Higgins & Co

If news of rising budgets and the Lemley affair is spoiling your preparation for the London 2012 Games, can I suggest a more sugary alternative? Visit the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) new Olympic blog site and you will find a steady stream of news stories that give off a warm Olympic glow.

At London 2012: Work in Progress, on blog.london2012.com, there are blogs from all the leading Olympic players including Sebastian Coe, David Higgins and Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Games. They offer little insight into recent controversies, but do give glimpses into what’s going on behind the scenes.

Deighton reveals that his team has scribbled down a list of 10 thing to transform the Games, such as satellite navigation for pinpointing yachts in the sailing events and technology for the diving. There are also juicy stats: did you know 75,000 litres of milk, 200,000 chairs and 15,000km of toilet paper will be required during the Games (and another 20,000km of loo rolls for the stadium contractor)?

Higgins, chief executive of the ODA, is keen to show that work on site has begun. He introduces Fionnula – not an aspiring athlete but a tunnel-boring machine used to bury power cables. Meanwhile, Coe confesses his “frustration over the negative media hype”.

What strikes you is the number of air miles racked up by Olympic bosses. As well as Coe in Kuwait, there was Paul Deighton at the Asian Games, and a report by “Tony” at the Kuala Lumpur Regional Paralympics.

That said, the website is nicely presented and should come into its own once construction starts in earnest …