The great and good of world sport believe the 2012 London Olympics is primed to go down one of the best Games in history.
The ringing endorsements at Monday’s Laureus World Sports Awards in the British capital came on the day it was revealed that football is the only sport among the 26 events at the Games which has not sold out its ticket allocation. It’s a record that has seen a host of former Olympians back London to rival recent Games hosts Sydney, Athens and Beijing. “The atmosphere will be unique,” said former 400m hurdles world and Olympic champion Edwin Moses. “I have seen London’s Olympic venues and they are fantastic,” the American track great added. “It will help sport, and British sport in general, progress in years to come
Britain’s double Olympic decathlon gold medallist Daley Thompson echoed those sentiments, saying: “There will be unbelievable legacy afterwards. It will be the best ever Olympic Games. “People talk about Beijing and Sydney, but I think everyone will be blown away with how successful these Olympics will be. You only have to look at the ticket sales to see how it has caught the imagination.” At the annual Laureus ceremony, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic was named Sportsman of the Year and Kenyan distance runner Vivian Cheruiyot Sportswoman of the Year. Djokovic enjoyed one of the best years of any player in the history of professional tennis in 2011, winning three of the sport’s four Grand Slams as he took the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles. “This is up there with the prizes you can win,” said Djokovic, who saw off competition for the Laureus Award from sprint star Usain Bolt, Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel and Barcelona football maestro Lionel Messi. “But this wasn’t an individual effort,” said Djokovic, who recently retained his Australian title with a marathon five-set win over Rafael Nadal.
