title: Celia Cruz

text: In 2004, the "Miami Herald" revealed from partially declassified US State Department papers that Cruz had been linked to Cuba's pre-Revolution communist party, the Popular Socialist Party (PSP), as early as the 1940s. The article, promoted as an "exclusive", was written by Miami Herald journalist Carol Rosenberg from Freedom of Information Act requests. It made several revelations. Among them, the US Embassy in Havana denied Cruz a US visa in 1952 and 1955 because of suspected communist affiliations. The article also states that Cruz had joined the youth wing of the PSP at age 20 and had used a concert to arrange a secret meeting with communists in South America on behalf of its then general secretary, Blas Roca Calderío, who has also founded the party in 1925. Cruz had also signed a public letter in support of one of the Party's front groups, the Pro-Peace Congress. The article states that Cruz's surviving husband, Pedro Knight, was asked about this, and is quoted he knew nothing about it. "She never told me about that. She never talked about politics," the article quotes Knight.


title: Celia Cruz

text: Isolina Carrillo was one of the first people to recognize Cruz's ability to sing Afro-Cuban music and asked her to join her Conjunto Siboney, where Olga Guillot also sang. She later joined Orquesta de Ernesto Duarte, Gloria Matancera, Sonora Caracas and Orquesta Anacaona. From 1947, she started to sing in Havana's most popular cabarets: Tropicana, Sans Souci, Bamboo, Topeka, etc. In 1948, Roderico "Rodney" Neyra founded the group of dancers and singers Las Mulatas de Fuego (The Fiery Mulattas). Cruz was hired with this group as a singer, reaching great success and making presentations in Mexico and Venezuela, where she made her first recordings. Shortly thereafter, Cruz began to sing on musical programs at Radio Cadena Suaritos, along with a group that performed Santería music under the direction of Obdulio Morales. With this group, known as Coro Yoruba y Tambores Batá, she made several recordings that were later released by Panart.


title: Celia Cruz

text: Cruz's big break came in 1950 when Myrta Silva, the singer with Cuba's Sonora Matancera, returned to her native Puerto Rico. Since they were in need of a new singer, the band decided to give the young Celia Cruz a chance. She auditioned in June, and at the end of July she was asked to join as lead singer, and thus became the group's first black frontwoman. In her first rehearsal with Sonora Matancera, Cruz met her future husband Pedro Knight, who was the band's second trumpeter. Cruz debuted with the group on 3 August 1950. Initially, Cruz was not received with enthusiasm by the public, but Rogelio Martínez had faith in her. On 15 December 1950, Cruz recorded her first songs with the group, which were a resounding success. Her "musical marriage" with the Sonora Matancera lasted fifteen years. In total Celia recorded 188 songs with the Matancera, including hits such as "Cao cao maní picao", "Mata siguaraya", "Burundanga" and "El yerbero moderno". She won her first gold record for "Burundanga", making her first trip to the United States in 1957 to receive the award and to perform at St. Nicholas Arena, New York. During her 15 years with Sonora Matancera, she appeared in cameos in some Mexican films such as "Rincón criollo" (1950), "Una gallega en La Habana" (1955) and "Amorcito corazón" (1961), toured all over Latin America and became a regular at the Tropicana.


title: Celia Cruz

text: On 15 July 1960, following the Cuban Revolution, a contract for Sonora Matancera in Mexico arose. Cruz never imagined that she would never set foot on Cuban soil again. The new Cuban regime disapproved of the group accepting offers to work abroad, specifically in the United States. Thus, the Castro regime arbitrarily forbade her to return to Cuba. When she completed a month of stay in Mexico, she received the news of the death of her father Simón Cruz. In 1961, Cruz and Sonora Matancera left Mexico for an engagement in the United States. During this period, Cruz began performing solo without the group, performing at a recital at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. In 1962, before the refusal of the Cuban government to allow her to return to Cuba, Cruz acquired a house in New York. Although she tried to return to Cuba to see her sick mother, who was struggling with terminal bladder cancer, the Cuban government denied her request to return. On 7 April 1962, she received the news of the death of her mother Catalina Alfonso. That same year, on 14 July, Cruz was married in civil ceremony with Pedro Knight after a romance of several years. Cruz and Sonora Matancera made their first tour outside of the Americas, visiting Europe and Japan, where they performed with Tito Puente. In 1965, Cruz would culminate a vertiginous fifteen years with the Sonora Matancera. Cruz began a solo career and her husband Pedro Knight decided to leave his position at Sonora Matancera to become her representative, arranger and personal director. During this time, Cruz became an American citizen.


title: Celia Cruz

text: In 1966, Cruz was contacted by Tito Puente to perform with his orchestra. Their first collaborative album, "Son con guaguancó" featured a recording of José Claro Fumero's guaracha "Bemba colorá", which became one of Cruz's signature songs. Cruz and Puente went on to collaborate on another four albums together. She also recorded albums with other musical directors such as Memo Salamanca, Juan Bruno Tarraza and Lino Frías for Tico Records. In 1974, Fania Records, the leading salsa record label, acquired Tico and signed Cruz to the imprint Vaya Records, where she remained until 1992.


title: Celia Cruz

text: Cruz's association with the Fania label had begun in 1973, when she recorded the lead vocals of "Gracia divina", a song by Larry Harlow which was part of his "Latin opera" "Hommy". She then joined the Fania All-Stars, a salsa supergroup featuring the most popular performers of the Fania roster. With them, Cruz first sang "Bemba colorá" and "Diosa del ritmo" in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1973. She later travelled with the group to Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1974 and returned to San Juan in 1975 for another concert. These live recordings were commercially released years later. Her performance in Zaire, as part of The Rumble in the Jungle event, was included in the film "Soul Power".


title: Celia Cruz

text: Cruz recorded her first studio album for Fania in 1974 in collaboration with Johnny Pacheco, the label's founder and musical director. The album, "Celia & Johnny", and its lead single, "Quimbara", were both a commercial success. In 1976, she participated in the documentary film "Salsa" about Latin culture, along with figures like Dolores del Río and Willie Colón. The following year she recorded her first LP with Colón, a collaboration that would be repeated with great success in 1981 and 1987. When touring with Colón, Cruz wore a flamboyant costume, which included various colored wigs, tight sequined dresses, and very high heels. Her fashion style became so famous that one of them was acquired by the Smithsonian institution. In the late 1970s, she participated in an Eastern Air Lines commercial in Puerto Rico, singing the catchy phrase "¡Esto sí es volar!" ("This is to truly fly!"). Cruz also used to sing the identifying spot for WQBA radio station in Miami, formerly known as "La Cubanísima": "I am the voice of Cuba, from this land, far away...I am liberty, I am WQBA, the most Cuban!" ("Yo soy de Cuba, la voz, desde esta tierra lejana... ¡soy libertad, soy WQBA, Cubanísima!").


title: Celia Cruz

text: In 1982, Celia was reunited with the Sonora Matancera and recorded the album "Feliz Encuentro". That year, the singer received the first tribute of her career at Madison Square Garden in New York. In 1987, Cruz performed a concert in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. That concert was recognized by the publisher of the Guinness Book of Records as the largest free-entry outdoor concert, with an audience of 250,000 people. In 1988, she participated in the feature film "Salsa" alongside Robby Draco Rosa. In 1990, Cruz won her first Grammy Award (Best Tropical Latin Performance) for her album "Ritmo en el corazón", recorded with Ray Barretto. She was also invited to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Sonora Matancera in Central Park in New York. The decline of Fania's brand of "salsa dura" in favor of the emergent "salsa romántica" gradually brought an end to Celia's musical association with the Fania All Stars. Their final reunions took place in Puerto Rico (1994) and Colombia (1995), both of which were released on CD.


title: Celia Cruz

text: In 1990, Cruz managed to return to Cuba. She was invited to make a presentation at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. When she came out of this presentation she took in a bag a few grams of earth from Cuba, the same one she asked to be placed in her coffin when she died. In 1994, she received the National Endowment for the Arts award from the then President Bill Clinton, which is the highest recognition granted by the United States government to an artist.


title: Celia Cruz

text: Having made musical presentations in Mexican and Cuban films, in 1992 Celia participated as an actress in the American film "Mambo Kings", along with Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas. A year later she made her debut as a television actress in the Mexican telenovela "Valentina", along with Verónica Castro for the Televisa network. In 1995, Celia made a guest appearance in the American film "The Perez Family", along with Alfred Molina and Anjelica Huston. In 1997, she starred again for Televisa in the Mexican telenovela "El alma no tiene color", a remake of the classic Mexican film "Angelitos negros". Cruz played the role of a black woman who gives birth to a white daughter. On 25 October 1997, the city of San Francisco, California, officially declared that date as "Celia Cruz Day".


title: Celia Cruz

text: In 1998, she released the album "Mi vida es cantar", which featured one of her most successful songs, "La vida es un carnaval". In 1999, she performed with Luciano Pavarotti for the "Pavarotti and Friends" concert. In 2000, Cruz released a new album under the auspices of Sony Music, "", where she recorded again with Tito Puente, who died a shortly after. Thanks to this album, Cruz was awarded her first Latin Grammy. In 2001, the album "Siempre viviré" makes her the creditor of her second Latin Grammy. In that same year, she performed with Marc Anthony in a tribute to Aretha Franklin for VH1. In 2002, Cruz released the album, "La negra tiene tumbao", where she ventured into modern variants of Caribbean rhythms, influenced by rap and hip hop. For this record she won her third Latin Grammy and her second American Grammy.


title: Celia Cruz

text: On 16 July 2002, Cruz performed to a full house at the free outdoor performing arts festival Central Park SummerStage in New York City. During the performance she sang "Bemba colorá". A live recording of this song was subsequently made available in 2005 on a commemorative CD honoring the festival's then 20-year history entitled, "Central Park SummerStage: Live from the Heart of the City". Cruz appeared on the Dionne Warwick albums "Dionne Sings Dionne" and "My Friends & Me" with their Latin duet version of "(Do You Know The Way To) San José".


title: Celia Cruz

text: In August and September 2002, Cruz underwent surgery due to breast cancer. In November that year, Cruz fell during a concert in Mexico. She was diagnosed with glioma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, and underwent surgery in December. Confident, Cruz said she did not shed one tear and that she was aiming to resume her artistic career. She finished recording her last album, "Regalo del Alma". In February, she appeared in public again at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards to receive the award for Best Salsa Album. In March 2003, she was paid tribute by the US Hispanic network Telemundo. The event, titled "", involved figures such as Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, La India, Gloria Gaynor and Patti LaBelle among others. This was her last public appearance.


title: Celia Cruz

text: On the afternoon of 16 July 2003, Cruz died at her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey, at the age of 77. At her express wish, her mortal remains were first transferred to Miami for two days to receive the homage of her Cuban exile admirers, returning and finally resting in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. An epilogue in her autobiography notes that, in accordance with her wishes, Cuban soil which she had saved from a visit to Guantánamo Bay was used in her entombment.


title: Celia Cruz

text: Cruz's legacy has been honored since years before her death, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1987), the asteroid name 5212 Celiacruz (1989), the Excellence Awards at the 1990 Lo Nuestro Awards, and Celia Cruz Way in Miami (1991). She was also recognized with a star on Boulevard Amador Bendayán in Caracas, Venezuela, and a figure in the Hollywood Wax Museum. Besides, Cruz received three Honoris Causa doctorates from three universities in the United States: Yale University, Florida International University and the University of Miami. Cruz, along with fellow Afro-Cuban musician Cachao, were inducted into the "Billboard" Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1994. She was also inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1999. In the same year, she was presented with the ASCAP Latin Heritage Award becoming the first recipient of the accolade.


title: Celia Cruz

text: Through a formidable work ethic, Cruz rose to the very top in her genre. In February 2004, her last album, "Regalo del Alma", she won a posthumous award at the Premios Lo Nuestro for best salsa release of the year. It was announced in December 2005 that a musical called "¡Azúcar!" would open in Tenerife before touring the world. The name comes from Cruz's well-known catch phrase of "¡Azúcar!" (“Sugar!”).


title: Celia Cruz

text: In 2003, a music school was opened in the Bronx, named the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music. Pedro Knight visited this school before his death to meet the students and share stories about her life.


title: Celia Cruz

text: On June 4, 2004, the heavily Cuban-American community of Union City, New Jersey heralded its annual Cuban Day Parade by dedicating its new Celia Cruz Park (also known as Celia Cruz Plaza), which features a sidewalk star in her honor, at 31st Street and Bergenline Avenue, with Cruz's widower, Pedro Knight, present. There are four other similar dedications to Cruz around the world. Cruz's star has expanded into Union City's "Walk of Fame", as new marble stars are added each spring to honor Latin entertainment and media personalities, such as merengue singer Joseíto Mateo, salsa singer La India, Cachao, Cuban tenor Beny Moré, Tito Puente, Spanish language television news anchor Rafael Pineda, salsa pioneer Johnny Pacheco, singer/bandleader Gilberto Santa Rosa and music promoter Ralph Mercado.


title: Celia Cruz

text: On 18 May 2005, the National Museum of American History, administered by the Smithsonian Institution and located in Washington, D.C., opened ""¡Azúcar!"", an exhibit celebrating the life and music of Celia Cruz. The exhibit highlights important moments in Cruz's life and career through photographs, personal documents, costumes, videos, and music. Her biography "Celia: Mi vida" was also published in 2005, based on more than 500 hours of interviews with the Mexican journalist Ana Cristina Reymundo. The journalist and TV presenter Cristina Saralegui planned to take the story of her life to the cinema and the American actress Whoopi Goldberg, admirer of the singer, expressed her interest in representing her, but the project was cancelled. From 26 September 2007 to 25 May 2008, "Celia", a musical based on the life of Celia Cruz, played at the Off-Broadway venue New World Stages. The show won four 2008 HOLA Awards from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.


title: Celia Cruz

text: On 16 March 2011, Celia Cruz was honored by the United States Postal Service with a commemorative postage stamp. The Cruz stamp was one of a group of five stamps honoring Latin music greats, also including Selena, Tito Puente, Carmen Miranda, and Carlos Gardel. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History collaborated with photographer Robert Weingarten to create an object-based portrait of Celia Cruz featuring artifacts in the museum. The portrait was unveiled on 3 October 2012.


title: Celia Cruz

text: On 21 October 2013, Google honored her with a Google Doodle. Jennifer Lopez honored Cruz with her presentation at the 41st American Music Awards ceremony. The singers Yuri, La India, Maluma and Aymée Nuviola did the same at the Latin American Music Awards. Also in 2013, Cruz was inducted into the New Jersey Hall Fame. In October 2015, Telemundo premiered an 80-episode docu-drama based on Cruz's life, "Celia".


title: Celia Cruz

text: In 2015, the television networks RCN Televisión and Telemundo, made the "Celia" a TV series, based on the life of Celia Cruz. Celia was played by the actresses Jeimy Osorio and Aymée Nuviola and counted on the voice of Patty Padilla. In 2019, Angélique Kidjo released a tribute album to Cruz, entitled "Celia", including songs spanning all of Celia's Cruz career reinvented with an Afrobeat feel. It features Tony Allen (musician), Meshell Ndegeocello and the Gangbé Brass Band.


title: Celia Cruz

text: In 2018, a monument to Celia Cruz was unveiled in the Cuban Heritage Park in Hialeah, Florida. Also in 2018, the Celia Cruz Estate launched a brand inspired by Cruz which featured merchandise inspired and about Cruz.


title: Celia Cruz

text: In 2019, Chilean-American poet Marjorie Agosin created a chamber music theatre performance titled "Las Magníficas" (The Magnificent Ones), based on the life of Celia Cruz and Chilean singer-songwriter Violeta Parra.


title: Celia Cruz

text: On June 2, 2021, the City of New York honored Celia Cruz by co-naming the intersection of Reservoir Avenue and East 195th Street in the Kingsbridge Heights section of The Bronx, near the High School that is the named in her honor, "Celia Cruz Way".


title: Celia Cruz

text: The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the United States. Celia Cruz has received two awards from fourteen nominations, as well as a non-competitive Lifetime Achievement award.


title: Celia Cruz

text: The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to those who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. Celia Cruz won the award in 2016.


title: Celia Cruz

text: A Latin Grammy Award is an accolade by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. Celia Cruz has won four awards out of seven nominations.


title: London Stadium

text: London Stadium (formerly and also known as Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford district of London. It is located in the Lower Lea Valley, east of central London. The stadium was constructed specifically for the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, serving as the track-and-field venue and as the site of their opening and closing ceremonies. Following the Games, it was renovated for multi-purpose use, and it now serves primarily as the home of Premier League club West Ham United.


title: London Stadium

text: Land preparation for the stadium began in mid-2007, with the construction officially starting on 22 May 2008. The stadium held its first public event in March 2012, serving as the finish line for a celebrity run organised by the National Lottery. Holding 80,000 for the Olympics and the Paralympics, it re-opened in July 2016 with 66,000 seats, but with capacity for football limited to 60,000 under the terms of the lease. The decision to make West Ham United the main tenants was controversial, with the initial tenancy process having to be rerun.


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium hosted the 2017 IAAF World Championships and 2017 World Para Athletics Championships (the first time both events were held in the same location in the same year). It hosts a round of the IAAF Diamond League each year, known as the London Grand Prix, sometimes called the London Anniversary Games. It also hosted several 2015 Rugby World Cup matches. The stadium can also hold concerts with up to 80,000 spectators and, due to its oval shape and relocatable seating, was deemed to have the potential to host other sports such as baseball and cricket. In June 2019, it hosted the first regular-season U.S. Major League Baseball game in Europe, in which the Boston Red Sox played a two-game series against the New York Yankees.


title: London Stadium

text: During London's bid for the games, promotional materials featured a main stadium with a roof "designed to wrap itself around the venue like muscles supporting the body"; however, at that time there had been no formal design brief agreed. While the bidding process was ongoing, West Ham had talks with the ODA about contributing to the development of a multi-purpose stadium, should London win the bid. The government preferred to produce a brief for an athletics-only stadium that would be largely disassembled after the games, with the lower tier remaining in place as a permanent athletics facility to replace the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. With the original Olympic design finalised and being built, the government had a change of heart, and a bidding process was launched for post-Olympic tenants.


title: London Stadium

text: On 13 October 2006, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) confirmed that it had selected Sir Robert McAlpine and Populous with whom to start exclusive negotiations to fulfil the eventual design-and-build contract of the new Olympic Stadium after no other organisations met the bidding criteria. The stadium design was launched on 7 November 2007.


title: London Stadium

text: Construction of the stadium commenced three months early in May 2008, after the bowl of the structure had been excavated and the area cleared. The building of the stadium was completed in March 2011 reportedly on time and under budget, with the athletics track laid in October 2011.


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium's track-and-field arena is excavated out of the soft clay found on the site, around which is permanent seating for 25,000, built using concrete "rakers". The natural slope of the land is incorporated into the design, with warm-up and changing areas dug into a semi-basement position at the lower end. Spectators enter the stadium via a podium level, which is aligned with the top of the permanent seating bowl. A lightweight demountable steel and pre-cast concrete upper tier was built up from this "bowl" to accommodate a further 55,000 spectators.


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium is made up of different tiers; during the Games, the stadium was able to hold 80,000 spectators. The base tier, which allows for 25,000 seats, is a sunken elliptical bowl that is made up of low-carbon-dioxide concrete; this contains 40 per cent less embodied carbon than conventional concrete. The foundation of the base level is 5,000 piles reaching up to deep. There are a mixture of driven cast "in situ" piles, continuous flight auger piles, and vibro concrete columns. The second tier holds 55,000 seats and measures and is high. The stadium contains just under a quarter of the steel as the Olympic Stadium in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics, approximately . In addition to the minimal use of steel, which makes it 75 per cent lighter, the stadium also uses high-yield large diameter pipes that were surplus on completion of North Sea gas pipeline projects in its compression truss, recycled granite, and many of the building products were transported using trains and barges rather than by lorry.


title: London Stadium

text: A wrap, funded by Dow Chemical Company to be able to advertise on it until 26 June 2012, covered the exterior during the Olympics. The wrap was made from polyester and polyethene and printed using UV curable inks. The wrap was made of pieces of material covering high and in length. The final design for the wrap consisted of fabric panels, twisted at 90-degree angles to allow entry to the stadium at the bottom of the structure, and held in place with tensioned cables.


title: London Stadium

text: To allow for fast on-site assembly, compression truss and roof column connections were bolted; this enabled easy disassembling of the roof structure after the closing ceremonies. The cable-supported roof structure covers approximately two-thirds of the stadium's seating. Reaching above the field of play, its roof held 14 lighting towers that collectively contained a total of 532 individual 2 kW floodlight lamps. The lights were first officially switched on in December 2010 by Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson. During the games, the towers were fitted with additional ceremony lighting, and four of towers held large temporary video screens.


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium was equipped with a nine lane Mondo athletics track. The turf in the stadium was grown in Scunthorpe and was a mix of perennial ryegrass, smooth stalk meadow grass, and fescue grass seeds. It took 360 rolls of grass to cover the infield and was laid in March 2011. The track was designed by Italian company Mondo and when installed was their latest version of the Mondotrack FTX.


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium's 80,000 seats had a black-and-white 'fragment' theme that matched the overall branding design used by LOCOG for London 2012. The lines all centred on the finish line on the track. The seats were made in Luton and were fitted between May and December 2010. During the Games, the Stadium's grandstands contained a lighting system developed by Tait Technologies that allowed them to function as a giant video screen. Individual "paddles" containing nine LED pixels each were installed between each seat, which were controlled via a central system to display video content wrapped around the stadium. The system was primarily intended for use during the ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics. This technology was also adopted for the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, which hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics.


title: London Stadium

text: The red Mondo athletics track used for the London 2012 games was laid in August 2011, possessed nine lanes, and was thick. It used two vulcanised rubber layers, one of which was a cushioning underside with elongated diamond-shaped cells, which allowed them to flex in any direction. During the four London 2012 ceremonies, the track was protected via synthetic covering. For the stadium's transformation, the track was protected from construction work for the 2015 events by covering it with a plastic sheet layer and burying it under of soil. The Mondotrack surface was removed in early 2016 and a new surface, using of the improved Mondotrack/WS, was laid that May. Some of the original running track, mostly from the home straight, was kept so that it could be sold and auctioned to the public to raise money for the operation of the stadium and its neighbouring community track. The grass playing field was lengthened by several metres at either end for the 2015 rugby matches to fit a suitably-sized rugby/football pitch. It was reseeded with a Desso GrassMaster artificial-natural hybrid pitch approved for Premier league matches of , ready for West Ham United, complete with under-soil heating. In football configuration, the pitch is surrounded by artificial turf and carpeting that covers the exposed sections of the running track.


title: London Stadium

text: Initially, the stadium design received a mixed response from the media, with reviews ranging from "magnificent" to the derisory "bowl of blancmange". The design was promoted as an example of "sustainable development", but some architecture critics have questioned both its aesthetic value and suitability as a national icon – especially when compared with Beijing National Stadium. For example, Ellis Woodman, "Building Design"s architecture critic, said of the design: "The principle of it being dismountable is most welcome... it demonstrates an obvious interest in establishing an economy of means and as such is the antithesis of the 2008 Olympic stadium in Beijing. But while that's an achievement, it's not an architectural achievement. In design terms what we're looking at is pretty underwhelming." He went on to criticise the procurement and design processes – stating of the latter that it should have been subject to an architectural competition. This view was echoed by Tom Dyckhoff, "The Times"'s architecture critic, who described the design as "tragically underwhelming" and commented that the "architecture of the 2008 and 2012 Olympics will, in years to come, be seen by historians as a "cunning indicator of the decline of the West and the rise of the East".


title: London Stadium

text: Despite the criticism, the Olympic Stadium was nominated for the 2012 Stirling Prize in architecture losing out to the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.


title: London Stadium

text: Amanda Baillieu writing in "Building Design" challenged the designer's claims that the stadium is environmentally sustainable and good value for money. Instead, it is asserted that the reality will be the opposite. In particular, she claimed that:


title: London Stadium

text: The cost was £537 million, as compared with the 1908 Olympic Stadium cost of £60,000 (£5.6 million in 2010).


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium site is on former industrial land between the River Lea (which rejoins the Navigation below Old Ford Lock), the City Mill River, and the Old Pudding Mill River, parts of the Bow Back Rivers. Another branch of this system, St Thomas' Creek, to the south, completes an "island" surrounded by water. to the east is the Waterworks River; with the London Aquatics Centre on its eastern bank. This "island" site for the stadium lies at the southern end of the Olympic Park. To make room for its construction, the already partially obstructed Pudding Mill River, a short channel of the Lea that ran from the west side of the stadium south-eastwards across the site, was filled in.


title: London Stadium

text: Dennis Hone, chief executive of the LLDC, revealed in November 2012 that the stadium would not meet its reopening deadline of 2014. Instead, it would reopen in August 2015 and retain a capacity of around 50,000 for athletic events. Following the granting, in March 2013, of a 99-year tenancy to West Ham United, the "E20 LLP", a joint organisation by the London Legacy Development Corporation and Newham Council were specifically set-up to oversee the redevelopment of the stadium into a UEFA Category 4 venue seating 66,000 spectators. The reconfiguration saw work on a new roof, corporate areas, toilets, concessions and retractable seating. West Ham contributed £15 million and Newham Council £40 million for the work to be carried out with the LLDC and the British Government making up the rest. Approval was granted for the installation of retractable seating on all sides of the stadium and an transparent roof.


title: London Stadium

text: Balfour Beatty were initially contracted to construct the new roof for £41 million; in January 2014 they were awarded a £154 million tender, which includes the earlier contract for the roof, to complete the stadium's transformation works. Imtech G&H were awarded a £25 million contract to carry out electrical and plumbing work. Paul Kelso, working for Sky News, discovered in September 2014 that the cost of the conversion of the stadium may rise by £15 million, due to additional work to strengthen the structure, to allow it to support the new roof. It was revealed neither West Ham United nor the taxpayer would have to meet the additional cost as Balfour Beatty would contribute with the remainder funded from the existing LLDC transformation budget of the Olympic Park. In October 2014, the LLDC contributed a further £35.9 million towards the project with the funding coming from reserves and income generated by other means.


title: London Stadium

text: Work commenced on 13 August 2013 with the removal of 25,000 seats and the grass from the field of play. The athletics track was covered with a layer of recycled concrete to protect it during the heavy lifting. In November 2013 work commenced to remove the fourteen floodlight panels as part of the £200 million conversion of the stadium. In March 2015 work began on installing the 14 new floodlights. Each floodlight panel is tall and weighs , and sits above the stadium's floor, suspended from the roof rather than sitting on top. As the floodlight work began, work on a steel halo structure that encircles the stadium, containing 96 turnstiles, catering and toilet facilities, concluded.


title: London Stadium

text: The black-and-white seating design from the Olympics was replaced with a white, blue and claret design. The new design includes West Ham's name on the East Kop Stand and symbolic crossed hammers on all lower-tier stands, and the retention of the 2012 shard design on the upper tier, albeit in new colouring to match the stadium's anchor tenant. Work continued through 2016 to transform the stadium into a home for West Ham, with the club's colours and giant model West Ham shirts added to the stadium concourse. A West Ham store and coffee shop was opened on 23 June. In February 2019, it was announced that the East Stand would be renamed in honour of Billy Bonds. In an attempt to make the London Stadium more like their home ground, in April 2019 a £250,000 claret-coloured pitch surround was announced and installed. In February 2020, West Ham announced planned alterations to the stadium introducing two new lower-tier stands moving supporters closer to the pitch, many by more than . In March 2020, West Ham opened a sensory room in the stadium for fans.


title: London Stadium

text: Following the demolition of the 2012 warm-up track and to comply with IAAF rules requiring one at Construction Category 1 facilities, a new six-lane community track (eight-lane on the straights) has been created immediately adjacent to the south of the stadium. Since 2017, the track is home to Newham and Essex Beagles Athletic Club and is open for around 250days of the year. The construction of the track was funded by a grant from the London Marathon Trust.


title: London Stadium

text: The Olympic Stadium hosted its first public event on 31 March 2012, serving as the finish line for the "National Lottery Olympic Park Run". Five thousand participants (including celebrities, British athletes and members of the public who won a lottery draw) took part in a run around Olympic Park. Participants entered the Olympic Stadium to the theme from "Chariots of Fire" to run the final on its track. The stadium hosted two warm-up events for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of the London Prepares series. The venue hosted the British Universities Athletics Championships and the London Disability Grand Prix in May 2012. On 5 May around 40,000 people attended an event entitled "2012 Hours to Go: An Evening of Athletics and Entertainment". The evening was hosted by Gabby Logan and Vernon Kay. The special guests joining Logan and Kay were Jon Culshaw, Melanie C, Hugh Bonneville, Chipmunk, and Jack Whitehall. Niamh Clarke-Willis, a nine-year-old, was chosen to open the stadium ceremonially. During the London Disability Grand Prix, Paul Blake (T36, 1500 metres), Hannah Cockroft (T34, 100 metres), Michael McKillop (T37, 1500 metres), and Richard Whitehead (T42, 200 metres) all set new world records. The stadium also hosted the athletics events of the UK School Games.


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium hosted both the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2012 Olympic Games. During the Athletics events of the Olympic Games, David Rudisha broke his own world record for the 800 metres to become the first man to run the distance in under 1 minute 41 seconds. In the 4 × 100 metres relay the team from Jamaica also broke their own world record from the 2011 World Championships by two-tenths of a second. The United States women's 4×100 metres team beat the previous best set by East Germany in 1985, recording a time of 40.82 seconds to set a new world record. Olympic records were set by Usain Bolt, who ran the second-fastest 100 metres, Renaud Lavillenie in the Pole vault by , Sally Pearson recorded a record time in the 100 metres hurdles and Tatyana Lysenko set a new mark in the Hammer.


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium also hosted both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Paralympic Games. Over the course of the Paralympic Games athletics events, world records were set on the track by; Oxana Boturchuk Martina Caironi, Chen Junfei, El Amin Chentouf, China, Libby Clegg, Arnu Fourie, Marie-Amelie le Fur, Terezinha Guilhermina, Mahmoud Khaldi, Samwel Mushai Kimani, Walid Ktila. Liang Yongbin, Rosemary Little, Liu Ping, Liu Wenjun, Gunther Matzinger, Michael McKillop, Mateusz Michalski, Yohansson Nascimento, Oscar Pistorius, David Prince, Evgenii Shvetcov, South Africa, Leo Pekka Tahti, Abraham Tarbei, Iurii Tsaruk, Richard Whitehead, Abderrahim Zhiou, Zhu Daqing, and Zhou Guohua. Multiple World Records on the track were set by Yunidis Castillo, Assia El Hannouni, Evan O'Hanlon, Jason Smyth, Fanie van der Merwe, and Marlou van Rhijn.


title: London Stadium

text: In the field events, world records were set by Hani Alnakhli, Alexey Ashapatov, Aigars Apinis Lahouari Bahlaz, Mohamed Berrahal, Kelly Cartwright, Yanlong Fu, Leonardo Diaz, Zeljko Dimitrijevic, Tanja Dragic, Najat El Garraa, Javad Hardani, Todd Hodgetts, Jun Wang, Maroua Ibrahmi, Juan Yao, Mohsen Kaedi, Mohammad Khalvandi, Gocha Khugaev, Karolina Kucharczyk, Assunta Legnante, Maciej Lepiato, Liu Fuliang, Drazenko Mitrovic, Azeddine Nouiri, Katarzyna Piekart, Mariia Pomazan, Nikita Prokhorov, Qing Wu, Markus Rehm, Raoua Tlili, Wang Yanzhang, Zhu Pengkai, and Oksana Zubkovska. Multiple records were set in the field by Dong Xia, Birgit Kober, Na Mi, Yang Liwan, and Wang Zhiming.


title: London Stadium

text: The decision on how to use the stadium after the Olympics went through two rounds of bidding: the first was rejected on 11 October 2011, after concerns had emerged about European Union competition law and particularly the risk of illegal state aid.


title: London Stadium

text: The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) set five criteria: that the new tenant should produce a viable long-term solution that provided value for money, secure a partner with the expertise to operate a legacy solution, reopen the stadium as quickly as possible, allow flexible usage, and make the stadium a distinctive physical symbol that supported regeneration. After receiving and pre-screening over 100 expressions of interest, the formal bidding process of selecting the post-Olympics user of the stadium opened on 18 August 2010. It ran until 30 September, after which the OPLC drew up a shortlist, to select a tenant by the end of the financial year (31 March 2011).


title: London Stadium

text: On 12 November 2010, it was announced that two bids had been shortlisted for the stadium post-Olympics. They were a joint bid from Tottenham Hotspur and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), and a second bid from West Ham United and Newham Council.


title: London Stadium

text: The legacy plan for the stadium had involved converting it into a 25,000- to 30,000-seat athletics stadium with a sports training, science and medicine centre after the 2012 Paralympics. Media reports, however, suggested that several potential tenants were interested in moving to the stadium after the games. Media speculation and expressions of interest that did not result in bids included: the England and Wales Cricket Board and Kent County Cricket Club; Middlesex County Cricket Club, Essex County Cricket Club: Wasps RFC; Saracens R.F.C.; London Skolars R.L.F.C.; Major League Baseball; the National Football League, which had been looking at the potential of a franchise in London; and Leyton Orient F.C.


title: London Stadium

text: These joint bidders had each separately expressed interest in the venue but submitted a joint bid. AEG is the company that redeveloped the loss-making Millennium Dome exhibition venue in Southeast London into the profitable music venue The O. On 26 July 2010, it was rumoured that Tottenham might be interested in taking over the stadium after the Games. The club had plans to build a new stadium adjacent to their then-current ground as part of the Northumberland Development Project (which eventually came to fruition in 2019), but the planning application and the funding for that development were proving difficult for the club, making the Olympic Stadium a viable option.


title: London Stadium

text: After the acquisition of West Ham United in 2010 by David Gold and David Sullivan, the new owners expressed their desire to make the stadium the club's new home. With Mayor Boris Johnson expressing his desire for a football club to take over it after the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, this seemed the most likely option. At the opening of the formal bid process, West Ham United were considered favourites once they withdrew their initial opposition to keeping the running track in place, as well as planning a £100 million conversion to create a 66,000 capacity venue, which would also host international football, international athletics, as well as Essex County Cricket Club, international Twenty20 cricket matches, NFL games, and Live Nation events.


title: London Stadium

text: On 11 February 2011, the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) unanimously selected West Ham United and Newham Council as the preferred bidders to take over the stadium after the 2012 Games. But Leyton Orient, a lower league team who are geographically the nearest professional football club to the London Stadium, complained that as it was so close to their own ground, West Ham's occupancy of it would breach F.A. rules and could even force them into bankruptcy. On 3 March 2011, West Ham United's proposed move to the stadium was approved by the British Government and London Mayor Boris Johnson.


title: London Stadium

text: Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and Leyton Orient F.C. applied for a judicial review to overturn the Olympic Park Legacy Company's (OPLC) decision; however, this appeal was rejected in June 2011. Tottenham Hotspur appealed the decision not to have a review on 29 June 2011. The OPLC announced on 5 July 2011 that an independent review into the awarding of the Olympic Park Stadium to West Ham United was to be carried out following the discovery on 30 June 2011 that an employee, Dionne Knight had been engaged by West Ham United to carry out consultancy work relating to the stadium without permission of the OPLC. Knight had already declared to the OPLC that she was in a personal relationship with a director of West Ham United, and was suspended whilst a possible conflict of interest was investigated. On 22 August 2011, the independent investigation ruled that the process was not compromised and thus the bid process will not be reopened. On 23 August, the day before Tottenham Hotspur were due in court, they staged "intense negotiations" with the office of the Mayor of London, and looked set to drop all claims for a review and be offered funding for their own stadium. However, the next day Tottenham did attend court despite being close to striking a deal. Tottenham and Leyton Orient won a review of the decision, being told that they had an arguable case. The review was scheduled to take place on 18 October 2011. Even if Tottenham abandoned the review, due to being granted a new stadium as part of their Northumberland Development Project, Orient were expected to continue, with its owner Barry Hearn calling the decision to grant a review "a great day for the little man". However, the bid was later cancelled before the review was completed, due to a series of concerns regarding EU laws.


title: London Stadium

text: Once the original deal collapsed a new process to select a tenant was begun. The athletics legacy clause was clarified to ensure that a track remained in the stadium. West Ham immediately announced plans to become tenants. On 17 October 2011, a day before they were due in court for the judicial review to start into the original bidding process, Tottenham Hotspur ended their legal challenge about the original decision to award the stadium to West Ham United. This marked Spurs' end to their interest in the stadium. On 18 October, Leyton Orient submitted an application to the English Football League for permission for a move to the stadium. Chairman Barry Hearn said, "We are asking for a 25,000-seater stadium and we want to see if we can get around the athletics track. It has to stay, we know that. But can we build up, if not down, and see if it's possible to get it covered while we play?".


title: London Stadium

text: In February 2012, 16 parties were interested in the stadium. In July 2012, four bidders were announced:


title: London Stadium

text: In April 2012, the Olympic Park Legacy Company was dismantled, and responsibilities transferred to the newly constituted London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC). Daniel Moylan, chairman of the LLDC, was removed by Mayor Boris Johnson on 12 September 2012, after having made changes to the leadership of the organisation that annoyed some Board members. Johnson took on the chairmanship of the corporation himself.


title: London Stadium

text: In December 2012, West Ham were named as the preferred bidder for the stadium with a separate operator co-ordinating community and sporting use, as well as concerts and events. Leyton Orient's bid was rejected due to its commercial viability and the bid from Intelligent Transport Services, in conjunction with Formula One, was rejected for having too much speculation and uncertainty in their business plan. However, with so much public money going into the stadium and its redevelopment, the BBC learned that David Gold and David Sullivan must share any profits they make if they sell the club. West Ham were given three months to improve the terms of their deal or lose the stadium; with Johnson going with plan B without football. The two parties seemed to find common ground in February 2013, with West Ham, reportedly, agreeing to pay £2.5 million in rent per year. They additionally promised to pay back any extra cost for the roof and seats within ten years. Gold stated at the beginning of March that a deal could be complete by the middle of the month. On 22 March 2013, West Ham United secured a 99-year lease deal, with the stadium planned to be used as their home ground from the 2016–17 season. In July 2013, UK Athletics received a 50-year deal for the use of the stadium. UK Athletics will have access every year from the last Friday in June until the end of July.


title: London Stadium

text: On 6 March, Barry Hearn of Leyton Orient stated that he would mount another legal challenge as he believed the rules set out by the LLDC had not been followed. Hearn also said he felt Leyton Orient's proposed ground share had been ignored and not properly explored. In April 2013, he was informed that his call for a judicial review had been rejected. An oral application was submitted in June 2013. On 19 September 2013, Leyton Orient lost their bid to win a judicial review into the decision to grant West Ham the tenancy of the Olympic Stadium. At the High Court, Mr Justice Lewis said the LLDC was entitled to make the decision which was not "irrational". In November 2013, it was the House of Lords' opinion that Leyton Orient should be allowed occasional use of the stadium, with Lord Harris telling Orient and West Ham to "stop squabbling like children." Dennis Hone stated that he was in talks with Barry Hearn over occasional usage, but that it would not mean a permanent groundshare. In early December, the LLDC said that there was nothing to stop Orient from negotiating a rental agreement with whichever firm ends up running the stadium. Orient, however, would not be able to negotiate a 99-year deal like West Ham and would only have usage of the stadium when the Hammers are not playing. On 1 July 2014, Leyton Orient brought an end to their dispute with the Premier League regarding the future use of the stadium, after a confidential agreement between the two parties was reached.


title: London Stadium

text: Supporters of various rival clubs pressed for an inquiry into the LLDC's granting of West Ham's tenancy, arguing that West Ham were being given an unfair advantage by the arrangement. However, in September 2015 the government rejected holding such an inquiry. In October 2015, the LLDC released a 207-page document with redacted sections. West Ham's annual rent was not revealed as this was seen to be commercially sensitive information. On 14 April 2016, it was revealed that West Ham will pay £2.5 million per year during a 99-year lease of the stadium but will not have to fund police, stewarding, heating, pitch maintenance, or corner flags. Barry Hearn described the deal as one his dog could have bettered.


title: London Stadium

text: In September 2018, Lyn Garner, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, revealed that the £2.5m paid per year by West Ham did not even cover the cost of staging matches leading to increased debts in running the stadium for the 97-year remainder of their tenancy agreement. The LLDC had established a commercial subsidiary, E20, as landlords for the Stadium. E20 through their appointment of a stadium operator provide for all matchday stewarding, catering, cleaning, fabric and maintenance services – albeit that they profited through the bulk of franchise fees from catering concessions and bars. E20 and West Ham became embroiled in a protracted legal dispute in the High Court as to which elements of service were included in the annual payments under the 99-year lease, and which elements might be expected to involve an additional regular facility fee (with particular reference to West Ham wishing to replace the covering to the athletics track with one in club colours). Due to the dispute, E20 refused to open discussions on allowing the usable capacity of the stadium to increase to its full potential of seats unless these disputes were resolved to their satisfaction. However, in November 2018, both parties agreed to an out-of-court settlement, under which the annual lease payment would be uplifted as the usable capacity increased towards 66,000.


title: London Stadium

text: In October 2014, "The Evening Standard" reported that French company Vinci SA were favourites to be given a contract to run the stadium for ten years. The company which already operates several other stadiums, including the Stade de France in Paris, had reportedly beaten off competition from other companies including Anschutz Entertainment Group who run The O. In February 2015, Vinci Stadium, a subsidiary of Vinci Concessions, were appointed to manage it starting in April 2015 for a 25-year period. The company are also be responsible for the London Marathon Charitable Trust Community Track and events on the south park lawn. This is the first stadium outside France to be managed by Vinci. Vinci set up a subsidiary company called London Stadium 185 (LS185), with the 185 signifying how many medals were won by British athletes at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. In January 2019, the London Legacy Development Corporation bought LS185 from Vinci and kept all the existing staff in place after concerns were raised in regards to costs at the venue, as it turned in a £3.5million loss the previous year.


title: London Stadium

text: Although West Ham United are the primary tenants, the stadium's operators arrange many other events to take place there.


title: London Stadium

text: On 24 January 2013, it was confirmed that the London Athletics Grand Prix, a Diamond League event, would be switched to the stadium. In February 2013, it was announced that it would also hold a Paralympic athletics event on 28 July. In April Sainsbury's were announced as sponsors and the event was renamed the "Anniversary Games". At the event, David Weir set a world record for the T54 mile.


title: London Stadium

text: The London Grand Prix was scheduled to move permanently to the stadium in 2016. However, due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup taking place in the stadium, using the original seating configuration, the opportunity came to move the Grand Prix to the stadium a year early, again under the name of the Anniversary Games. During the 2015 events national records were set by Dafne Schippers (100 m), Dina Asher-Smith (100 m), Shara Proctor (long jump), while Georgina Hermitage (400 m T37) and Sophie Hahn (100 m T38) set world records.


title: London Stadium

text: The Muller Anniversary Games, the fourth-anniversary event, took place in the stadium on 22–23 July 2016. The IPC Grand Prix events were incorporated alongside Diamond League events on the second day of the meet. At the event, Kendra Harrison broke the women's 100m hurdles world record, a time which has existed for 28 years.


title: London Stadium

text: The 2017 Muller Anniversary Games was shortened to a one-day event on Sunday 9 July 2017. Its move to an earlier time of the month was due to the 2017 World Athletics Championships


title: London Stadium

text: The 2018 edition returned to a two-day event on its typical weekend of 21–22 July. Tom Bosworth set a world record in the 3000 metres walk. Kare Adenegan and Sophie Hahn set world record times in the T34 100m and T38 200m events. While Sifan Hassan set a Diamond League record in the women's mile.


title: London Stadium

text: The 2020 event was scheduled to take place earlier on the 4–5 July. However, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: London Stadium

text: The 2021 event, scheduled to be reduced to a single day and take place on 13 July was not held at the stadium. No event was held in 2022 either due to the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 and the Commonwealth Games.


title: London Stadium

text: After a three-year hiatus, the event would return to the London Stadium as a single day event on 23 July 2023.


title: London Stadium

text: London had bid to host the 2015 World Athletics Championships using the Olympic Stadium. It went up against Beijing's Olympic Stadium and the Polish city of Chorzów. However, the stadium had to withdraw its bid due to uncertainties arising out of the timing of the announcement of who would operate it after the Olympics, thus gifting Beijing the championships. With issues resolved over its future, London again used the stadium to bid for the 2017 World Athletics Championships. The bid was made official in August with Lord Coe personally submitting the bid a few weeks later at the 2011 World Athletic Championships in Daegu which was supported by London's Mayor Boris Johnson and the British Government. On 11 November 2011, the IAAF officially awarded the 2017 World Championships to London. The World Para Athletics Championships (formerly the IPC Athletics World Championships) were planned to take place a month before the able-bodied event and were formally confirmed for the stadium in December 2012. The 2017 able-bodied athletics event was the final track championship for Mo Farah and Usain Bolt.


title: London Stadium

text: The World Para Athletics Championships were held between 14 and 23 July 2017, with 800,000 tickets available across 16 sessions. The IAAF World Championships followed between 4–13 August 2017 with 700,000 tickets available. 3,300 athletes from 200 countries competed for 690 medals across 245 events.


title: London Stadium

text: In February 2018, London Stadium was announced as the venue for the inaugural Athletics World Cup. The event was held on 14 and 15 July.


title: London Stadium

text: West Ham United play at this stadium, having moved from their former Boleyn Ground in August 2016. West Ham sold out the 50,000 season ticket allocation for the stadium by May 2016 for the 2016–17 season.


title: London Stadium

text: The opening game for West Ham was a Europa League match against NK Domžale on 4 August 2016, which West Ham won 3–0 with the stadium sold out, albeit with a reduced capacity of 54,000 as conversion works were still being finished. The official opening match was a friendly with Juventus on 7 August with a 2–3 defeat. West Ham's first Premier League match at the stadium was against AFC Bournemouth with an attendance of 56,977. Watford were the first Premier League side to beat West Ham at the London Stadium, overcoming a two-goal deficit to beat West Ham 4–2.


title: London Stadium

text: The 2021–22 National League play-off final between Grimsby Town and Solihull Moors to decide who wins promotion to the EFL took place at the London Stadium on 5 June 2022, with the ground standing in for Wembley Stadium the regular venue.


title: London Stadium

text: At the beginning of the 2016–17 season, West Ham's games were marred by instances of crowd trouble. In a match against Bournemouth on 21 August, some fans arrived with tickets for seats that did not exist. Fighting also occurred between rival supporters outside the stadium. On 26 August, during a Europa League game against FC Astra Giurgiu, fighting broke out in the stadium with a supporter being arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm. Against Watford, rival fans fought following poor crowd segregation. On 1 October 2016, against Middlesbrough three people were arrested as violent clashes occurred. On 22 October 2016, against Sunderland rival fans confronted each other as Sunderland fans returned to transport taking them home. By 25 October 2016, 23 banning orders had been issued to fans with nine arrests.


title: London Stadium

text: There was further crowd trouble on 26 October 2016 during West Ham's EFL Cup fourth-round game against London rivals, Chelsea. Seven people were arrested as police introduced a ban on the sale of alcohol. Plastic bottles, seats, and coins were thrown during West Ham's 2–1 victory. Hundreds of supporters clashed and riot police entered the concourse. West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady said any supporter identified as having taken part in the violence would receive a lifetime ban. MP Mark Field called for West Ham to play behind closed doors should any further violence occur. In October 2016, football stadium design expert, Paul Fletcher said the stadium should be demolished as he thinks the design means football fans are too far from the pitch. In December 2016, a cameraman working for Arsenal TV was punched in the face by a West Ham supporter towards the end of West Ham's 1–5 defeat by Arsenal.


title: London Stadium

text: In March 2018, there were protests against West Ham United owner, David Sullivan at the stadium during a 3–0 home defeat to Burnley. There were four pitch invasions and Sullivan was escorted from his seat before the end of the match. Sullivan was also hit on the head by a coin thrown by one of the supporters. Karren Brady called the events "one of the most painful days" in the club's history. Following the crowd trouble, West Ham banned five supporters for life for invading the pitch. Several people who had thrown coins and other objects were also given lifetime bans. Calling the scenes at the stadium a "disgrace", London mayor, Sadiq Khan said that the crowd trouble had been organised and co-ordinated. An investigation had revealed that over a dozen fights had broken out in the ground between West Ham supporters and that 26 people had attempted to invade the pitch with twenty-two being stopped by stewards. There were 150 separate incidents, including 50 public order offences and 40 assaults. CCTV footage shows a co-ordinated move by a known group of individuals towards the directors' box. Measures including increased security presence and preventing fans from approaching the area holding members of the West Ham board were announced in late March. At a cost of £60,000 funded by the UK taxpayer, the provisions were planned for the next game, against Southampton.


title: London Stadium

text: In June 2018, West Ham were charged by the FA with offences relating to crowd disturbances at the game against Burnley in March. In January 2019, West Ham were fined £100,000 for the disturbances. The Football Association investigation of the incidents was heavily critical of the stadium operators, London Stadium 185 (LS185), and found that they had left sections which were damaging to the company out of their report. As LS185 were in control of the stadium's operations and were blamed for their actions in the disturbances (including cutting the number of stewards, poor training and unsatisfactory response to pitch invasions), West Ham sought to split the fine with the company. On 31 October 2018, during West Ham's EFL Cup game against Tottenham Hotspur, further pitch invasions took place with one invader wearing a Scream mask.


title: London Stadium

text: In May 2014 it was announced that Essex County Cricket Club had agreed to a deal "in principle" to play their Twenty20 cricket matches at the stadium. The venue was also touted as a possible venue for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. However, the venue was not included in the final fixtures list. It was not chosen due to the existing facilities running east to west which would have made the game difficult to watch, due to the setting sun, as at most cricket venues the pitch necessarily runs north to south. After investigation, it was discovered that capacity would decrease by 30,000 if they turned the facilities to a north–south alignment. The International Cricket Council additionally had concerns over potential serious injuries to players caused by the raised sand-based outfield.


title: London Stadium

text: On 8 May 2018, Major League Baseball announced a two-year deal to host a series of baseball games at the London Stadium in 2019 and 2020. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees (a major rivalry in the American League) played a two-game series at the stadium from 29 to 30 June 2019, branded as the 2019 MLB London Series. In its baseball configuration, it had a capacity of 66,000; plans were prepared to adjust the seating to emulate the "intimate" experience and amenities of American baseball stadiums, as well as constructing larger locker rooms akin to the clubhouses of U.S. parks. A new playing surface was overlaid on top of the stadium's existing grass.


title: London Stadium

text: Prior to the 2019 games, it was announced that the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals would play games at London Stadium in 2020; however, this series was ultimately cancelled as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The series also did not take place for the following two years but would return in 2023 with the Cardinals hosting the Cubs.


title: London Stadium

text: In November 2015 the stadium hosted the 2015 Race of Champions event. It was the first occasion since 2008 that Great Britain hosted the event, with Wembley Stadium last staging the contest in 2008. The English team of Andy Priaulx and Jason Plato won the nations cup whilst Sebastian Vettel took the Champion of Champions crown.


title: London Stadium

text: The first rugby league match at the stadium was played between England and New Zealand on 7 November 2015, it was the second test of a three-test series between the sides. The venue also hosted the match between England and Australia as part of the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations. In June 2016, it was announced that the Stadium will form part of England's bid to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.


title: London Stadium

text: In July 2012 the Olympic Park Legacy Company submitted a bid to England Rugby 2015 to host some matches of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. On 2 May 2013, it was officially announced that the Olympic Stadium was due to host four Pool matches during the World Cup and the Bronze final. The first rugby union match at the stadium took place on 29 August 2015 as part of a testing programme ahead of the World Cup. The match featured the first-ever game between the invitational Barbarians side and Samoa. The Barbarians won 27–24, with Samoa having Kane Thompson sent off for punching. The game was delayed when pitch sprinklers came on during the first half.


title: London Stadium

text: At fixture launch on 7 July 2017, it was announced that Saracens would host their annual "Derby Day" clash against Harlequins at the London Stadium on 24 March 2018. This was the first time since 2010 that this fixture did not take place at Wembley. The match ended in a 24–11 win for Saracens in front of a crowd of 55,329 and was the first-ever Premiership Rugby match at the stadium. The match was repeated in 2019 which ended as a 27–20 win for Saracens in front of a crowd of 42,717.


title: London Stadium

text: Since opening in 2016 the stadium has hosted a number of concerts, with Australian rock band AC/DC playing the first concert on the venue after the Olympic Games.


title: London Stadium

text: The stadium is located in the south of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Stratford and Stratford International railway stations are the main stations nearest to the Olympic Park and are roughly a 20-minute walk to the stadium. Stratford International is served by Southeastern trains on High Speed 1 offering four trains per hour to St Pancras International, as well as other services to Kent, while Stratford station has London Overground services to North, West and South London, and is on the Great Eastern Main Line to London Liverpool Street and East Anglia. Stratford is on London Underground's Jubilee and Central lines to Central London and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). The DLR offers a direct service to London City Airport. In addition, Hackney Wick (London Overground) and Pudding Mill Lane (DLR) serve the stadium but may be closed during larger events due to capacity limitations. From 2022 Stratford will also be served by Crossrail.


title: London Stadium

text: Travellers by car are advised to use the public car parks at Westfield Stratford City, Stratford International station, and the Stratford Centre. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park also has several docking stations for the London Cycle Hire scheme.


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: Rachel Michele Nichols ( Alexander; born October 18, 1973) is an American journalist and sportscaster. She has covered the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), professional tennis, college sports, the Olympics and is most notable for her work with the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 2014, "Sports Illustrated" called Nichols "the country's most impactful and prominent female sports journalist".


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: Rachel Michele Alexander was born to Jane and Ronald Jacobs. Growing up in Potomac, Maryland, she became a fan of sports during her youth, saying it felt like watching a live storybook movie with heroes and villains, and an ending not yet written. Nichols wrote for and edited the school newspaper at Winston Churchill High School, graduating in 1991.


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: While attending the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, she had summer internships at "USA Today", "Chicago Sun-Times" and "The Washington Post". Michael Wilbon, a lead sports columnist of "The Washington Post" at the time, met Nichols when she was an 18-year-old intern and said "she had supreme confidence." One of Nichols' earliest assignments was to attend Chicago Bulls practices as a freelance newspaper reporter amid the team's first three-peat. After a few media sessions where she took notes and did not ask questions, Michael Jordan called her out to speak. The two began to talk on a regular basis after the exchange and Nichols credited the experience in growing her skills as a journalist. At age 21, she received a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University.


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: Nichols' first job was as a sportswriter for the "Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel" covering the University of Miami football team and Miami Dolphins. In 1996, Nichols joined "The Washington Post" to cover the NHL's Washington Capitals. She later branched out into other sports including professional tennis, the Olympics, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. Nichols covered Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi as well as Venus and Serena Williams early in their careers.


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: She transitioned to broadcasting in 2004 when ESPN hired her as a reporter. Nichols made regular appearances on "SportsCenter", "Sunday NFL Countdown", "Monday Night Countdown" and was a recurring sideline reporter for "Monday Night Football" and NBA broadcasts. She was also a correspondent for "" and became a recognizable face at the network due to her rapport with prominent sports figures, with "Esquire" naming Nichols one of the "Women We Love".


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: In January 2013, Nichols left ESPN for CNN/Turner Sports and was announced to anchor the network's first sports-related program in twelve years. She was called a "revered player in the space" and considered a 'big get' for CNN. "Unguarded with Rachel Nichols" premiered in October of that year and changed from a regular series to an occasional special by October 2014. During this period, Nichols also worked the sidelines for the NBA on TNT program in both regular season and playoff games as well as regular appearances on "Inside the NBA". She was a sideline reporter for CBS and TBS during the NCAA men's basketball tournament, paired with Verne Lundquist and Bill Rafferty, and was a dugout reporter for TBS during MLB playoff games. Nichols was widely praised for her tough questioning of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in the wake of the Ray Rice scandal and likewise for confronting boxer Floyd Mayweather on his history of domestic violence. "The Hollywood Reporter" recognized her as one of the "10 Most Powerful Voices in Sports Media".


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: In 2016, Nichols was recruited back to ESPN by then-president John Skipper. She pitched "a conversation about basketball" as a daily program where former players, reporters and associates of the NBA community discuss the league. Tracy McGrady joined "The Jump" when it debuted in February 2016. A sit-down interview with Nichols became a benchmark for active players, and "Sports Illustrated" called "The Jump" "TV's smartest basketball show". She also became a recurring guest-host on the podcast "Pardon My Take" (2016–present), as well as on the TV show "Pardon the Interruption". During the following years, Nichols interviewed Meek Mill and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin on criminal justice reform, Mark Cuban after an NBA investigation into workplace harassment within the Dallas Mavericks organization and Kobe Bryant in one of his final interviews. She was nominated for "Outstanding Sports Personality/Studio Host" in the 2021 Sports Emmy Awards.


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: Plans to have "The Jump" serve as the Finals pregame show were scrapped amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when "NBA Countdown" with host Maria Taylor was made the Finals' pregame and halftime show. During the 2020 NBA Bubble, an employee at ESPN's Connecticut headquarters used a cell phone to record Nichols in her hotel room without her knowledge. The recording included a phone call with LeBron James' advisor Adam Mendelsohn, which was reportedly 30 minutes long, taken from a continuous video feed connected to ESPN's servers. The employee texted the recording to ESPN employees and executives, as well as "Deadspin". "Deadspin" declined to publish the video, citing that it was an attempt to discredit Nichols and the employee may have committed a crime. An ESPN spokesperson acknowledged the issue in a comment to "Deadspin", "We are extremely disappointed about the leak of a private conversation. It's indefensible and an intrusion on Rachel's privacy." Nichols was the sideline reporter for the 2020 NBA Finals and hosted its championship trophy presentation.


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: One year later, four minutes of edited footage from the phone call leaked to "The New York Times" before the 2021 NBA Finals amid ESPN's contract negotiations with Taylor. The footage included Nichols noting that being NBA Countdown host for the 2020 Finals "is in my contract in writing" and had been announced via press release by ESPN. She also alleged that internal pressure from a "New York Times" investigation into racism at ESPN and the network's "crappy record on diversity" led to executives asking her to step aside for Taylor. In response to the article, ESPN removed Nichols from sideline reporting for the 2021 Finals and skipped airing "The Jump" for a day before she returned and issued an on-air apology to Taylor. NBA players including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Vince Carter and Chris Paul appeared on "The Jump" over the following days. NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked to weigh in on the ESPN controversy at the annual Finals press conference, pointedly remarking how "particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other...I would have thought that in the past year, ESPN would have found a way to be able to work through it."


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: Nearly seven weeks after the NBA Finals, ESPN canceled "The Jump" and removed Nichols from its programming. At the time, she had over a year remaining on her contract. As Connecticut and Florida are two-party consent states for lawful recording of phone calls and conversations, Nichols was reported to have a strong legal case against ESPN. In January 2022, Nichols settled with ESPN and left the network.


title: Rachel Nichols (journalist)

text: Nichols married film and music video director Max Nichols, son of film and stage director Mike Nichols, in a Jewish ceremony in Venice in 2001. Her stepmother-in-law, the stepmother of Max Nichols and the last wife of Mike Nichols before his death, is Diane Sawyer. Nichols and her husband have twin daughters. She also has one older brother and one younger brother.


title: Andrea Anders

text: Andrea Anders (born May 10, 1975) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on television, notably through her main roles on five anticipated but short-lived sitcoms, "Joey", "The Class", "Better Off Ted", "Mr. Sunshine" and "Mr. Mom", as well as recurring and guest roles on numerous TV series including "Cruel Summer", "Oz", "Young Sheldon", "Modern Family" and "Necessary Roughness", and getting cast in nearly ten produced but unsold pilots.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In addition, she regularly appears as supporting characters in films directed or produced by her older brother Sean Anders, namely "Never Been Thawed", "Sex Drive", "Daddy's Home 2", "Instant Family", "Countdown" and "Spirited", and has also had roles in a handful of other films such as "The Stepford Wives", "Return to Zero", "Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?" and "Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase".


title: Andrea Anders

text: Andrea Anders was born in Madison, Wisconsin on May 10, 1975, the third child of Terrance and Sally Anders. She was raised in DeForest, Wisconsin with her sister Torri and her brother Sean, where she attended the DeForest Area High School, graduating in 1993. She went on to study acting at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, receiving her bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1997. She then moved to New Jersey to study at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, earning a Master of Fine Arts in 2001. In addition, she trained in the Meisner technique under Maggie Flanigan and credits the teacher with her continued work as an actress.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In 2001, Anders began her career in theatre. She was an understudy for Mary-Louise Parker in the Broadway production of "Proof" and later played the part of Elaine Robinson in "The Graduate". She also appeared in "On the Jump" at the Arena Stage, "New Doors" at the Guthrie Theater, "" and two New York Stage & Film productions: "Cold/Tender" and "New World Rhapsody".


title: Andrea Anders

text: In May 2007, Anders started in the Geffen Playhouse performance of "Fat Pig". She played the part of Jeannie, an accountant. "Fat Pig" closed on July 1, 2007.


title: Andrea Anders

text: One of Anders' first appearances on television was a commercial for Danone that ran in the 1990s and then again around 2006.


title: Andrea Anders

text: Her first acting credits came between 1998 and 2001 when she appeared on the soap operas "One Life to Live" and "Guiding Light", respectively as Elaine, one of Starr Manning's nannies, and Ellie, an assistant to Olivia Spencer.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In 2001, she appeared on an episode of "Law & Order"'s twelfth season, "The Fire This Time", as teenager Emily Hoyt. A couple of years later she played the recurring role of Donna Degenhart for five episodes in the last season of the HBO drama series "Oz". That same year, Anders was cast opposite Richard Ruccolo as the female lead in "Spellbound", a proposed romantic comedy TV series created by Rob Greenberg & Suzanne Martin centered on a male witch who falls in love with a mortal woman. The pilot was passed on by NBC however and was redeveloped unsuccessfully for Fox in 2004 with Maggie Lawson taking over the role.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In 2004, Anders made her big screen debut with a minor role in "The Stepford Wives", appearing in an early scene with one line of dialogue as Heather, a secretary to Nicole Kidman's main character. That same year, she was cast as Emma Leeds, the female lead in "News To Me", a potential workplace sitcom created by Joel Stein & Marsh McCall inspired by Stein's experiences as the youngest-ever columnist at "Time" magazine, with Colin Hanks starring as Stein. Despite being at one point considered a strong contender for ABC, the pilot, directed by Pamela Fryman, was not picked up by the network. Also in 2004, Anders was a guest star on the eighteenth episode of the supernatural drama "Tru Calling".


title: Andrea Anders

text: In July 2004, after "News To Me" failed to make it to series, Andrea Anders was cast in what would be her breakthrough role, Joey Tribbiani's neighbor, landlady, friend and eventual love interest Alex Garrett on "Joey" the highly anticipated spin-off/sequel to "Friends", replacing Ashley Scott, who was let go in June after her version of the character, then named Allison, was disliked by test audiences. While the series was not well received by critics, it debuted to high viewership, which declined over the course of its run, leading NBC to cancel it in May 2006, during its second season. Anders appears in all 46 episodes of the show.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In between seasons of "Joey", Anders appeared as a "Christian Band Slut" in her older brother Sean's directorial debut film "Never Been Thawed", marking the first of many collaborations between the pair.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In February 2006, prior to "Joey"'s cancellation, Anders was cast on the ensemble sitcom "The Class" as Nicole Allen (née Campbell), the unfulfilled wife of a former pro-football player, played by David Keith, who reconnects with her high school boyfriend Duncan, played by Jon Bernthal, after a reunion party. As with "Joey", "The Class" was very highly anticipated due to being the next project from "Friends" co-creator David Crane, sparking a bidding war between networks CBS, Fox and NBC. Despite this, steady ratings and winning the Favorite New TV Comedy Award at the 33rd People's Choice Awards, CBS did not renew the show for a second season. Anders again appears in all the episodes, 19 this time around.


title: Andrea Anders

text: Following "The Class"' cancelation, Andrea Anders guest starred on a fourth season episode of the crime drama "Numb3rs" and had another small role in one of her brother's films, "Sex Drive".


title: Andrea Anders

text: In May 2008, Anders was the first person cast in the single-camera satirical workplace comedy "Better Off Ted", after creator Victor Fresco was impressed with her work on "The Class". She played Linda Zwordling, the love interest for main character Ted Crisp, played by Jay Harrington, and a co-worker of his at an evil megacorporation. The series eventually premiered the following March to the lowest ratings for a comedy debut seen by network ABC in years. Despite consistently low viewership, critical acclaim kept the show going and even renewed for a second season, but ABC eventually canceled it in May 2010, leaving 2 of the 26 episodes unaired. The show enjoyed a mini-reunion in 2011 through the music video for "Revenge of the Nerds", a rap song recorded by co-star Malcolm Barrett under the stage name "Verbal", which features all the main actors from the series in cameos either as their characters or, in the case of Anders, new characters.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In April 2009, shortly after "Better Off Ted" premiered, Anders joined the cast of "The Big D", a domestic comedy sitcom project created by Jackie and Jeff Filgo and centered on Jane and Will Dupree, a New York City based couple played by Anders and Ben Koldyke who moves to Dallas, where the husband is from, and where the wife consistently clashes with her southern belle mother-in-law Donna, played by Deanna Dunagan. Despite her character being central to the premise, Anders was billed as a guest star in case she'd have to work on "The Big D" and "Better Off Ted" at the same time, with the latter having precedence. This ended up not being a problem as CBS passed on the pilot, directed by Andy Ackerman.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In February 2010, Andrea Anders was cast in "Mr. Sunshine", another highly anticipated sitcom that sparked a bidding war, as the return to comedy television for "Friends" star Matthew Perry, who also co-created the series with Marc Firek and Alex Barnow. The single-camera series follows Perry's character Ben Donovan, the self-involved operations manager of a second-tier arena in San Diego, with Anders playing Alice, the arena's marketing director and Ben's tomboyish friend with benefits who's looking for more commitment. It premiered as a midseason replacement the following February but was canceled by ABC just three months later due to low ratings.


title: Andrea Anders

text: Right after "Mr. Sunshine"'s cancellation, Anders was cast for a story arc in the USA Network's forthcoming drama "Necessary Roughness" as a PR executive and former girlfriend of Marc Blucas' character, appearing in four episodes of the show's first season.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In the years following "Mr. Sunshine", Andrea Anders starred as a lead in a string of sitcom pilots, none of which were picked up to series. First was "Ladyfriends" in 2012, created by Kari Lizer for NBC and centered on two best friends leading very different lives, portrayed by Anders and Minnie Driver. Then, the next year came "Divorce: A Love Story", an adaptation of the long-running Israeli sitcom "Ha-Chaim Ze Lo Hacol" developed by Mike Sikowitz & Daniel Lappin for ABC, about a happily divorced couple played by Anders and Jason Jones trying not to get back together. In 2014, she was cast as Stacey, an anchorwoman and co-worker of main character Nick, played by Geoff Stults, in "Cuz-Bros", created by David Caspe & Erik Sommers for CBS.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In 2015, Anders starred in two pilots. First was "How We Live", a semi-autobiographical comedy from Brian Bradley & Steven Cragg for NBC, where she played stay-at-home mom Natalie, the best friend of the female lead, played by Briga Heelan, who's moved from Manhattan to the New Jersey suburbs with her blogger husband. Then came "The Half of It", created by Mike Gibbons for CBS, where Anders portrayed the ex-wife of the main character, played by Jon Dore. Despite this, both were once again passed on. The following year, she once again tried her luck and was cast as the lead in "Crunch Time", an ambitious project created by Betsy Thomas & Phil Gurin for NBC. The potential series was conceived as a hybrid between a game show with real contestants, hosted by Craig Ferguson in character as the fictional host Toby and a workplace sitcom set around the fictional behind-the-scenes production of the game show, with Anders playing the game show's creator and producer as she deals with Toby and the other demands of her job.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In the midst of all these failed series attempts, Andrea Anders had roles in a number of other projects. In late 2012, she filmed a supporting part in the independent fact-based drama "Return to Zero", which ended up premiering on the Lifetime Network in 2014. Around the same time, she had recurring roles in the comedy series "About a Boy" and the sixth season of "Modern Family", appearing in the latter as the obnoxious new neighbor of the Dunphy family. In 2016, she was the main character in the poorly reviewed independent comedy film "Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?", where her character Jenna starts a movement in her small Texan town to have women withhold sex from their male partners until they dispose of their guns. That same year, she also did a guest spot on the first season of "Speechless", a sitcom led by her "Ladyfriends" co-star Minnie Driver.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In 2019, she appeared as lead actresses Sophia Lillis' aunt and Elizabeth Lail's mother respectively in the films "Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase" and "Countdown" (the latter produced by her brother Sean), as well as getting her fifth starring role in a short-lived comedy series with "Mr. Mom", the first original series for the streaming service Vudu and a continuation of the 1983 film of the same name.


title: Andrea Anders

text: Andrea Anders met actor Matt LeBlanc in 2004 while co-starring as his friend and eventual love interest on "Joey" and the pair eventually embarked on a relationship which was confirmed in 2006 following LeBlanc's split from his wife Melissa McKnight. After over eight years as a couple, LeBlanc announced at the start of 2015 that he and Anders had been broken up for several months.


title: Andrea Anders

text: In late 2016, Anders revealed she was pregnant, talking about the experience at length during a stand-up comedy set on 15 December 2016. She has however never publicly discussed the child's birth, gender, name or father, stating only that the pregnancy was unplanned.


title: Andrea Anders

text: On September 15, 2016, Andrea and her older brother Sean Anders were inducted into their high school's hall of fame, at the DeForest Area High School's Performing Arts Center,


title: Paul Krugman

text: Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for "The New York Times". In 2008, Krugman was the winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography. The Prize Committee cited Krugman's work explaining the patterns of international trade and the geographic distribution of economic activity, by examining the effects of economies of scale and of consumer preferences for diverse goods and services.


title: Paul Krugman

text: Krugman was previously a professor of economics at MIT, and later at Princeton University. He retired from Princeton in June 2015, and holds the title of professor emeritus there. He also holds the title of Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Krugman was President of the Eastern Economic Association in 2010, and is among the most influential economists in the world. He is known in academia for his work on international economics (including trade theory and international finance), economic geography, liquidity traps, and currency crises.


title: Paul Krugman

text: Krugman is the author or editor of 27 books, including scholarly works, textbooks, and books for a more general audience, and has published over 200 scholarly articles in professional journals and edited volumes. He has also written several hundred columns on economic and political issues for "The New York Times", "Fortune" and "Slate". A 2011 survey of economics professors named him their favorite living economist under the age of 60. According to the Open Syllabus Project, Krugman is the second most frequently cited author on college syllabi for economics courses. As a commentator, Krugman has written on a wide range of economic issues including income distribution, taxation, macroeconomics, and international economics. Krugman considers himself a modern liberal, referring to his books, his blog on "The New York Times", and his 2007 book "The Conscience of a Liberal". His popular commentary has attracted widespread attention and comments, both positive and negative.


title: Paul Krugman

text: Krugman was born to a Russian Jewish family, the son of Anita and David Krugman. In 1914, his maternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from Ukraine, while in 1920, his paternal grandparents arrived from Belarus. He was born in Albany, New York, spent several years of his childhood in the Upstate city of Utica, before growing up from age eight in Merrick, a hamlet in Nassau County. He graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore. According to Krugman, his interest in economics began with Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" novels, in which the social scientists of the future use a new science of "psychohistory" to try to save civilization. Since present-day science fell far short of "psychohistory", Krugman turned to economics as the next best thing.


title: Paul Krugman

text: In 1974, Krugman earned his BA" summa cum laude" in economics from Yale University, where he was a National Merit Scholar. He then went on to pursue a PhD in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1977, he successfully completed his PhD in three years, with a thesis titled "Essays on flexible exchange rates." While at MIT, he was part of a small group of MIT students sent to work for the Central Bank of Portugal for three months in the summer of 1976, during the chaotic aftermath of the Carnation Revolution.


title: Paul Krugman

text: Krugman later praised his PhD thesis advisor, Rudi Dornbusch, as "one of the great economics teachers of all time" and said that he "had the knack of inspiring students to pick up his enthusiasm and technique, but find their own paths". In 1978, Krugman presented a number of ideas to Dornbusch, who flagged as interesting the idea of a monopolistically competitive trade model. Encouraged, Krugman worked on it and later wrote, "[I] knew within a few hours that I had the key to my whole career in hand". In that same year, Krugman wrote "The Theory of Interstellar Trade", a tongue-in-cheek essay on computing interest rates on goods in transit near the speed of light. He says he wrote it to cheer himself up when he was "an oppressed assistant professor".


title: Paul Krugman

text: Krugman became an assistant professor at Yale University in September 1977. He joined the faculty at MIT in 1979. From 1982 to 1983, Krugman spent a year working at the Reagan White House as a staff member of the Council of Economic Advisers. He rejoined MIT as a full professor in 1984. Krugman has also taught at Stanford, Yale, and the London School of Economics.


title: Paul Krugman

text: In 2000, Krugman joined Princeton University as Professor of Economics and International Affairs. He is also currently Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and a member of the Group of Thirty international economic body. He has been a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research since 1979. Krugman was President of the Eastern Economic Association in 2010. In February 2014, he announced that he would be retiring from Princeton in June 2015 and that he would be joining the faculty at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.


title: Paul Krugman

text: Paul Krugman has written extensively on international economics, including international trade, economic geography, and international finance. The Research Papers in Economics project ranks him among the world's most influential economists. Krugman's "International Economics: Theory and Policy", co-authored with Maurice Obstfeld, is a standard undergraduate textbook on international economics. He is also co-author, with Robin Wells, of an undergraduate economics text which he says was strongly inspired by the first edition of Paul Samuelson's classic textbook. Krugman also writes on economic topics for the general public, sometimes on international economic topics but also on income distribution and public policy.


title: Paul Krugman

text: The Nobel Prize Committee stated that Krugman's main contribution is his analysis of the effects of economies of scale, combined with the assumption that consumers appreciate diversity, on international trade and on the location of economic activity. The importance of spatial issues in economics has been enhanced by Krugman's ability to popularize this complicated theory with the help of easy-to-read books and state-of-the-art syntheses. "Krugman was beyond doubt the key player in 'placing geographical analysis squarely in the economic mainstream' ... and in conferring it the central role it now assumes."


title: Paul Krugman

text: Prior to Krugman's work, trade theory (see David Ricardo and Heckscher–Ohlin model) emphasized trade based on the comparative advantage of countries with very different characteristics, such as a country with a high agricultural productivity trading agricultural products for industrial products from a country with a high industrial productivity. However, in the 20th century, an ever-larger share of trade occurred between countries with similar characteristics, which is difficult to explain by comparative advantage. Krugman's explanation of trade between similar countries was proposed in a 1979 paper in the "Journal of International Economics", and involves two key assumptions: that consumers prefer a diverse choice of brands, and that production favors economies of scale. Consumers' preference for diversity explains the survival of different versions of cars like Volvo and BMW. However, because of economies of scale, it is not profitable to spread the production of Volvos all over the world; instead, it is concentrated in a few factories and therefore in a few countries (or maybe just one). This logic explains how each country may specialize in producing a few brands of any given type of product, instead of specializing in different types of products.


title: Paul Krugman

text: Krugman modeled a 'preference for diversity' by assuming a CES utility function like that in a 1977 paper by Avinash Dixit and Joseph Stiglitz. Many models of international trade now follow Krugman's lead, incorporating economies of scale in production and a preference for diversity in consumption. This way of modeling trade has come to be called New Trade Theory.


title: Paul Krugman

text: Krugman's theory also took into account transportation costs, a key feature in producing the "home market effect", which would later feature in his work on the new economic geography. The home market effect "states that, ceteris paribus, the country with the larger demand for a good shall, at equilibrium, produce a more than proportionate share of that good and be a net exporter of it". The home market effect was an unexpected result, and Krugman initially questioned it, but ultimately concluded that the mathematics of the model were correct.


title: Paul Krugman

text: When there are economies of scale in production, it is possible that countries may become 'locked into' disadvantageous patterns of trade. Krugman points out that although globalization has been positive on a whole, since the 1980s the process known as hyper-globalization has at least played a part in rising inequality. Nonetheless, trade remains beneficial in general, even between similar countries, because it permits firms to save on costs by producing at a larger, more efficient scale, and because it increases the range of brands available and sharpens the competition between firms. Krugman has usually been supportive of free trade and globalization. He has also been critical of industrial policy, which New Trade Theory suggests might offer nations rent-seeking advantages if "strategic industries" can be identified, saying it's not clear that such identification can be done accurately enough to matter.


title: Paul Krugman

text: It took an interval of eleven years, but ultimately Krugman's work on New Trade Theory (NTT) converged to what is usually called the "new economic geography" (NEG), which Krugman began to develop in a seminal 1991 paper, "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography", published in the "Journal of Political Economy". In Krugman's own words, the passage from NTT to NEG was "obvious in retrospect; but it certainly took me a while to see it. ... The only good news was that nobody else picked up that $100 bill lying on the sidewalk in the interim." This would become Krugman's most-cited academic paper: by early 2009, it had 857 citations, more than double his second-ranked paper. Krugman called the paper "the love of my life in academic work".


title: Paul Krugman

text: The "home market effect" that Krugman discovered in NTT also features in NEG, which interprets agglomeration "as the outcome of the interaction of increasing returns, trade costs and factor price differences". If trade is largely shaped by economies of scale, as Krugman's trade theory argues, then those economic regions with most production will be more profitable and will therefore attract even more production. That is, NTT implies that instead of spreading out evenly around the world, production will tend to concentrate in a few countries, regions, or cities, which will become densely populated but will also have higher levels of income.