IOC President Jacques Rogge said London has delivered a "very good Games," with athletes, teams and federations "delighted with the facilities," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. With four days remaining, Rogge said that he had "no complaints with what he had seen" so far. Rogge: "All in all I would say these are very good Games and I am a very happy man" (REUTERS, 8/8). The AP reported that Rogge said a successful British team has been "very important" in lifting the mood of the home fans. Britain had 22 Gold Medals through early Wednesday, its best since London hosted the 1908 Games. Rogge said, "There is the success of the home team, which is always very important for the mood of the public, and our British friends are performing in an unbelievable way." Rogged added the athletes are "ecstatic" about conditions in the Athletes' Village (AP, 8/8).
COE SAYS THANKS: The PA's Ellen Branagh wrote that LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe said the armed forces and their involvement in the London Games has been one of the “defining features” of the Olympics. Coe visited Hainault temporary camp in Essex along with Chief of the Defence Staff General David Richards to give a "heartfelt thank you" to troops who are helping provide security at the Games. Coe said, "The reason I'm here is really out of gratitude, to thank those guys for stepping in, admittedly quite late in the day and also to thank their families who I know have possibly had some of their summer plans disrupted." Coe added, "They've discharged their duties with professionalism, with humour, and with grace, and that has really gone noticed in pretty much every corner of this project" (PA, 8/8).
