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IOC inspection committee begin London visit
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-06-13 10:30
London's progress in delivering the 2012 Olympic Games came under the microscope on Tuesday as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) arrived for a three-day inspection visit.
Sixteen members of the IOC Coordination Commission, led by Swiss Denis Oswald, will be touring the site of the Olympic Park in east London and riding on a new train link. Construction of the five main venues is scheduled to begin next year.
After soaring costs and the much-criticised launch of a controversial 2012 logo last week, Sebastian Coe, chairman of London's organising committee (LOCOG), was keen to concentrate on the Games's legacy at a media conference on Tuesday.
"Our presentations today focussed on how we will take our vision and turn it into a sustainable reality, delivering lasting benefits for future generations long after the final race has been run," Coe said.
Olympic Minister Tessa Jowell, who announced in March that the overall cost of building the venues and regenerating a chunk of east London had risen to 9.3 billion pounds ($18.35 billion), was upbeat about the IOC visit.
"We are actually, believe it or not, doing pretty well and we have got a good story to tell the IOC inspectors this week," she said.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the 2012 Games would be the most successful since Barcelona in terms of regeneration.
"Even after the three Olympics to follow London have come and gone, we will still be benefiting from the legacy of 2012," he told reporters.
Referring to the much-maligned graffiti-style logo, which cost 400,000 pounds, Livingstone added: "It's just a logo, it's not the meaning of life, it will grow on you."
Last week Livingstone called a promotional video of the logo a "catastrophic mistake" after it was discovered a segment of the footage could trigger epileptic fits.
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