Milestone day for Games planning

The update to the Association of National Olympic Committees in Korea also came on the Olympic Delivery Authority's first day as a statutory body.

In his address, Coe said: "It's 271 days since London was elected as the new Olympic and Paralympic host city just 2,307 days to go and our planning, as you would expect, has moved on.

"Our commitment to sport and the needs of the athletes, national Olympic committees and sporting federations however, has not changed, and remains at the very heart of our preparations for the London 2012 Games."

Coe told National Olympic Committee chiefs that the Olympic Village for their athletes would be located within the Olympic Park and would be the most spacious and accessible in Olympic and Paralympic history.

Coe also told the meeting that a national audit of sporting facilities had been commissioned to help national teams to gain pre-Games access to the best facilities available in the UK.

He also updated on the progress of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games Bill: "The Bill formally creates the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), responsible for building and delivering the key venues, infrastructure and legacy, including the Olympic Park and Village."

"We follow in the footsteps of a succession of great Olympic host cities that have left legacies from the Games - legacies here in Seoul which modernised and launched our hosts today into a new era of international engagement.

"The Seoul Games, also importantly, was the catalyst for Asia's continuing development as a new sporting power.

"In London in 2012 we want the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to leave a legacy for the world's youth, the life blood and future not just of the Olympic Movement but all sporting movements."

3 April 2006

Click here to read press release and download full transcript of speech