London Latest -- Torch Relay Plans, More Budget Cuts Possible

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe says the 70-day Olympic flame tour around the U.K. in the build-up to the Games will be "a very different concept" to the controversial Beijing torch relay.

Olympic organizers today unveiled their vision for welcoming the Olympic flame to Britain and revealed that the tour will be supported by Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung.

Last time the Olympic torch passed through London, an international leg of the Beijing 2008 relay, clashes between human rights protesters and belligerent Chinese guards captured global headlines.

Speaking from the roof of the Queen Elizabeth concert hall in London, Coe told reporters that removal of the international element of the torch relay diminished the chances of a repeat of such violent protests.

Coe said that while LOCOG had already liaised with police forces he did not want the spirit of celebration to be undermined.

"Of course we want the torch relay to engender excitement and passion and shine a light on all the extraordinary things that go on in a safe and secure environment," he said.

"But we’ve also got to be conscious that we want this to be a celebration. We don’t want towns to close down. But I don’t think there’ll be any necessity for that."

Instead, Coe said that the torch relay was a way of engaging young people far outside London - 50 percent of torch bearers will be under the age of 24.

"The torch can energize a lot of things we take for granted," he said.

Coe cited as an example his visit yesterday to Stornoway on the remote Hebridean Islands off Scotland where he said four out of five questions he was asked were about whether the torch could visit there.

Asked how participants and locations would be selected on the U.K. tour, he said that it was "very early days to be prescriptive" about such matters.

The nomination process for the 8,000 torch bearers will be announced in May 2011.

Coca-Cola and Samsung are worldwide partners of the Olympic movement. Coke has served as a presenting partner of every torch relay since 1992.

Sports Minister Hints at More Budget Cuts

Britain’s new sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson refuses to rule out further government cuts to the Olympic budget, but says that any further savings will not "imperil the delivery of the Games".

On Monday Robertson unveiled cuts of $39 million to the Olympic Delivery Authority budget as part of a total of $8.9 billion of government cuts. Today he told Around the Rings that the Olympics cannot be "immune" to the economic crisis.

"Nobody wants to make cuts to the Olympic budget, and you have to realize that the Olympic project is a completely different sort of project from anything government has to deliver," he told ATR.

"There are a set of promises we made back in Singapore in 2005 that we have to deliver in 2012.

"If as a result of the way that the project moves forward we can identify sensible savings that can be made, then yes we will make them and we will have to make them," he said.

He added: "That is a reflection of the fact that we are in the worst economic crisis that has affected this country in any of our lifetimes. We cannot be immune to that.

"If we make those savings we will make them in a way that will not imperil the final delivery of the games."

His comments came at the torch relay announcement.

Coe went to great efforts to emphasize the strong relationship he has with Robertson and insisted that there had been "no strong words" over the budget cuts delivered this week.

"The reason we get on well, is that the new secretary of state [Jeremy Hunt] and the new sports minister [Robertson] were [already] tied into our teams and the organizing committee," Coe told ATR.

"Barely a week would go by without our big public moments about our strategies and launches… they’ve been a part of this process."

"Well informed shadow spokesmen have now become very well informed ministers," Coe added. "That’s exactly what we set out to do seven years ago, and that is to maintain a completely cross party approach to this. We’ve been working in coalition for seven years. This is not a new environment for us."

Coe acknowledged the possibility of further government cuts, but was keen to emphasize the healthy shape of Games preparations.

"I know that our public finances are in a parlous state," he said.

"The organizing committee has raised record sums of money in the most challenging economic environment that any games has been delivered in since the 1970s. [But] on the infrastructural projects, we are ahead of schedule, we are within budget; and the regeneration part of that project is all but done.

"This time next year we’ll have many of our venues in the Olympic park up and opened, so we’re in great shape."

Asked about Robertson’s predecessor, Tessa Jowell, Coe said that he would like for her to continue working with LOCOG, possibly in an international role.

"I want Tessa to be involved," Coe said.

"It’s absolutely right she’s involved, she was essential in the bidding process, she was essential in the safeguarding of the project to where we’ve got to and the progress that we’ve made.

"I haven’t spoken to her in detail about this, but I think there’s a key role to play in our international program, which I think is very dear to her heart."

Venue Confirmed for Badminton and Rhythmic Gymnastics

LOCOG today confirmed that Wembley Arena will be the venue for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics in 2012.

The cost-saving move was agreed with the two International Federations. It followed months of negotiations after concerns were voiced by the IFs over travel times between the Olympic village in east London and the arena in the north of the city.

London 2012 had abandoned plans for a temporary venue envisaged for the sports in North Greenwich to relocate them at Wembley Arena. The Olympic Board said the proposal would save more than $30 million.

Coe said: "We will now work through all the detailed arrangements with them [the IFs] and Wembley Arena to put on first-class events. This is a big boost to north London which will be a hub for the London 2012 Olympics with the football finals happening at Wembley Stadium."

Denis Oswald, chairman of the IOC’s Coordination Commission for London, described the announcement as "an important milestone in London 2012’s planning for the Games".

"With the venue for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics confirmed, LOCOG will be able to advance full steam ahead with its planning."

With reporting from James Corbett in London.