Sports	BMX Cycling
Capacity	6,000
Post Olympics	Reconfigured as part of the Velo Park with the Velodrome
Architect / Builders	Hopkins Architects / ISG
Time to build	Four months
Cost	£3 million ($5 million)

BMX was only introduced as an Olympic event for the 2008 Games, making it the newest sport to have taken part in an Olympic Games.

It is situated in the Olympic Park, based in the 700 year old Lee Valley park site, and is home to ancient artefacts and settlements going back to the Iron age.

The BMX circuit's construction involved 14,000 cubic metres of soil, enough to fill three Olympic sized swimming pools, which had been cleaned and reused from elsewhere on the historic park.

The soil was then used to create a series of levels which are up to four metres high.

Construction was carried out by ISG, and it was completed in 2011 in time for a test event.

At £3 million, it is the cheapest of the new venues being built in the Olympic Park.

The track will form part of a post games velopark along with the Velodrome.

A mountain bike track and road cycle circuit will also be constructed for the park.


The track has a series of jumps, bumps and tight corners, and covers an area slightly larger than the average football pitch.

6,000 temporary seats for the Olympic Games will be put up at the circuit, which was completed in summer 2011.

Following the Games, the seating will be removed so that the track can be reconfigured to suit riders of any ability, becoming a key part of the legacy plans for the London Olympic Games, as the track becomes part of the post-Olympic velopark.

The VeloPark will be managed by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and·include a cafe, bike hire facilities and a cycle workshop.

The VeloPark is intended to stage major sporting events, and Olympic Organisers hope it will help to make London the cycling capital of the world.

48 competitors will take to the BMX circuit over the course of three days as they battle for two gold medals.