Manchester is famous all over the world thanks to its football clubs, including Manchester United (Old Trafford) and Manchester City (City of Manchester Stadium, Sportcity).Old Trafford is also home to the Lancashire County Cricket Club. despite no longer being a part of the county of Lancashire.
In 2002, Manchester was the host to the Commonwealth Games and a large area of East Manchester was converted into a new Sportcity, the centre-piece of which is the new athletics and football stadium.
The Manchester Velodrome started off the whole regeneration of East Manchester and formed part of the bid for the 2002 Commonwealth Games (and for Manchester's failed bid for the 2000 Olympics). Britain's great success in the cycling events in the 2008 Olympics is very much due this venue and most of the medal winners are based in and around the city. However the London-centric authorities, preparing for the 2012 London Olympics, plan to build a venue in the capital and are not willing to share events around the country. Some still fear that Manchester may be sidelined furthermore in the future. The UK authorities have always been lukewarm to any Olympic bid that was not based on London, claiming that only a capital can host such a large event. Many cities who have hosted the games are not capitals, and this fact reinforces what a centralised country the UK is. Some reports in the press did suggest that the team wishes to keep their base in the city as they are also supported by a large administrative team.
In July 2009, it has been reported that the world's first purpose-built BMX Centre is also to be built on the site. Work on this addition to Sportcity is expected to start in January 2010 and is said to remove any lingering doubts that Manchester will be replaced by London as British Cycling's headquarters after the 2012 Olymipic Games. The centre will be used by athletes preparing for London 2012 and help bring major national and international events to the city. It will also be open to schools,clubs and the local community.
In the Queen's New Year's Honours list in January 2009, some of the locally based cycling heroes were given awards, including a knighthood to Chris Hoy.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Manchester
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Manchester - updated May 2024
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Manchester Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
