‘Olympic stadium will leave a strong legacy’

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Sebastian Coe poses for a photograph with an Olympic torch at the Tower of London in central London. REUTERS photo

London 2012 Olympics supremo Sebastian Coe insisted yesterday that the 2012 Olympic Stadium will leave a legacy to benefit elite competition and community users alike.

English Championship outfit West Ham was originally slated to take over as tenant after the Games but that deal collapsed in October amid legal challenges from Tottenham and Leyton Orient.

West Ham now hopes to become tenants even though the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) will accept a ground-share by a football and a rugby team.

Coe told BBC Radio: “My early hopes for that stadium going back 20 years were a Stade de France-type model but I do think given what we now have...track and field will have it for 20-odd days a year which will be for community use and elite level competition.

“And with other tenants in there and possibly a football club - I think this is something that can work and will work with community use at the heart.” Coe insisted the idea of leaving a long-term legacy was key.
“What you have is a stadium designed with legacy in mind so you could have had a 25,000-seater track and field facility.

“What we now have is a home for national track and field which we’ve never had and the first major legacy of that is having won the right to stage the 2017 World Athletics Championships.” cw AFP