Lord Coe: I can't let the athletes down…that would be a cardinal sin

Evening Standard

There is much that Lord Coe can feel satisfied about but for all his considerable achievements on and off the track, none would match London having a successful Olympics.

I am talking to Coe in his office in Canary Wharf just as he has come back from Moscow, where he returned to the scene of the first of his two Olympic golds. While standing in the Luzhniki Stadium he could not help but reflect on that moment in 1980 when he beat Steve Ovett in the 1,500metres just six days after losing to his British team-mate and great rival over his favoured 800m.

"That moment was massive for me," says the chairman of London 2012. "It defined the way I think about the world, the way I do things. But I don't kid myself that this is a more profound moment. This collective effort to deliver the Games will inspire people long after they have forgotten I was a runner. Most people do not even know I ran. They think I am an event organiser."