Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair13 April 2012
Six months from today, the eyes of
the world will be on London with the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012
Olympic Games. With excitement building around the globe, I feel this day marks
a good opportunity to look at the enormous scale of the project.I often talk about the Games being a
massive logistical exercise, the largest in peacetime. This is evident when
considering the range of people whose needs we have to satisfy between now and the end of the Games.Heart of our GamesFirst, the athletes – the people at
the heart of our Games. There will be over 10,000 Olympic athletes and over
4,000 Paralympic athletes competing at London 2012. To put this into perspective,
less than 1,000 athletes compete at the FIFA World Cup. Furthermore, our Olympians come from
over 200 nations, more than are represented at the UN.Next we come to our
spectators. Eight million tickets will be sold for the Olympic Games:
this is
the same number as Athens 2004, Euro 2012 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup
combined. A further two million tickets will be sold for the Paralympic
Games. We are currently working hard to finalise the ticket designs,
official souvenir programmes and many more licensed products.And then there's the media: across print and broadcast there are over 22,000 people
covering the Games. In fact, when you include the technical teams across
broadcast, there are around 28,000 accredited media attending. We need to
house, feed and provide facilities for them, which is a massive job in itself –
and that’s before the actual sport begins!Extraordinary summerThen there are the people all over
the UK, tens of millions of people joining in with the Games. Whether it’s
through the 1,000 Inspire programmes; as part of the Get Set education
programme; taking part in the London 2012 Festival; or signing up as a
Local Leader; there are great opportunities for everyone to get involved with
what is set to be an extraordinary summer. Elsewhere, our Torch team is busy
meticulously plotting for the Torch Relay routes, planning Torchbearer spots
and discussing every evening and lunch time celebration – including the
Paralympic Torch Relay Flame Festivals – with local authorities.And finally, the people watching at
home around the world. The estimated television viewership will be bigger than
the Royal Wedding, with over four billion viewers worldwide. Our Games-time website
is likely to have as many visitors as there are internet users in the USA, Canada and Mexico.Everything we do is focused on
creating the best possible Games-time experience for all of these groups of
people. It's quite a responsibility – but at the same time an
extraordinary opportunity.