Jack Lemley assertion that working on the London Olympics could have ruined his reputation for delivering projects on time will hit the confidence of all those involved

Damn it, back in August I had time to ask Jack Lemley just one question, so why the hell didn’t I pose: “Will the 2012 Olympics be built to time and on budget?”

Now the so-called 'terminator' of construction has answered just that enquiry in his local rag, the Idaho Statesman, just a few weeks after his resignation from the Olympic Delivery Authority. “I went there to build things, not to sit and talk about it,” he declared. “In any event there was a huge amount of local politics.”

He then went on to say that London “will stage a superb Olympic Games”. Hmmmm… bit late for that Jack.

This is the first truly serious debacle to have hit London 2012. There will, doubtlessly, be others, given the scale of the event. But this is quite serious. Much of the ODA’s confidence will doubtlessly be sapped, while the International Olympic Committee is bound to start asking difficult questions, particularly as it will be keen to avoid the fiasco of Athens two years ago, which saw swimmers competing in an incomplete venue.

Imagine that? Athens is at least warm. If we don’t have a roof on our aquatic centre, it’s quite likely that it’ll be chucking it down in the cold.

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