London will not try to top Beijing: Coe
BEIJING (Reuters) - Organizers of the 2012 London Olympics say they will not aim to beat the scale of the Beijing Games but will instead focus on providing a lasting legacy for the surrounding community.
In an interview with British broadcaster the BBC, the chairman of the 2012 organizing committee Sebastian Coe said his team would focus on providing sustainable venues and not just 16 days of spectacular sport.
"The International Olympic Committee themselves recognize that this is the last edition of a Games which is going to look and feel like this," Coe, a double Olympic champion, said.
"It's a mistake to think that Games model themselves on previous Games. Every Games I've been to has been very different.
"But we can be creative -- we know that more people will probably come to London for the Games than to other cities."
Advertising its new economic clout, China has invested $43 billion on its Games and the opening ceremony in the 91,000 seater-Bird's Nest stadium was a spectacular affair played out to 80 world leaders.
The London Olympic stadium will hold 80,000 people during the Games but will be scaled back afterwards to a more compact 25,000-seater.
"The days of just leaving 90,000-seater stadia -- particularly in London, where you'd have two (with Wembley) -- are over," said Coe. "You have to provide something for local communities to do more than simply press their noses up against."
Coe said Britain's performance in Beijing, where it is third in the medal table, would also give the country a fantastic platform for 2012.
"I've always felt the primary purpose of a medal is that it signifies a big British moment -- and big British moments in sport have to have a conversion rate," he said.
"For the Chris Hoys of this world, and our rowers and swimmers, the real challenge for our governing bodies and for sport more broadly is, how many people can you get into the sport off the back of that great moment?"
(Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by Alison Williams)
