International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has declared himself happy with London's progress for the 2012 Games but warned organisers to be ready for the unexpected.

The end of October marks 1,000 days to go until the opening ceremony on London, and Rogge said in almost every area London has progressed well.

But the IOC president warned that the preparations could be disrupted by unforeseen events - for example the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 had to completely re-think their security plan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks a few months before.

Rogge added that the challenge for London organisers now was to move from the construction phase of the preparations into the detailed organisation of the Games.

"With around 1,000 days to go we are absolutely happy with the developments and the preparations - London are progressing according to their masterplan, they stay within budget and it is a very strong team," said Rogge.

"But there is always a need to be vigilant until the very last day because unexpected things do happen.

"To give an example, no one could have foreseen what happened with the 9/11 tragedy in New York - you cannot plan for that, you cannot prepare for it, and it had a big impact in planning the security of Olympic Games.

"Organising the Games is always a very difficult and complicated task and there are definitely always issues that are not foreseen.

"But I think the preparation has been really excellent and we are moving forward now from the construction phase to the management phase and the organisation of the Games.

"There needs to be a shift of attitude and that is the switch London are going to have to do.
"I remain very confident it's going to be a success."

The one issue that London has wrestled with is over the venues for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics to be staged. Organisers have ruled out building a temporary venue in north Greenwich and are trying to persuade the sports to move to Wembley - which is across the other side of the city.

Rogge said he was keen London agreed a solution with the sports as soon as possible.

He added: "This is important for two reasons - the first is that international federations and national Olympic committees need to know where they are going to compete, and secondly the switch from the construction to the operational phase is an important aspect of the preparation for the Games."

Rogge also supported plans by British Government ministers to make athletes in London agree to having their rooms searched by anti-doping officials as a condition of taking part in the Games.

Rogge said although sport was winning the fight against doping, he accepted the problem could never be completely eliminated.

The IOC president said: "Our view is very simple: athletes competing in the UK must submit to UK law.

"There is a law that guarantees the rights of citizens and residents and that will rule the issue of searching of rooms. Why would there be an exception for athletes?

"I have made doping the IOC's number one priority and I believe that we are progressing but we know doping will never disappear completely.

"We cannot be naive - doping is to sport as crime is to society, but we have made it far more difficult for the cheaters to cheat and that is quite an achievement."