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| London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe
(L) and bid official Allan Pascoe talks to reporters in
Singapore. Olympic celebrations will be put
on hold following the deadly blasts in London.(AFP/Roslan Rahman)
| |
Lord Coe has won his greatest ever race by bringing
the 2012 Olympics to London.
He may have won two Olympic gold medals and smashed 12 world records,
but Coe's achievement in leading London to a stunning victory eclipses them all. His jubilation is understandable as it
is his leadership which has been pivotal in helping London claim
sport's biggest prize.
For so long the London bid was regarded as way off the pace and when
the five candidate cities were originally shortlisted, London was rated
third behind Paris and Madrid. And Paris was universally regarded as such
strong favourites that the contest was seen as effectively over.
But with the exquisite timing that he showed so often in an illustrious
career, Coe helped London produce the late charge which saw them pip their
French rivals.
He joined London's team as one of three vice-chairmen two years ago but
by May last year he was in charge - taking over from American
businesswoman Barbara Cassani.
His CV was perfect for the job, not only did he have the medals and the
profile but his contacts and detailed knowledge of sporting politics gave
him massive influence with those who would decide London's fate. And with
quiet determination and steely resolve, Coe began to turn the fortunes of
London's bid around.
Emphasis was made on the legacy of the Games for London and Britain as
well as trying to address concerns over the capital's transport system.
The use of stars such as Sir Steve Redgrave, David Beckham and Matthew
Pinsent gave the bid an air of authority that was hard to ignore.
With sporting figures, politicians and the public lending support, the
IOC's evaluation commission gave a glowing report after their visit to
London in February and the race was well and truly on.
Coe travelled tirelessly and by the time the world's focus turned to
Singapore for the crucial vote on Wednesday, the London bid had incredible
momentum.
But Coe saved his finest masterstroke for the closing moments
of the campaign when he delivered a very personal speech to IOC delegates
during London's final presentation in Singapore. His speech, in the final
moments of an incredibly close battle, turned the race in London's favour.
Coe left such an indelible mark on the London bid that IOC president
Jacques Rogge paid tribute to him following the vote announcement.
"I met Seb for the first time on the steps of the Olympic restaurant in
Moscow in 1980 when he had won gold. Someone introduced us and we could
not have believed at that time, that we would be signing the host country
contract," he said.
Before the result was announced Coe had said that: "If we win I'll
carry the flame home, if we lose I'll carry
the can."
So many times in his athletics career he was on the shoulders of his
rivals on the final bend before producing his trademark kick for home to
claim victory.
And
he did just that in Singapore to claim Olympic glory for Britain once
again.
(Agencies) |
塞巴斯蒂安·科勛爵贏得了他一生之中最輝煌的一次勝利：他成功地把2012年奧運(yùn)會的主辦權(quán)帶回了倫敦。
他曾經(jīng)贏得過兩塊奧運(yùn)金牌，他曾經(jīng)打破12項(xiàng)世界紀(jì)錄，然而，所有這一切在他帶領(lǐng)倫敦取得奧運(yùn)會主辦權(quán)的輝煌勝利面前都黯然失色。我們不難理解他當(dāng)時(shí)的狂喜——倫敦這次能贏得體育界的最高殊榮，離不開他出色的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能力。
在很長一段時(shí)間里，人們一直認(rèn)為倫敦離申奧成功尚有不小的距離。當(dāng)五個候選城市名單最初公布時(shí)，倫敦排在巴黎和馬德里之后，位居第三。人們普遍看好巴黎，巴黎的優(yōu)勢如此明顯，以至于人們認(rèn)為申奧爭奪戰(zhàn)其實(shí)早已結(jié)束。
但是，憑借著巧妙的時(shí)間安排，塞巴斯蒂安·科幫助倫敦發(fā)起了最后一輪猛攻，并最終擊敗競爭對手法國。這種巧妙安排時(shí)間的天賦在其輝煌的運(yùn)動生涯中早已展現(xiàn)無遺。
兩年前，他加入了倫敦奧申委，與另外兩人一起成為奧申委副主席。去年五月份，他取代了美國女商人芭芭拉·卡薩尼，榮升為倫敦奧申委主席。
科的履歷表明他是這項(xiàng)工作的不二人選，他不僅是奧運(yùn)金牌得主，擁有輝煌的體育人生，而且他在國際體育界的人脈資源以及對體育政治的了解使他能夠影響那些決定倫敦申奧命運(yùn)的人。憑借著沉著冷靜的意志和堅(jiān)定不移的決心，科逐漸扭轉(zhuǎn)了倫敦申奧的命運(yùn)。
在整個申奧過程中，倫敦一直強(qiáng)調(diào)奧運(yùn)遺產(chǎn)對倫敦乃至整個英國的巨大影響，同時(shí)也盡力排除人們對倫敦交通系統(tǒng)的擔(dān)憂。他們還邀請一些明星前來助陣，史蒂夫·雷德格雷夫爵士、大衛(wèi)·貝克漢姆和馬修·品森特的友情相助給倫敦申奧籠罩了一層權(quán)威氣氛，任何人都不敢小覷。
在眾多體育明星、政客和公眾的大力支持下，國際奧委會評估小組在二月份視察倫敦之后發(fā)表了一份熱情洋溢的報(bào)告，申奧之爭這時(shí)也才真正開始。
科不知疲倦地來回奔波。本周三（7月6日），當(dāng)全世界的目光都聚集在即將在新加坡進(jìn)行的關(guān)鍵性投票時(shí)，倫敦申奧的勢頭已讓人大吃一驚。
但是，科將其完美的一擊留在了這場爭奪戰(zhàn)的最后關(guān)頭。當(dāng)倫敦奧申委代表團(tuán)在新加坡作最后陳述時(shí)，他向國際奧委會的代表們做了一個極具個性化的演講。在這場異常激烈的競爭的最后時(shí)刻，他的演講使申奧之爭朝著有利于倫敦的方向發(fā)展
科為倫敦申奧留下了濃墨重彩的一筆，連國際奧委會主席雅克·羅格在宣布最終投票結(jié)果之后也向他表示敬意。
“我第一次遇見塞布是在莫斯科奧運(yùn)會餐廳的臺階上。那是在1980年，當(dāng)時(shí)他剛剛獲得奧運(yùn)金牌。我們是經(jīng)別人介紹認(rèn)識的。那時(shí)，我們無論如何也不會想到，有朝一日我們會一起簽署東道國協(xié)議。”他這樣說。
在最終結(jié)果揭曉之前，科就放言：“如果我們贏了，我會把奧運(yùn)圣火帶回家；如果我們輸了，我會為此負(fù)責(zé)。”
在其運(yùn)動生涯中，他曾多次在最后一個彎道時(shí)還是與對手并駕齊驅(qū)，直到最后階段才發(fā)動他那標(biāo)志性的沖刺，并最終為祖國贏得勝利。
本周他在新加坡又上演了這一幕，不過這一次，他把奧林匹克的榮耀再次帶回英國。
（中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2005-07-08 10:50
