The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has praised the construction of venues for the London 2012 Games on its latest visit to the capital.

The IOC Coordination Commission visited the Olympic Stadium, the Velodrome and the first completed residential block of the Athletes' Village, and was impressed with both the planning and the high quality of work being carried out.

The positive reviews means the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) can now look ahead confidently to its testing programme, due to commence in July.

-- Advertisement --

Coordination Commission Chairman Denis Oswald said: "The venues look fantastic thanks in large part to the vision and planning of London 2012 and the construction team, who have clearly taken great pride in their work. We are very pleased with the progress, and we can see that the athletes are really at the heart of these Games."

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: "The athlete in me knows that you never want to face something in an Olympic and Paralympic Games that you haven't encountered thousands of times before in training or previous competition – and it is this principle which is guiding our preparations. We are in great shape and with less than 500 days to go we are delighted with the IOC's very positive feedback."

This was the Commission's eighth visit to London to monitor preparations for next summer's Games. Their next visit is scheduled to take place 5-7 October 2011.

(CD/GK)