Should 2012 be the new 'austerity Olympics?' Post your comments below

When London last hosted the Olympics a dog track at Wembley stadium was converted for athletes, while competitors housed in military barracks had to supply their own kit.

The "Austerity Games" of 1948 were a huge success. Sixty years later, with Britain gripped by recession, the organisers of the London 2012 Olympics are under pressure to rein in the soaring £9.3 billion budget by cutting out extravagant facilities and making use of existing venues. Staging the Games will cost a further £2 billion.

It follows calls by MPs and athletes, including survivors of 1948, for the Corinthian spirit of the Games to be restored.

They are demanding the scrapping of lavish ceremonies and an end to the perks enjoyed by Olympic officials, such as the use of more than 3,000 chauffeur driven cars.

This weekend leading sporting venues lined up to offer their services in a move which could slash the 2012 bill.

"There is no shame in saying we are going to have an austerity Olympics," said Nigel Evans, a Tory member of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee.

"Everything should be scaled back — from the cost of the opening ceremony to the cost of the closing ceremony. To think that the Olympics will be a conscientious objector to the recession is fanciful."

Kate Hoey, a former Labour sports minister who is now an adviser to Boris Johnson, the London mayor, said a balance needed to be struck between "austerity and opulence".

"This is an opportunity for us to have a proper Olympics that goes back to the original ideals, where it's actually about sport and not just about money and marketing," she said.

Hoey called for "world-class" facilities, "but that doesn't mean we have to have everybody moved backwards and forwards in Rolls Royce luxury".

Last week Kevan Gosper, a senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) official, told Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman: "I think you and your team face the toughest time — short of wartime — to get the project to 2012."

When Audrey Mitchell (nee Williamson), 82, won a silver medal at 200m for Britain in 1948, food was still rationed. "The war was only recently over, so everything was very much on a shoestring," she said. "But it was a very patriotic Games; it raised the morale of the country. In our day we didn't have the razzmatazz of the opening and closing ceremonies — that's where a lot of the money goes now and I don't think we need that."

Mitchell, who came second to Fanny Blankers-Koen, the legendary Dutch sprinter, recalled being housed in a college in Eccleston Square, close to Victoria station.

The men were housed in RAF barracks around the capital.

"We did a bit of jogging around the middle of the square," she said. "And we had to make our own uniforms by sewing Union Jack badges onto our tracksuits.

"Now that we've got them (the 2012 Olympics), we have got to make the most of it, but we have got to cut our cloth according to what's available."

Joe Birrell, 78, who competed in the high hurdles in 1948, recalled having to provide his own shorts. "My mother made them for me," he said. Birrell believes the 2012 Games will inspire youngsters, but mourned the loss of the competition's spirit. "It's non-existent now; it's terribly sad, but inevitable, I guess," he said.

"They used Wembley in 1948 and I can't understand why they didn't use it this time," added Birrell.

Although experts believe it would be feasible to build a raised running track at Wembley, the logistics of transporting athletes across the capital from the £1billion Olympic village in Stratford, east London, do not make this option viable. Besides, construction work is already well under way on a new £500m Olympic stadium.

Officials are, however, seeking to trim costs elsewhere. A £40m temporary arena for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics at Greenwich, southeast London, will almost certainly be scrapped. Badminton is likely to be moved to Wembley Arena, a venue which is offering to host other sports, including basketball and boxing.

The owners of Hickstead have offered their facilities for equestrian events, saying they could host the tournament for £10m — half the cost of the preferred site in Greenwich.

Debate has also raged over the use of the Royal Artillery barracks at Woolwich for shooting, with costs doubling to more than £40m. Officials have agreed to hold talks with British Shooting, the sport's governing body, to consider facilities at Bisley, Surrey, which could cost £20m-£25m.

The Olympic Delivery Authority, which building the 2012 venues, is also considering proposals to slash more than £100m off the £380m cost of media facilities by scaling back a site on the Olympic Park. A spokesman said £800m had been saved. "We are only building permanent venues where there is a long-term use and only building temporary venues when no suitable permanent alternative exits," he said.

A 2012 spokeswoman said a sponsor was likely to supply the VIP car fleet free of charge or at a discount.

Additional reporting: Abul Taher and Anneka Sharpley

Faster, higher, dearer

The bill for hosting the Olympics has spiralled since postwar austerity*

1948 London: £20m
1960 Rome: £44m
1984 Los Angeles: £966m
1992 Barcelona: £1.7bn
2008 Beijing: £20bn
2012 London: £11.3bn

*Construction and competition costs at 2008 prices