IOC President Jacques Rogge will "shun the luxury and convenience of his swish Mayfair hotel for the fun and games of the athletes' village" during the Olympic Games, according to Jacquelin Magnay of the London TELEGRAPH. In a wide-ranging interview with the Telegraph, Rogge said that he enjoys the camaraderie of the athletes and the food in the dining hall that he will try to spend "as much time as possible" there. His schedule allows "for as many as five overnight stays" in the village. Rogge said, "I will stay as much as I can. I won’t be able to stay full-time because I have too many functions with the organising committee, but after that I will go to the athletes village and stay there." On Heathrow immigration queues he said, "We have alerted LOCOG about this, and they have told me that the authorities will take the necessary measures. It will be OK, it is no big concern." On overt measures to protect the air space above the Olympics he said, "In Albertville there were missiles, in Salt Lake City too and there was sophisticated security in Athens and in Beijing, so it's not new." On transport and the Olympic Lanes he said, "We need athletes, coaches, and referees [to arrive] on time, everyone has to make their function, we need the public’s co-operation, all the advice we have is that people will not wait too late, and they will travel different circuits than they travel normally. " On LOCOG’s £2.2B ($3.5B) budget Rogge said, "It is a very realistic budget. It will be balanced at the end of the Paralympic Games with no overruns or costing too much, the cost of the London Olympics is in line, including inflation, of previous Olympic Games" (TELEGRAPH, 6/29).
