London Olympics avoid being drawn into UK vote

Published>Thu, Apr 29 10 09:48 PM

Preparations for the London 2012 Olympics have not been dragged into the bitter election campaigning in Britain, with organisers confident of continued good relations with the party that wins next week's polls.

"The Olympic Games have not tumbled from the lips of a single politician during this campaign," London Games chief Sebastian Coe told a small group of reporters on Thursday. "They have not become a political football."

Britain is holding a parliamentary election on May 6, with the ruling Labour Party trailing the main opposition Conservatives in the polls, hinting at a potential change in the country's leadership two years before the Olympics.

Coe said while the outcome was as yet unknown, preparations would continue as planned, with no single day to waste.

"There is no certainty of outcome but we will go on delivering seamlessly with whatever the political landscape looks like," Coe said after presenting a progress update to the International Olympic Committee.

Coe, himself a former conservative member of parliament, said the Games had stayed out of the political arena thanks to the organisers' work on obtaining cross-party support.

Coe said even a change in the leadership of the Olympic ministry would not affect them.

"Those are political decisions but what we are focusing on is delivering and letting all political parties know what the progress is," he said.

"We understand that whoever nudges across the line will face the bleakest outlook of public expenditure in a generation," Coe a former Olympic middle distance champion, said.

IOC SATISFACTION

IOC chief Jacques Rogge gave London a thumbs up, saying there was no specific single problem with preparations.

"We have discussed the possibility of a change of government and we are absolutely at ease there," Rogge told reporters.

"There is a multi-party support (for the Games) in the United Kingdom," he said, adding the IOC was equally comfortable with preparations. "We have no earmarked challenges for London. Nothing specific," he said.

Coe said organisers would also "very soon" finalise their venue plan with the relocation of rhythmic gymnastics and badminton.

He also said organisers would unveil the mascot of the Games well before July 27, two years to the day of the Games opening, with sales to start on that day.

The IOC caught a first glimpse of the tightly-guarded secret and approved it on Thursday. Coe refused, however, to reveal any details other than the IOC liking what they saw.

"Yes they did see it," Coe said, adding they had also presented "the narrative behind it" and that the mascot had already gone into production.

Source: Web Search