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Coe: Olympics can help capital beat recession
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent25.11.08
OLYMPICS boss Sebastian Coe believes the 2012 Games can provide the economic boost to help London though a recession.
He said the Games would account for "six to seven per cent" of economic activity in the next five years.
"More than 3,500 people are on the [Games] building site currently, of which 10 per cent had been permanently unemployed," Lord Coe told an Olympics summit in London.
"That's why we should be on the front foot. In good times or in bad this is a project that really has an extraordinary impact."
Lord Coe spoke out after Kevan Gosper, the Australian head of the International Olympic Committee's press commission, said: "I think you and your team face the toughest time - short of war-time - to get the project to 2012."
IOC president Jacques Rogge said the London Olympics would survive the test.
"The Games have survived difficult times before," he said. "They have survived and thrived because of what they mean to people all over the world."
Mr Rogge also praised the record-breaking medal haul of the British team in Beijing.
Reader views (2)
It's time to think about cancelling the 2012 Olympics. Not only can the U.K. not afford it, but the rest of the world also won't be able to afford the costs of sending athletes. Two Olympics were cancelled during WWII, and the current grave sitation worldwide will hardly have stabilized by 2012.
- Phil Jones, London UK
Yea, and how many of these builders on the Olympic site are citizens of other EU countries? Good luck to them, though, as these building jobs are only temporary, don't pay enough to fund any high-street buying spree, and don't result in the UK earning foreign currency by exports.
- Rachel M, London, UK
