London Mayor Praises "Vision and Tenacity" of Seb Coe

(ATR) Boris Johnson says the success of the 2012 Olympics has defied skepticism over the city’s ability to deliver on its promises to the IOC.

Speaking at a press conference at the London Media Center today, Johnson said he wouldn’t dissent with the view that London 2012 was the greatest Games ever.

Sat alongside LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe and the government’s Olympics and culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, the mayor cut a relieved figure as he spoke about how London had silenced the sceptics. He said the much-derided transport network had coped well with the influx of visitors to the Olympics and Games security had succeeded due in large part to Transport for London’s efforts to keep the city moving.

On the morning after the spectacular closing ceremony, Johnson admitted that the shared the melancholy of the nation. "I did feel a momentary mad desire last night not to give Jacques Rogge the flag," he said.

Sad that it was over, "because it was a great experience but also there’s relief", he said "it was a prodigious effort by Londoners".

Johnson was in jovial mood at the news conference but made some serious points about transport and the legacy of the Games. He noted that record numbers used the transport system with more than 60 million journey made on the tube – up 30 percent on normal levels - during the Games. More than a million people visited the capital and a further 5.5 million made day trips.

Johnson, who made a point of thanking his predecessor Ken Livingstone for his work on London’s bid, praised the Olympic Delivery Authority for delivering venues on time and on budget, calling it a "staggering feat of British construction and engineering".

Paying tribute to Coe, he said the "vision, courage and tenacity" of the double Olympic champion through the bid phase and seven years of preparations had helped London stage "the most extraordinary event of our lifetime".

The mayor also thanked the Met Police and military, thousands of whom were drafted in a week before the Games after private security contractor failed to deliver enough staff. And he complimented 88,000-strong volunteer workforce who had assisted visitors throughout the city and on the Olympic Park. He estimated that the Games would benefit the economy to the tune of 13 billion in the coming years.

Johnson was asked: What advice he would have for organizers of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics?

"I’m sure they will do a fantastic job," he said. "Don’t worry about cynics. It’s essential to have a bit of media gloom before it happens."

Johnson, Coe and Hunt pledged to build on the sporting legacy of the Games by increasing investment in school sport and grassrootssport to encourage more young people to take part.

Coe said the $15 billion invested by the British government in venues and infrastructure was "money well spent".

"You can never spend too much on sport. You do not get excellence on the cheap. There is a dividend you reap across the whole of sport," he said.

At the request of a journalist, Johnson did ‘The Mobot’ – in tribute to the trademark celebration seen Britain’s star of the Games, Mo Farah, who won the 5000m and 10,000m.

Coe was asked how the big sporting moments of the Games compared to those he had witnessed in the past. He spoke about ‘Magic Monday’ in Sydney when Cathy Freeman won the 400m in 2000 but suggested ‘Super Saturday’would take some beating.

Midway through the Games, Great Britain won three gold medals in track and field in the space of one hour in the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium – Jessica Ennis in the heptathlon, Farah in the 10,000m and Greg Rutherford in the long jump.

Britain ended up with a record 29 gold medals and 65 overall, coming third in the medal. That was one place higher than the target set by the British Olympic Association and UK Sport.

"I glory in the medal table but I am more relieved there were those big British moments," he told reporters, adding that the challenge now was to transmit this sporting excellence into getting more kids playing sport.

Coe said his LOCOG team was now busy transitioning to the Paralympics which begin on Aug. 29.

Olympic Order for Coe and LOCOG

IOC president Jacques Rogge presented Coe and his senior team of directors with the Olympic Order the Hilton Park Lane hotel this morning to mark their contribution to the Olympic Movement.

Coe told the press conference: "It ranks alongside what I did competitively."

The LOCOG chief said hed had "probably the best job in the world for the last seven years" and his career in athletics had aided London’s preparations.

Asked if he had any plans to return to politics, the man who was a Conservative MP for some years quipped: "I enjoyed my time in politics… politics left me in a very big way in 1997." That was the year he lost his seat in the House of Commons.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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