Remembering all of those Brit concerns before South Africa hosted a flawless FIFA World Cup, it's a bit sad to see the rather silly problems that are emerging in London.
Who's the third world country now, England?
Who's the third world country now, England?
Paul Deighton smiled as he walked through the Athlete's Village at London's Olympic Park.
Nothing appeared to be bothering the chief executive of the London Olympics. Not the growing scandal over security, or the smattering of unfinished venues, or the transportation tie-ups. Not even the pouring rain seemed to get under his skin. "Welcome. Enjoy," he said with a smile when stopped for a brief interview Monday afternoon. "The sun is going to creep through."
[snip]
The venues "are pretty much ready," added Deighton. "There are always some final bits and pieces, like putting on the look. It has been raining a lot, so at outdoor venues, you sort of wait for the last minute and polish things up and get them ready."
Construction workers could be seen around the Olympic Park which houses the massive stadium and a dozen or so other venues.
But the bigger concern, as athletes and officials begin to arrive, is security. Games organizers and the government have been scrambling to cope with the failure of security giant G4S Plc. to deliver a sufficient number of security officers. The company won a $440-million contracts in 2008 to provide most of the security staff for the Games, including 10,400 officers and 3,300 student trainees. But last week the company?s CEO Nick Buckles announced G4S had only managed to train about 4,000 staff and the company won?t be able to meet its target.
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