AN INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee (IOC) delegation recently wrapped up its fourth visit to the British capital after assessing what progress has been made for the 2012 London Olympics. The three days of meetings, from 21-23 April, allowed the commission to fully assess the achievements of the local organisers. The commission was impressed, putting this down in no small part to the strong spirit of partnership that is being shown, under the leadership of LOCOG and by all the stakeholders involved in the Games. Speaking after the meetings, Commission Chairman Denis Oswald said: "We have been greatly impressed by the good progress that London 2012 has made since our visit last year, particularly in moving from planning to operational delivery. This was evident in all the presentations and discussions we had about LOCOG's Games-time planning, and of course during our visit to the Olympic Park. Seeing the transformation that has taken place in the Lower Lea Valley is nothing short of astounding, and this area will be a great legacy for the people of London and Great Britain. "When I visited the Olympic Stadium last year, the foundations were just being laid. Today the main structure has risen from the ground and the roof is already going on. Other venues, such as the aquatic centre, Olympic Village and velodrome, are also rapidly growing from the ground, and this fast pace of development is no doubt down to the great spirit of cooperation that exists between the different partners involved in the 2012 project. Their ability to work as a team, plan ahead and solve issues together is ensuring that the Games and legacy planning remain on track as we head towards 2012." During its visit, the commission heard updates from the London 2012 Organising Committee and its partners on a number of important areas of Games preparations, including transport, accommodation, field of play, sustainability, legacy planning, technology, ticketing, medical services and press operations. These areas of operations were also examined from the perspective of different groups, such as athletes, and spectators and media, which allowed the commission to get a global perspective on each subject and an overview of how each group will experience the Games. This will help the commission to guide the organising committee, as it enters more and more detailed levels of operational planning. Some of the commission members also visited the Eton Dorney rowing venue and were impressed with the quality of the venue, as well as with the sub-village for the rowing athletes at Royal Holloway College. The next visit of the full coordination commission to London will be in November 2009. London was selected host city for the Games of the XXX Olympiad on 6 July 2005 at the 117th IOC session in Singapore. London faced stiff opposition during the vote from four other candidate cities: Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid. London eventually succeeded in the fourth round of voting, taking 54 votes from a possible 104. There will be 26 sports on the Olympic programme in London in 2012 and around 10,500 athletes.
