Coe in Beijing: Green Games, Chinese Athlete Favorites

(ATR) London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe tells Around the Rings that LOCOG will keep its promises to promote a sustainable Olympic Games.

Coe spoke to ATR over the weekend in Beijing, where he updated the International Paralympic Committee General Assembly and promoted green strategies for the 2012 Olympics.

He also launched a set of Olympic bicycles Sunday at the British Embassy in an effort to highlight London's preparations en route to an environmentally sound Summer Games.

"These Olympic bicycles are a simple but effective way to show our commitment to sustainability," he told ATR.

"I am also pleased to be able to share with our Chinese partners the great progress we are making in our preparations and our excitement at hosting an event that the world can be proud of."

Organizational Challenges

Regarding controversial discussions about spending 9.3 billion British pounds ($14.4 billion) to stage an Olympics, Coe explains that not all would go towards organization.

"If we just simply organize a Games, 9 million pounds is obviously very expensive," he said.

"However, it is not just about holding the Olympic Games. The infrastructural and transformational changes in East London are a large part of the budget – 75 percent of 9.3 million pounds is going to that investment for the future of London. It is building a new city inside an old city."

Transportation is another challenge London will face next year, though Coe stressed the British capital will supply a special network during the Games.

"London, like any another global city, has a challenge on traffic. I will make two points. Twelve million journeys are made on public transport every day. We have two lines connecting with all of our venues. We would be encouraging people to use public transport," he said.

"At the moment, Transport for London is looking at some of the key areas we would manage differently at Games-time. Of course, part of their Olympic network will be dedicated Olympic lanes for the athletes, media and Olympic family."

Coe also stated that tourism authority VisitBritain expects 800,000 to 1 million people foreigners to make the trip to London for the 2012 Olympics.

Playing Favorites

Coe's first order of business Saturday was to visit the Beijing Sports Administration training center, where he discussed Games preparations with Olympic hopefuls from the Chinese swimming and gymnastics teams.

"I am delighted to be visiting Beijing and to see first-hand the excitement that is growing here and around the rest of the world for the London 2012 Games," he said.

Coe tells ATR that Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang is his favorite Chinese athlete.

"He is a very very big figure, particularly in Chinese communities in London," he said.

"When I visited at schools, the children from those Chinese communities held posters of him, and they knew him very well."

Eyes on the Prize

As a two-time Olympic champion miler, Coe tells ATR that his athletic experience has contributed to his current role atop LOCOG.

"It is important when you are putting everything together for the Games that you realize the most important people that you are building Games for are athletes. Every time you see athletes going to the venues, you have to remind yourself that they have dedicated half of their young lives to that moment," he said.

"You have to create the Games to allow them to perform at their highest levels, to reach their ambitions and aspirations. As the chairman, seeing from the eyes of a former competitor is very important."

As a middle distance runner, Coe won two Olympic gold medals, two silvers and set eight outdoor as well as three indoor world records.

He describes his current work as "halfway down the back straight" of the final lap.

"We are not in the finishing straight yet, and any 800m runner will tell you that how you reemerge from the end of the back straight is often how you finish on the finishing straight," he analogized.

"We have no competitors other than ourselves. It is very important that we deliver against the vision we set in Singapore six-and-a-half years ago. I think I have shown today that we have done that pretty well."

Written and reported in Beijing by Tencent's Norman Li.

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