(ATR) Six years after their first visit to London, members of the IOC coordination commission, accompanied by the IOC president, make a final stop ahead of the 2012 Games.
The 16-member commission opens three days of briefings in the Olympic city with one at 10 Downing Street. IOC President Jacques Rogge will meet with Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday morning, the first time they have met at Cameron’s residence. The IOC commission will head to Downing Street later in the morning for lunch with Cameron. Cameron took office in 2010, taking the Conservatives to power after the Labour government of Tony Blair won the bid and launched preparations for the Games under Gordon Brown.
"As with all recent Coordination Commission visits to London, we will be looking at the service levels for all Games' stakeholders, including the athletes, International Federations, National Olympic Committees, spectators, media. We are looking for LOCOG and its partners to deliver a memorable Games experience for everyone involved," says a statement from the IOC about the visit.
"The Olympic Games are an incredibly complex project but we are very pleased with where LOCOG and its partners are in their preparations. We have four months to go and a lot of work remains to be done but there is nothing that is giving us sleepless nights," says the IOC.
With all the venues near ready for the Games, few if any construction issues remain.
In fact, with one exception, no venue tours are planned for the last visit of the IOC team, led since 2005 by Denis Oswald, Swiss IOC member and president of FISA, the international rowing federation. Oswald, along with Gilbert Felli, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director, will go to the Olympic Stadium in east London for a briefing on the opening ceremony.
While this tenth visit is to be the last for the commission, Oswald can return as needed in the coming months to address specific issues.
"Ambitious" is how Oswald characterized London’s Olympic vision during a press conference April 21, 2006 at the conclusion of the first commission visit.
"I think in the case of London, they certainly have the resources, the people, the technical ability, the means to have such a high ambition. In the commission, we are convinced that they can achieve what they have promised," said Oswald six years ago.
This Friday, Oswald may reveal whether he believes London has delivered on those promises when he holds his latest press conference.
Written by Ed Hula.
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