Billions of pounds lavished on sports venues

The 2012 Olympics will mark the culmination of years of planning The one-year countdown to the 2012 Olympics got under way here Wednesday as top officials predicted London was firmly on course to deliver a successful games with just 12 months to go.
International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge was set to extend a formal invitation to the world's athletes during a 7:00pm ceremony at Trafalgar Square in the culmination of day-long events to mark the one-year milestone.
British diving star Tom Daley will plunge into the waters of the gleaming new Aquatics Centre, one of an array of new venues which have been built at the 2.5 square kilometre (one square mile) Olympic Park site in east London.
Synchronised swimmers will also take to the pool while the British capital is also showcasing some of the venues being incorporated into the city's most famous landmarks, including a beach volleyball arena at Horseguard's Parade.
London 2012 organising committee (LOCOG) chairman Sebastian Coe said Tuesday preparations for the Games were on schedule with 90 percent of venues complete.
"We are fully on track, we are on schedule, and we are within budget with one year to go and I take particular pride in that," Coe told journalists in a conference call for international media.
Some of Britain's most famous athletes were in attendance early Wednesday as media were shown around the Aquatics Centre, with former distance runner Steve Cram giving the venue a glowing review.
"It is stunning. It's absolutely stunning," the former Olympic silver medallist told the BBC.
"A lot of people talked about the venues in Beijing, talking about how good they were - the Bird's Nest, the Cube. This is better than the Cube. It's not because I'm British, it genuinely is."
Meanwhile London organisers also received a vote of confidence from Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, who said the London Games may surpass the 2000 Sydney Olympics -- widely regarded as the best ever.
"I think we're all pretty proud of Sydney (2000) and many people say that Sydney remains the benchmark," Coates said.
"But from where I've been sitting London has been six months to a year ahead of us in their preparations all the way through since they were awarded the Games six years ago."
" ... these Games now have the very British stamp to them and I think there's every prospect of them surpassing our Games."
Rogge meanwhile has described London's preparations as "excellent."
"They are on time, on budget. Quality-wise we have not the slightest concern," Rogge told The Guardian.
"There is no doubt about that. London is very well organised, the team is very strong. We are very optimistic."
While construction work for the Games has progressed smoothly, organisers have come under fire over the distribution for tickets to the Games, which saw hundreds of thousands of applicants end up empty-handed.
Coe insists howver that the disappointment was unavoidable given the "unprecedented" demand, with around 23 million applications for tickets made by some two million people.
"There were 23 million ticket applications by two million people, that's an extraordinary volume, a world record-breaking demand for any sporting event on the planet," Coe said.