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ShareSingapore: Singapore: The global financial crisis will in no way prevent London from hosting exactly the Olympic spectacle it promised in more affluent times, London' Games chief Sebastian Coe said on Thursday.
Better still, the 2012 extravaganza can serve as an antidote to the self-interest that sparked the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s, the former Olympic champion added.
"Given that we are where we are at the moment, economically, in large part because of rather questionable, self-interested activity... There has probably never been a better time to reaffirm the Olympic values of respect, friendship, courage, determination and equality," Coe said.
"They (Olympic values) are the very antithesis of the things that have got us to this position now."
Dismissing suggestions that the financial crisis could impinge on London Games, Coe said a combination of planning, crystal ball gazing and plain old fashioned luck means the city will absolutely live up to the promises it made to the world in 2005 when it was awarded the Olympics.
"Even given that back then was a time when the economy was as good as most people could remember, we were still committed to delivering a sustainable Games in a responsible way," the sports icon-turned politician said.
