Crystal Palace National Sports Centre

Situated in 200 acres of beautiful parkland in south-east London, just 10 miles from the city centre, the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre plays host to international athletics and swimming events. The Crystal Palace Athletics Stadium has a capacity of 15,500, which can be increased to 24,000 with temporary seating, and since 1999 has hosted the London Grand Prix annual athletics meet. The sports centre attached to the stadium also offers specialist facilities to London's Olympians-in-training, as well as indoor sports including a 50m swimming pool, squash, basketball, korfball, 5-A Side and 11-A Side, volleyball, trampolining, karate, climbing, aerobics, weight training, netball, hockey, badminton and gymnastics. With the opening of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, the future of the Crystal Palace Athletics Stadium is up in the air. Responsibility for the Sports Centre has been transferred to the London Development Agency as part of the Olympic bid. One of the proposed plans is for Crystal Palace FC to rebuilt the stadium as a 25,000-seater football-only stadium without a running track. An earlier plan was for north London football club Tottenham Hotspur to redevelop the existing athletics stadium as part of their pledge in taking over the Olympic Stadium in Stratford - but with West Ham United winning the bid, this now looks unlikely.