International sporting bodies and sponsors are snapping up prime locations and historic premises all across London ahead of next year's Olympics.
While the English capital looks forward to welcoming the world, much of that world has been busy making sure it will feel right at home in one year's time.
Over 50 National Olympic Committees and National Paralympic Committees along with sponsors are eager to make their own mark once the global circus hits town in July 2012 and to have fitting venues to celebrate their own achievements.
From the monumental Marble Arch in the west to a dried-out medieval moat around the Tower of London in the east, would-be temporary tenants are queuing up to get their hands on a piece of the city.
Now, with the clock ticking into the final year, is the key period for those coming in to lock down deals and put the infrastructure in place.
The Russians, hosts of the next Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, have made the biggest splash with a plan to turn Marble Arch, a gleaming white landmark on a traffic island on the edge of the green acres of Hyde Park, into a spectacular winter wonderland.
Sochi World will, subject to all permissions being granted, offer an ice rink in the heart of London in July and August as well as a hospitality pavilion and visitor experience centre.
Not to be outdone, the Dutch will entertain at North London's Alexandra Palace - the 'Ally Pally' or 'People's Palace' which opened in 1873 and from where the nation's first public television transmissions were made in 1936.
Their Holland House, sponsored by the Games' official lager supplier Heineken, will cater for up to 20,000 visitors.
Italy will have a Casa Italia at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in the shadow of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey while France have secured the City's Old Billingsgate market, which can take 2,000 guests in one hit, to show off French produce and all things Gallic.
Brazil, hosts of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, will bring a carnival atmosphere to the neo-classical surroundings of Somerset House, a central venue already used for fashion shows, winter skating and summer concerts.
There will be a Jamaica Village (www.myjamaicavillage.com) in north London's Finsbury Park, while a piece of Switzerland is to be created at Glaziers Hall, next to London Bridge station and the popular Borough Market.
On a smaller scale, Georgia will move into a historic building around the corner from the Tate museum while the Americans are trying to keep their plans very much to themselves.
The major Olympic sponsors are busy securing their patches while anyone with anything to sell to those flocking to 'the greatest show on earth' are eyeing up spaces anywhere near the flow of visitors, with over 1,400 venues in London and a lot of green space set to be taken over for the Games.
