Foxtel’s Olympic show begins

Foxtel’s coverage of the 2012 Olympics begins tonight with a Welcome to London special and live coverage of Football preliminaries at 12:45am.

Hosted by Sarah Jones from one of Foxtel’s two studios inside London Olympic Park, Welcome To London will give viewers a taste of this extraordinary event that is about to take place, featuring the latest Olympic news, athlete profiles and a sneak peek inside Olympic Park ahead of the Opening Ceremony.

Tracey Holmes visits the Olympic Village where she chats with swimming coach and Australian Team Mentor Laurie Lawrence, as well as seven time, World Champion surfer and Athlete Liaison Officer Layne Beachley, who give an insight into how the athletes are feeling in these final few days, and how they are settling into the village.

Rebecca Wilson, who will be providing Foxtel’s swimming commentary alongside Susie O’Neill and Ray Hadley, previews the Australian swim team from inside the Olympic Aquatic centre.

And colour reporter Gus Worland catches up with the Olympic Torch in Oxfordshire on the final leg of its 70 day journey, before it heads to the Olympic Stadium for Friday’s Opening Ceremony.

Welcome To London also marks the start of a major milestone in Australian television history. From 7.00pm tonight, Foxtel will have eight, dedicated London 2012 channels running 24/7, in both High Definition and Standard Definition. Over the course of the Games, a total of 1,100 hours of sport will be broadcast live (3,200 in total), and every single Gold Medal event will be seen live and in full.