Furious fortnight ahead as London Games loom

Associated Press

LONDON

With the opening ceremony less than two weeks away, there’s a mad dash to the finish line at the Olympics and it has nothing to do with sprinters.

Hundreds of construction workers are toiling away inside the Olympic Park, laying cables, installing seats and adding the last layers of sparkle and polish to the venues.

There’s plenty to do.

“It’s looking a bit industrial isn’t it?” said Chris Allen, a Londoner who came to the edge of the park to have a look. “I am not seeing England’s green fields. I do hope it’s going to look better.”

Shades of Athens, where chronic delays pushed workers to the brink to complete preparations in time for the games to start in 2004? Hardly, say London organizers who have prided themselves on finishing their massive construction project ahead of time and on budget. Things may look a bit messy now, they say, but all will be fine by the time the curtain goes up, on July 27, when the torch is lit.

“We’re not at the stage yet where we’re ready to flick the TV on,” James Bulley, director of venues for organizing committee LOCOG, said. “The athletes aren’t ready to start competing yet, either. We want all our venues to look absolutely spectacular and pristine.

“The venues are ready. We’re now just doing the final setup for the games. We’re in a good place. We’re on track. There’s nothing I’m worried about.”

The last few weeks and days are all about putting up signs, fitting in the remaining seats and completing the landscaping.

“We will be mowing lawns right up to the opening ceremony,” LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe said.

The last thing organizers need at this point is a crisis over readiness of the venues. At the moment, they’re coping with the fallout from a bungled contract by private security group G4S that forced the government to call in about 3,500 additional troops — many just returned from tours of duty in Afghanistan — to fill the shortfall.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said it’s normal for host cities to face a flurry of last-ditch issues.

“It’s not peculiar for London,” he said. “We’ve always had difficulties in the days leading up to the games in the previous games and the games were of an impeccable nature.

“This is something that does not worry us. We’re confident that everything will be fine by the opening ceremony day.”

Even Andrew Boff, a member of the London Assembly and vocal critic of the Olympic project, has no doubts.

“It’s the nature of any games,” he said. “They look unfinished before you get there. But the venues are ready. They’ve been tested. You can do a lot in 12 days. If it weren’t ready, Seb Coe would have his Lordship or knighthood taken away.”