Скачать или смотреть Steel magnate Mittal talks to AP about Orbit Tower, Olympics legacy

(23 Jul 2012) Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal said on Monday that the ruby red sculpture that towers over the Olympic Stadium is not the cauldron that will hold the ceremonial flame.
Mittal told The Associated Press that he met with the Olympic authorities about the possibility that the tower - the ArcelorMittal Orbit - could be used, but that plans arrived too late for consideration.
"It could have been, but by the time the design was finalised, we could not convince the Olympic Committee," said Mittal, who was listed by the Sunday Times this year as the richest man in Britain.
Mittal's company, ArcelorMittal, donated the steel for the swirling centrepiece of the park and stumped up most of its 22.7 million-pound (36.5 million US dollar) cost.
The lighting of the cauldron that holds the flame is always a big moment for the Olympics, and organisers usually withhold details about the opening ceremony and the flame lighting to ensure the appropriate drama.
Usually there is some structure - somewhere - that hints where the flame will burn. But not this time.
The London cauldron's location remains a mystery.
Suspicion has long fallen on the Orbit, which sits so close to the stadium one could watch the 100-metre final from its viewing platform.
But Mittal says the tower is art to enhance the games that open on Friday.
Meant to be a tourist landmark like Big Ben or the London Eye wheel, the abstract work of art has often been the subject of derision. London's newspapers have coined a few choice nicknames: the Eyeful Tower, the shisha pipe, the Hubble Bubble.
Mittal's not the least bit troubled that critics have tagged it as being the ugly duckling of the Olympic Park. It just needs to be understood, he said.
"People are still trying to criticise the Mona Lisa," he said.
On a more sombre note, Mittal said Europe's economy was going to remain troubled.
He did not discuss the fortunes of his company, which is set to release its earnings later this week.
Mittal's lack of enthusiasm can be seen as bleak for the economic outlook of the continent, since steel is such a vital component of construction.
He was upbeat, though, about the fortunes of east London, where much of the upcoming Olympics is being staged.

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