Lord Sebastian Coe, president of the organising committee of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, rides a bicycle along a street in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 11, 2011. Coe launched the "Olympic bicycles" at the British embassy in Beijing. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
BEIJING, China, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- With less than 38 weeks counting down towards London 2012 Paralympic Games, Organizing Committee chairman Sebastian Coe Sunday claimed that preparation progress was fully on track.
"We don't have many weeks now before the Olympic and Paralympic Games start. But we are in a good shape," Coe, chairman of the London Organizing Committee (LOCOG), said during the 2011 International Paralympic Committee(IPC) General Assembly and Conference.
London Paralympic Games will start from August 29 to September 9 next year. Many of the Paralympic venues were completed in construction ahead of the schedule but overlay project and high-tech facilities were yet to be finished.
"We also want to show the world that Paralympic sport has a chance not only to bring a new generation of sport fans to support paralympic sport, but also the paralympic sport can help us challenge some of the misconceptions about disability."
According to statistics from Coe, more than one third of UK adults believed the Paralympic Games would bring about a breakthrough for the way people with a disability were viewed in UK. Over half believed the Games would show the world how to treat people with a disability with respect and equality.
Coe also highlighted London Paralympics ticket sales success as a "good sign". Based on statistics from LOCOG, many sessions and some sports including Cycling and Wheelchair Rugby were sold out with over one million tickets available in the first ticket window. When tickets back on sale on December 2, around 15,000 tickets were sold in the first 15 minutes.
"Our ticket sales are breaking all records which is a very good sign. We've sold pretty much of the Paralympic tickets with still eight months to go, which is fantastic," said Coe by mentioning that Paralympic Games were created in Great Britain in 1948 at the time of London Olympic Games.
As to the big challenge over the next eight months, Coe admitted that LOCOG was in need of scale up the organization to deliver a Games "of great complexity".
Currently LOCOG's workforce is increasing by 120 employees a month and will eventually reach a total of 6,000 people by the start of the Games.
Lord Sebastian Coe, president of the organising committee of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, rides a bicycle along a street in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 11, 2011. Coe launched the "Olympic bicycles" at the British embassy in Beijing. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
