Olympics in Coventry

Can anyone tell me if it's true, I've heard it is said that attire is being made to cover up Lady Godiva for the Olympics to hide her nakedness, in order not to offend.

It's not for the Broadgate statue Morgana, it's a giant carnival puppet being made for a London procession. The local media wheel the story out at intervals when they have nothing else to report. Personally I find the increasingly desperate attempts to somehow link Coventry with the London Olympics a huge embarrassment.

Thank you Dutchman I fully agree with you on embarrassment, also so happy with it not being the one in Broadgate, how by dressing a puppet of her be Lady Godiva, money making scam again to make money for the designers and dress makers, methinks, at the ridicule of our town's heritage.

I must admit the headline attracted my attention for exactly the same reason. It was just the way they worded it - purely to draw the eye - so I guess the writer did their job! However, Dutchman is absolutely correct - it is "Imagineer Productions" (who performed an amazing show in the square outside cathedral/university a few years ago) who are making a huge costume to cover the frame of the giant "Godiva" (although how the heck several cyclists are going to pedal it down to London is beyond me!) I have some photos of their last performance - it was incredible, I'll try and find them.

Here's a couple of photographs taken in the University Square at a joint Imagineer/Kinetica Production for the UK Childrens Games in 2007. You can see from these pics the sheer size of the "puppets" that are being controlled by the operators. I guess the "Godiva" is going to be larger than these. I wrote this at the time.... "Both Imagineer and Kinetica work with professional and community based performers harnessing the skills of particularly young people in work of the highest quality that celebrates and promotes community cohesion. For those that were unable to make it to the event, you missed an absolutely spectacular display. Even from behind the camera the effort that every single person put in was truly amazing" Brilliant!

Hmm, however spectacular, it looks more like Notting Hill Carnival than Coventry to me, but then, didn't Lady Godiva ride through Rio on the back of llama, or something like that?

Is hosting this going to cause more trouble than it's worth? BBC report

Hi all. No thoughts on this anyone? It was a hot news item on local radio this morning. Some traders are not only disturbed by this advertising issue, but that in the original official guides, Coventry is hardly mentioned. The accommodation being included is in Stratford, Coombe Abbey & so on.

Coventry is staging some low profile matches and I doubt the people attending will get into the city centre, since the Ricoh, sorry, City of Coventry Stadium, is so far out and close to the motorway. The council are deluded if they think Coventry is going to become an Olympic city tourist venue. Attendances are likely to be no higher than for Sky Blues games. The changing of the signs is ridiculous but not surprising. Host nations have to pass laws effectively allowing the IOC to do what they like. This includes measures such as these. It is all about commercial interests of sponsors being protected, so they can stop anyone wearing a t-shirt with, say, a Pepsi logo if Coca-Cola are the sponsors. This was happening in the last World Cup too.

Hi I want the games to be fun & highlight our city, but like you say, I just wonder if the planners have lost their way. All of this cosmetic cost & we can't afford our policemen. Thank you for your post

Like you Philip I want the games to highlight our city. Coventry has also been designated a 'live site' venue with a large screen outside the Transport Museum so this should help. As visitors will be coming from all over the world it's unlikely they will all be travelling via car on the motorway. It's more likely they will come by train. What a pity the station at the Ricoh will not be in use for the Olympics. That would have made a huge difference. Apart from the work in Broadgate which is vile a lot of the improvements being done in the outskirts of the city should benefit Coventry residents in the future.

Typical of sponsorship, I'm afraid! I presume Ricoh must have sponsored the Arena, so I guess they are none too pleased, either. But at least when the Games are actually on in Coventry, it would be surprising if the attendance weren't quite a lot greater than for a normal game. I suppose it's a case of wait and see, backed up by as much publicity as possible.

Living very close to the Ricoh I'm a little confused where the improvements on the outskirts of the city are to be found. When talking about the Olympics and the benefits to Coventry, don't forget that North Warwickshire (Nuneaton and Bedworth) start at the opposite side of the Ricoh traffic island (75 yards?). The Ricoh have a slight problem in that they sell Wimpy and not McDonalds.

The Olympic Flame arrived in Coventry this afternoon, this is it's journey down Kenpas Highway, before arriving at the War Memorial Park

In the park and flame lit video What a great occasion at the Memorial Park! Estimated 20,000 watching - all very positive for Coventry