Sebastian Coe desperate for Delhi success... because half his family live there!-28/9/10

Sebastian Coe desperate for Delhi success... because half his family live there!


By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 2:38 PM on 28th September 2010

My Stories Sebastian Coe is crossing his fingers the Commonwealth Games in Delhi will be a success despite last week's chaos in his family's home city.

Coe, the chairman of the London 2012 Olympics, has many relatives in Delhi - his mother was half-Indian - and he believes the Games can strike a blow for cities and countries that do not have a history of staging major events.

Coe visited the venues in the Indian capital a few weeks ago and having gauged the reaction of athletes arriving in Delhi, he is confident the Games can recover from last week when several teams, came close to pulling out due to 'filthy' conditions in the athletes' village and safety fears, and a number of individual competitors did so.

Man on a mission: London's leading figure, Lord Sebastian Coe, is hopeful the Commonwealth Games will be a success
He said: 'I believe that they are going to be a success and I say that with a little bit of self-interest because half my family live in Delhi, I'm half-Indian and I'm very proud the Commonwealth Games are going to be in that country.

'I think when athletes and spectators get there they will find it an extremely hospitable environment and I think they will fall in love with India.

'I really want this to work and I see no reason why ultimately it shouldn't.'

Coe said the Delhi organisers needed to ensure the Games worked for the athletes but the challenges they faced had to be recognised.

He added: 'If you get it right for athletes, you get it right for so much of the project. You are going to give them a decent village, venues that work, training venues and a transport system that does not unravel within minutes.

Concerns: The Commonwealth Games in New Delhi has been blighted by problems
'You have to hold organising committees to the same standards, as every competitor there will have spent more than half their young lives getting there.

'Having said that we also have to recognise that it's really important that countries which have not traditionally staged major sport events should be encouraged to do so, and you have to recognise that there are going to be challenges if you want to truly globalise sport.'

Coe, who will go to Delhi in person next week, insisted athletes such as triple jumper Phillips Idowu who had pulled out of the Games should not be criticised for doing so.

He himself decided against taking part in the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton in favour of the European Championships in Prague two weeks later.

Going potty: English athletes, including Susie Gilbert, have settled into the village despite health concerns
'I feel strongly the athlete has to make those decisions, they are personal decisions and you have to respect that,' said Coe.

'Personally I would always choose a championship over anything else, you are going to be assessed by medals in championships at the end of your career.

'I'm not remotely criticising competitors that choose not to go to a major championship - they have all sorts of challenges: the longevity of their career, what's happening the following year, training patterns and cycles, how hard their season has been.

'There's no overwhelming theme for any of those competitors not to go to Delhi.

'In 1978 I would have loved to have done both but felt that going from Edmonton