London Latest -- Archery Chief Hails Olympic Test Event; IAAF Wraps Up Inspection

(ATR) The secretary general of World Archery tells Around the Rings that Lord’s Cricket Ground is the best venue for his sport at next year's Olympics.

"The setting is fantastic – all the structures are here. We didn’t need to build anything. We just put in the stands, and it is ready," Tom Dielen told ATR onTuesday.

He was speaking at the archery test event where he praised the iconic venue, home of cricket since its opening in 1814.

Dielen spoke about the ease of preparations for the test event, claiming archery was arguably better prepared than other sports.

"I have been to five or six test events and they have all had their challenges or things to change. We are definitely ahead of other test events that I’ve been to – the fact that the venue exists helps," he said.

"We will do an extensive questionnaire at the end of the event with all the volunteers, athletes and organizers to see if there is anything we need to do for next summer."

The London Archery Classic, which runs through Oct. 10, will use the new scoring format of head-to-head matches with sets that is to be in place for the first time at the 2012 Olympics. The individual competition takes place with two targets side-by-side at the Grace Gate end of the venue.

LOCOG said the main areas of testing at this week’s event focus on running the competition on a single range during the elimination rounds (previous Olympic Games have used more than one range), the new scoring system and management of the delicate surface at Lord’s.

LOCOG head of sport competition David Luckes also praised the venue in remarks made to ATR. He insisted that LOCOG’s job had been "made easy" by using the cricket ground.

"Whenever you come into an existing venue there’s always ways in which they operate, so we work with the venue to come to agreement to how it will operate at the Olympics. That’s why these test events are so important," he said.

Luckes also emphasized there were "no massive challenges" and that the only element that proved difficult was the limited amount of time they had to organize the venue for the test event. But London 2012 will have more time to prepare Lord's come next summer.

Team GB archery member Naomi Folkard told ATR that the venue was "special" for the team because of its history, adding: "It will be really good because next year they will build the stands to fit 5,000 people so that extra home advantage will be really, really special."

Great Britain will be hopeful to come away with a gold medal in archery; aside from Athens 2004, every host nation has won a gold medal in the sport since 1980.

Coe, IAAF Happy with Olympic Stadium Plan

LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe believes the IAAF's decision on awarding the 2017 world athletics championships will not be affected by Tottenham Hotspur's legal battle to take over the stadium after the Games.

The IAAF wrapped up a two-day evaluation of the London 2017 bid Tuesday before heading off to Doha for its inspection of the Qatari capital, the only other bidder.

Spurs of the English Premier League are seeking a judicial review of the decision by the Olympic Park Legacy Company to award the stadium to London rivals West Ham. But only the Hammers have pledged to retain the athletics track as part of legacy plans to use the stadium for both football and athletics.

Coe, who is also heading the London 2017 bid, was quoted by Reuters as saying: "The Tottenham issue is an irrelevance, and it was made very clear to the IAAF that is was an irrelevance.

"Not my words but the words of the chairman of the evaluation commission – as far as he is concerned, this is an issue that has been resolved. Thetrack is there to stay."

IAAF senior vice-president Bob Hersh told a press conference that concluded the federation's London 2017 evaluation that the Olympic Stadium issues had been resolved. His team visited the stadium Monday and saw the newly-laid athletics track.

The IAAF delegation was then given a "cast-iron guarantee" by the government that the running track will not be removed even in the unlikely event that Tottenham succeed in their judicial review on Oct. 18.

"We've been given good assurances by the government that regardless of how the judicial review hearing turns out that the process will end up with a track at that stadium," Hersh was quoted by PA.

"We believe that this distraction, this issue that has been with us for a number of years now, has now been resolved."

Hersh also underlined the strengths of the city's bid.

"The stadium is world-class. We've seen that before and we're also very pleased with the passion and commitment of UK Athletics and the people who are involved in this bid," he told reporters.

"It is obviously something that has generated a lot of enthusiasm and I think UKA have shown they are capable of holding a successful world championships."

Olympics Bill Advances

Legislation aimed at stopping Olympic ticket touts makes its way through the British Parliament. The bill was debated for more than two hours Monday in the House of Lords, with British Olympic Association chair Lord Colin Moynihan among those rising to speak in support.

The bill would raise the maximum fine for ticket scalping to £20,000. The legislation also contains provisions for traffic control and advertising.

The debate is available for viewing at the BBC website Democracy Live.

Reported in London by Christian Radnedge

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