The 13-member International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission ended its four-day inspection of London’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games with Evaluation Commission chairperson Nawal El Moutakakel congratulating London’s 2012 on its quality and professionalism with which the whole process has been handled “under the leadership of a great Olympian – and a good friend – Sebastian Coe”.
She added, “we have had a very productive visit and would like to thank the committee for their hard work, preparation and passion. We asked honest questions and got honest answers”.
El Moutawakel said the Commission had been impressed by the level of government backing for the bid and the support of the Queen. She said, “we had a very nice dinner with the Queen and were delighted to learn that she is backing the bid”.
In fact the Queen broke with Royal tradition and waved the inspectors off from the balcony following the dinner at Buckingham Palace Friday night. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said, “it concluded, and I think this is a first, with the Queen climbing out on to the balcony in order to wave the bus off. She insisted she was going to be there to wave the bus off through the gates of Buckingham Palace so they would have felt well celebrated”.
London 2012 head Sebastian Coe said he was pleased with the visit and said his team had done everything humanly possible to impress the inspectors.
The Olympic Commission said Saturday they had been assured that London was committed to improving the transport system.
On Friday Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, presented London’s security plans and told the inspectors that Britain’s minimalist, discreet approach to policing was a powerful part of London’s bid.
Blair said venue security was estimated to cost $38.4 million. All other security would fall under the $320 million budget contained within the $3.8 billion overall funding package, with the British government picking up any unforeseen extra costs.
Fifteen thousand officers would be on duty at any one time during a London Games – 10 per cent of Britain’s police force – and would be backed by 6,000 security officers and 10,000 volunteers.
He dismissed the suggestion that London would be a prime target for a terror attack, saying that the four other bid cities – Madrid, New York, Paris and Moscow – were all equally high profile.
