Coe promises two Games delivered in integrated way

Olympic Games chief Sebastian Coe reacts during a news conference in the Olympic Park at the London 2012 Olympic Games July 29, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - With two days to go before the London Paralympics' opening ceremony, the chairman of the organizing committee ensured that the two Games will be delivered by the host city in an integrated way.

"We're not only on the eve of great sport and great potential legacy. We're also very pleased to have tested, quite rightly, the amount of time and focus as an organizing committee in delivering these Games (Olympic and Paralympic) in an integrated way," Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), said in a press conference on Monday.

"We have the same management teams, we have used many of the same venues, we have a large chunk of our workforce focused on delivering the highest levels of standards that we possibly can, and we have also met the overriding commitment that was to make them integrated but distinct. That, I think we have really achieved. We look forward to fantastic days ahead and fantastic sport," he added.

Coe said the Paralympics will be an exciting event boosted by record tickets sales. "We put 70,000 tickets on the website at about 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon and by 8 this morning 50,000 had gone. This is not a country that's going to sit this one out. And that has been very exciting for us."

According to LOCOG, about 2.4 million of 2.5 million available tickets have been sold.

"We're on target to have record ticket sales and my gut instinct is that over the next few days a chunk more will be out there. There will be about half a million (fans from overseas), which is a record," he added.

The chairman felt confident to start the Games in a fantastic way after they were encouraged by 10 new broadcast arrangements being made in the past few days.

"We also have concluded in the last few days that 10 more broadcast arrangements around the world have been made. That means there will be coverage in over 100 countries, with more athletes here than ever before, more countries competing, some for the first time, and of course more media and broadcasters than ever before. So that is a fantastic way to start the Games."

The London 2012 Paralympic Games, running from August 29 to September 9, will bring together 4,200 athletes from 166 countries and regions to compete in 503 medal events from 20 sports.