Newsmaker Breakfast -- Seb Coe on 100 days to Go, Security Concerns, Social Media

(ATR) LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe tells the Around the Rings Newsmaker Breakfast in Moscow that with just 102 days until the Games, his team is still solving problems, he doesn't foresee security concerns, and discusses the impact of social media on the Olympics.

Coe appeared at the ATR event on the sidelines of the World Olympic Sport Convention Monday. The breakfast was sponsored by ISM Ltd and The Concerto Group.

Sochi 2014 president Dmitry Chernyshenko's appearancewas delayed until near the end of the program. He wascaught in Monday morning "probka", or what Muscovites call the city’s infamous gridlock.

It was left to the London 2012 chief to answer questions on Olympic preparations from ATR Editor Ed Hula and about 40guests who attended the breakfast at the Fusion Plaza restaurant in the World Trade Center.

The early start to the day was not a problem for Coe. He says his work rate and travel schedule is only increasing in the final months to the Games.

"It's not unusual for me to be in the office by 6.45 AM," he revealed.

Decisions on a range of issues across the London 2012 project are coming thick and fast, he said.

Wednesday marks the 100 days to go mark - and Coe said that it's what LOCOG does in the final push that will make the difference between a good and a great Games.

"We are going to work harder and faster then we have ever worked on this project," he pledged.

Saying he was confident of delivering a spectacular Games, he said: "I am not complacent. We still have a mountain of work to do."

He highlighted the building of temporary venues, one of the bid book pledges in staging a sustainable Games, as one of the big jobs ahead.

Coe said LOCOG was prepared for all eventualities, including dealing with anything "that comes out of left field".

Transport and security remain London 2012's biggest challenges.

The British government, Metropolitan Police and various security agencies have put together measures to deliver the U.K.'s biggest peacetime security operation.

Coe said he hopes security forces in the British capital and protecting venues will not be an overbearing presence during the Games.

"This is the world's largest event with some security overlay not a security event with a bit of sport," he emphasized.

"I want people to feel they have come to a celebration not to a siege city. I am sure we will get that balance."

In the wake of a spate of protests that marred the international legs of the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay, particularly in London and Paris, security concerns around the U.K.-wide London 2012 torch relay are not disappearing.

But he doesn't expect a repeat of the Beijing torch relay protests.

"I don't think so. we accept from time to time that big global events do attract protest groups. The Olympic Movement has always lived with that and understood the nature of that," he said.

"We want people to enjoy the torch relay because it is a celebration, not the world's biggest security event."

The Olympic Flame is schedule to be lit in three weeks time in Olympia. Coe says that signifies the start of the Games for many people.

Members of the audience forAsked if he was worried about not getting some things done for the Games given the complexity of the project, Coe explained: "Nothing other than delivering 26 simultaneous world championships. Everything sits within that challenge."

At the joint IOC and ANOC meeting on Sunday, president Jacques Rogge revealed that the IOC Executive Board would next month be discussing recommendations to reduce the cost, complexity and size of the Olympics.

Coe supports the plans.

"The summer Games are of an inordinately complex nature. The president is right to make the Games don't fall beyond the reach of only a handful of nations."

He explained that the vision in London was "in part a signpost. If you look at the mix of our venues, permanent, existing and temporary; 70 percent of events are taking place in existing venues."

Leaving a lasting legacy from a Games should be integral to any Olympics concept, he added.

"Another thing to look at is to absolutely make sure in your vision for the Olympic Movement for a host city is to really be able to tell a legacy story afterwards," he said, noting that 75 percent of the $15 billion spent on constructing venues and infrastructure for London 2012 was "about the regeneration of [east] London".

Speaking about London 2012 venues, most of which already have venue operators and post-Games legacy plans in place, he said it was important and responsible to provide sports facilities "that communities aren't just pressing their noses up against but are able to actively use."

With the use of social media set to help define how the world views the London Olympics, Coe admitted that LOCOG and Games stakeholders were excited about the possibilities.

"Everybody is now potentially a journalist. Young people are creating and consuming information. Four million people have seen our videos on YouTube," he said.

"This is a very big world for us. We are the first to digitize mascots. There is a key role for traditional media... but we [also] have to get to them [younger generation] with technology they are familiar with and in the language they understand. I think it will make the Games more accessible," he concluded.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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