design part of an Olympic cross country course is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Millions will be watching the events next year and will see the Greenwich jump designed by our school children."

      The designs were on display in Greenwich for the month of August, and favourites were voted on by the public. The top designs will now go to a LOCOG judging panel to decide which designs will be made into jumps for the Olympic games.