UNITED KINGDOM: OLYMPICS - LOCOG chairman Lord Sebastian Coe says athletics career has helped him organise London 2012 Olympics

Record ID: 332595

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: OLYMPICS - LOCOG chairman Lord Sebastian Coe says athletics career has helped him organise London 2012 Olympics
  • Date: 18th April 2012
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (RECENT - APRIL 1, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF OLYMPIC STADIUM LONDON, UK (FILE - OCTOBER 3, 2011) (REUTERS) SCHOOLCHILDREN RUNNING ALONG TRACK WITH LONDON ORGANISING COMMITTEE OF THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES (LOCOG) CHAIRMAN AND OLYMPICS DOUBLE GOLD MEDALLIST LORD SEBASTIAN COE (GREY OUTFIT); BRITISH LONG JUMP RECORD HOLDER CHRIS TOMLINSON (BLUE TOP); PARALYMPIC DISCUS WORLD RECORD HOLDER AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST DAN GREAVES (WHITE TOP); AND WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 1500 METRES SILVER MEDALLIST HANNAH ENGLAND (YELLOW TOP) LONDON, UK (APRIL 12, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) LONDON ORGANISING COMMITTEE OF THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES (LOCOG) CHAIRMAN SEBASTIAN COE SAYING OF HIS ATHLETICS EXPERIENCE: "I think it is also very helpful, not the only aspect, but very helpful to come to the (Olympics) project and see it through the eyes of a competitor. It does make me redouble, I guess, my efforts so that I don't ever have a competitor coming to me at the end of these Games and saying 'look, because of something you didn't do, or you've overlooked, you reduced my chances of competing at the highest level' LONDON, UK (FILE - OCTOBER 3, 2011) (REUTERS) COE RUNNING WITH WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 1500 METRES SILVER MEDALLIST HANNAH ENGLAND LONDON, UK (APRIL 12, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCOG CHAIRMAN SEBASTIAN COE SAYING: "I wish I had just sneaked into the team in 1976 in Montreal, in the year of the great John Walker (New Zealand 1500 gold medallist) of course, because, although I might not have survived the first round of the opening day of the 1,500 or the 800 I would have understood the enormity of the Games. I would have understood what it was like to be in a village, I would have understood some of the pressures that go with it, I would have understood the level of expectation that is heaped on to everybody that becomes an Olympian. If I had had that in Moscow (1980 1500 gold medal winner) there are things probably I would have understood that would have allowed me, maybe, in the 800 (silver medal winner) to have done things differently." LONDON, UK (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GIANT OLYMPIC RINGS HANGING INSIDE ST PANCRAS STATION, FROM WHERE OLYMPIC STADIUM TRAINS WILL DEPART COE AND BRITAIN'S OLYMPIC HEPTATHLON GOLD MEDALLIST DENISE LEWIS HOLDING OLYMPIC TORCHES LONDON, UK (APRIL 12, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCOG CHAIRMAN SEBASTIAN COE SAYING: "By the time I got to Los Angeles (1500 gold medal winner), of course, I was slightly long in the tooth; I was sort of 27 or 28. I had had four years of international competition behind me and so, although I was as excited about going to Los Angeles, I could probably have put it into a better context. I knew what it was that I was about to experience and I thought I was more relaxed. I understood much more about me as a competitor in Los Angeles than I did in Moscow" LONDON, UK (RECENT) (REUTERS) WIDE OF TORCH HOLDERS (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: BRITAIN'S TRIPLE JUMP WORLD RECORD HOLDER AND FORMER OLYMPIC AND WORLD CHAMPION, LOCOG BOARD MEMBER JONATHAN EDWARDS; WITH COE/ DENISE LEWIS WITH 1948 LONDON OLYMPICS TORCH BEARER AUSTIN PLAYFOOT) EDWARDS AND COE HOLDING TORCH LONDON, UK (APRIL 12, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCOG CHAIRMAN SEBASTIAN COE SAYING: "Well I think the one thing I did learn from my father was that, one of the things he always said to me and it's a good rule in life: 'make sure that at all times you are surrounded by people who are far smarter than you are'. And I have a team here that is an extraordinarily talented team. I don't think a more talented team has ever come in this depth to deliver an Olympic Games" LONDON, UK (FILE - MARCH 2011) (REUTERS) WIDE OF OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS INCLUDING NADIA COMANECI, CARL LEWIS AND REBECCA ADLINGTON (RIGHT) WITH SEB COE, LONDON MAYOR BORIS JOHNSON AND CHILDREN POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS WITH GIANT OLYMPIC TICKET COE AND LEWIS POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS LONDON, UK (APRIL 12, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCOG CHAIRMAN SEBASTIAN COE SAYING: "Games time things will be different. This the first time a Games will have been on these shores for 64 years and there's nobody in this room, there's probably nobody sitting out there now that is going to witness them again in their lifetime. So it's very important that we remember this is a celebration and the city will look different. It will be different, getting about it will be different, but we will do everything we possibly can to make sure that it works both for those that are involved in the Games and those that aren't involved in the Games"
  • Embargoed: 3rd May 2012 13:00
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  • Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Politics,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAALAIDXNWZ4KWBPYU74W5TKKYT
  • Story Text: Grace and grit in the face of adversity were the defining features of a memorable running career which took Sebastian Coe, now Lord Coe, to Olympic 1,500 metres titles in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles four years later.
    Now, after twice summoning the perfect blend of speed, stamina and strategy in the classic Olympic track race, Coe has another finishing line in sight.
    On Wednesday (April 18) the chairman of the London Olympics organising committee embarks on the final lap to the Games opening on July 27 with celebrations to mark the 100-day countdown. It has been a long journey from his days as a competitor during the height of the Cold War to his present role of ensuring London runs a successful Games for the third time.
    In an interview in the organising committee's headquarters in Canary Wharf, Coe said his experiences as an Olympic athlete had been a definite help in his current job.
    "I think it is also very helpful, not the only aspect, but very helpful to come to the project and see it through the eyes of a competitor," Coe said.
    "It does make me, I guess, redouble my efforts so that I don't ever have a competitor coming to me at the end of these Games and saying 'look, because of something you didn't do, we've overlooked, you reduced my chances of competing at the highest level'."
    Watching Coe in his present role, a polished and assured executive with a place in Olympic history already secured, it would be easy to imagine a gilded, serene progression to his current eminence.
    The reality is very different. In Moscow, Coe lost the 800 to his great British rival Steve Ovett, who immediately became installed as favourite to win the double. Instead Coe, after nearly a week on the brink of despair, rallied to win the 1500.
    In the period before the Los Angeles Games, Coe struggled with injury and a serious virus infection. Steve Cram, a third Briton who had announced his presence by winning the first world 1,500 title in 1983, was thought by many to be the coming man.
    In the suffocating heat of the Coliseum, Coe, Ovett and Cram each started in the final. Ovett dropped out due to the respiratory problems which ruined his Games and it was Coe who again prevailed ahead of a fading Cram in the finishing straight. He is still the only man to have won the title twice.
    Now aged 55 but still lithe and athletic, Coe recalled his emotions before his two Olympic experiences a generation ago.
    "I wish I had just sneaked into the team for 1976 in Montreal," Coe said.
    "...although I might not have survived the first round, the opening day of the 1,500 or the 800 I would have understood the enormity of the Games.
    "I would have understood what it is like to be in a village, I would have understood some of the pressures that go with it, I would have understood the level of expectation that is heaped on everybody that becomes an Olympian.
    "If I had had that in Moscow there are things probably I would have understood that would have allowed me, maybe, in the 800 to have done things differently.
    "By the time I got to Los Angeles, of course, I was slightly long in the tooth, 27 or 28. I had had four years of international competition behind and so, although I was as excited by going to Los Angeles I could probably have put it into a better context.
    "I knew what it was that I about to experience and I thought I was more relaxed. I understood more about me as a competitor in Los Angeles that I did in Moscow."
    Coe was coached by his father Peter, who applied the lessons he had learned as a engineer and a manager to help his son become a champion.
    "The one thing I did learn from my father was, one of the things he always said to me and it's a good rule in life: 'make sure that all times you are surrounded by people who are far smarter than you are'. And I have a team here that is an extraordinarily talented team. I don't think a more talented team has ever come in this depth to deliver an Olympic Games."
    The problems facing Coe and his team, despite the glowing endorsements from the International Olympic Committee, are well documented.
    The fickle English weather is one; security, as always in a big global sporting event, is another; and so, too, is London's over-crowded transport system, which periodically threatens to implode.
    "At Games time things will be different," Coe promised. "This is the first time a Games will have been on these shores for 64 years and there's nobody in this room, there's probably nobody sitting out there, now that is going to witness them again in their lifetime.
    "So it's very important that we remember this is a celebration. The city will look different. It will be different, getting about it will be different. We will do everything we can to make sure that it works for those that are involved in the Games and those who aren't involved in the Games.
    "London will be different because London is different. It just is different and I think that the thought that we are celebrating and hosting 200 nations; countries that, actually, most of them have very vibrant, very healthy communities here, tells me that this -- it makes London a very different city."
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