With less than two years to the London Olympics, Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper says he has never seen an organising committee better prepared to host the biggest event on the globe.

Gosper, Chairman of the IOC Press Commission, told a world press briefing in London, “I have never seen an organising committee in better shape two years from a Games and that includes Sydney and Beijing.”

He acknowledged that transport will be a challenge on busy London streets for LOCOG.

“This is the most challenging city for transportation but it will work,” Gosper said.

London’s Underground Rail System is undergoing massive improvements in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics with commuters suffering delays on the system because of upgrades. A spokesman said it “is better to have pain now for the joy later.”

Gosper described “England as the home of modern sport” but the Olympics would also leave important legacies of modern housing and shopping centres as well as a new rail link to Stratford - once a derelict suburb in London’s east end, now being transformed into a modern Olympic park.

The media is expressing concerns about the standard and cost of accommodation. In London they will live in hotels in the Bloomsbury district whereas in Beijing in 2008 they were housed in brand new apartments close to the Olympic precinct.

The Chairman of London 2012, Lord Sebastian Coe, opened the conference saying press had long been “his greatest sponsors” when he was a gold medal winning distance runner.

Coe told the meeting he welcomed critical but constructive criticism from the media.

“It is good to kick the tyres,” Coe said. “But overall we are in great shape.”

Coe reminded the media that ticket sales are booming. “We sold over one million tickets in a week,” he said. “All this, in a very difficult economic climate.”

Mike Tancred in London
AOC