London Olympics chief organizer Seb Coe said on Tuesday that the Beijing Olympics has set a high standard for future Olympic hosts.
"The Beijing Games will be remembered in my view for wonderful elite sport, superb organization, stunning venues and spectacular opening and closing ceremonies," Coe said at a press conference held in the Main Press Center for the Beijing Paralympics.
Coe, a two-time Olympic champion who heads the London Organizing Committee for the Olymopic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), highlighted the LOCOG's responsibility over the next four years.
"Our responsibility over the next four years is to deliver a Games that continues to excite and engage young people both in Olympic and Paralympic sport and to leave structures behind that go on delivering for young people," he said.
Coe said London had learned from Beijing that the Games was not just about the timely delivery of infrastructure, but also about legacy and where the emphasis of the organization should lie.
"Athletes have to be at the center of these championships, if you have athletes at the center of the project, you have to deliver well in so many other function areas," he said.
"Secondly, the presentation of the sports to further and foster the understanding of those sports with one aim in mind to broaden the interest among young people in Olympic and Paralympic sport."
Coe said he had been impressed with the number of spectators at the venues for the Paralympics.
"We want to be able to deliver the same full stadiums in London," he said. "I think we have a very good chance of doing that given our own emotional attachment to the Paralympic movement."
(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2008)