A sign of things to come

To celebrate GSK’s scientific contribution to the London 2012 Games, British Olympic Gold medallist Rebecca Romero has unveiled the biggest 2012 logo on the side of GSK’s headquarters in London.

The sign celebrates GSK’s role in helping organisers ensure the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the cleanest Games possible. As Official Laboratory Services Provider for London 2012, GSK has formed a partnership with King’s College London to operate a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory during the London 2012 Games. Over the course of the Games the laboratory will oversee 6,250 drug tests – the most ever at an Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The sign, which is 41m wide, is on GSK’s building next to the M4 and A4 in Brentford, and will welcome millions of people to London as they travel into the capital from Heathrow and the West of England.

It measures the breadth of five London Routemaster buses and will be visible from miles around. More than 78,000 people will see the sign every day from their cars as they drive in and out of London – that’s more than 0.5 million a week, two million a month and up to 26 million in the year leading up to the Games.

GSK Chief Executive, Andrew Witty, said: ‘We are immensely proud to be a partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and want to celebrate the role we will play in bringing science to the Games. The sign is the perfect way of doing this as millions of people will see it in the lead up to the Games and during Games time itself. As the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company, we will bring our expertise to running a world class laboratory that will carry out more anti-doping tests than ever before at an Olympics, making London 2012 the cleanest possible Games.’

Team GB cyclist, Rebecca Romero, said: ‘It is a pleasure to unveil a sign that celebrates the contribution that science will make to London 2012 through ensuring it is the cleanest Games possible. Going through anti-doping tests is all part of being an athlete and knowing the measures that are in place to ensure that the London 2012 Games are competed in fairly gives me great peace of mind as I prepare.’

Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said: ‘Science will play a crucial part in the London 2012 Games, from the training and nutrition programmes which keep the athletes at peak performance to the anti-doping tests which will help to make the Games as clean as possible. It is great to have GlaxoSmithKline on board to deliver the anti-doping test laboratory and the sign launched today is a celebration of their commitment to help make London 2012 the cleanest Games possible.’

Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson MP said: ‘The sign unveiled today by GlaxoSmithKline will help welcome the world to London in 2012. It also symbolises the important part their partnership work with King’s College London will play in operating a World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory during the Games. This work is vital in enhancing the UK’s reputation as a nation that is robust and effective in tackling drug cheats and sends out the clear message that doping in sport is something we simply will not tolerate.’