From the late burst of speed which won him the 1,500 metres gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics to the devastating finish that saw him retain the title in Los Angeles four years later, Sebastian Coe has always been renowned for an impeccable sense of timing.
Now the former golden boy of British athletics is preparing to kick for home in the task which has consumed him for every day of the last six years – overseeing London’s preparations for the 2012 Olympics.
Today marks the one-year countdown to the staging of the greatest sporting show on earth in the British capital, some six years after Mr Coe spearheaded a high-powered delegation which won the bid at a 2005 vote.
From the window of his office high in the Canary Wharf business district, Mr Coe, the chairman of the 2012 organising committee, is able to look upon the consequences of that victory in Singapore every day.
A large swathe of east London has undergone a transformation, an unprecedented urban renewal of 2.5 square kilometres of industrial wasteland that is the Olympic Park, which is to be the focal point of the 2012 Games.
The site will eventually host the Olympic stadium and an array of state-of-the-art sports facilities along with the athletes village, press centres and a picturesque park.
In an interview, Mr Coe says 2012 preparations are “in good shape” as the final countdown nears. “But I always preface that observation by simply saying that there is not a vestige of complacency because we also recognise that we enter probably the hardest year of the project,” the 54-year-old says.
“What we have within our control is under control, but clearly there’s still a lot of work to do. The construction part is 90 per cent complete. But the Olympic Stadium for example, still has all the technology to put in. We still have to lay the track. So still a lot of work to do, but yes, slightly ahead of schedule and in good shape.”
The scale of the task has been immense. Mr Coe says the challenge has been to make London capable of holding 26 world championships in different sports simultaneously over a two-week period.
“The International Olympic Committee gave us seven years to deliver 26 simultaneous world championships, and then 10 days later to turn an Olympic city into a Paralympic city. It’s a massive piece of project management.”
So far, the Olympic project has progressed remarkably smoothly.
Crucially, London 2012 secured some £2 billion in funding and signed up its key sponsors before the global financial crisis struck in 2008. Mr Coe believes preparations for 2012 have taken place in “the most difficult economy in living memory that anyone has delivered a Games in,” he says.
When the first wave of tickets went on sale in April, organisers received applications for roughly 20 million applications for tickets by some 1.9 million people – more than three times the 6.6 million tickets which went on sale to the public.
Complaints about a lack of transparency and the way the tickets were allocated forced 2012 officials onto the defensive. But while acknowledging the disappointment of those who missed out – an inevitable consequence of supply being unable to meet overwhelming demand – Mr Coe is adamant that the system used was the fairest means possible. He also hopes a successful Olympics will persuade athletics chiefs to bring the World Championships to London in 2017.
A set of 10 stamps has been unveiled by the Royal Mail to mark the one-year countdown to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Jeanette Kwakye, Team GB 100m sprinter, who helped launch the stamps at the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, said: “These Royal Mail stamps are beautifully designed. All three sets provide a fitting tribute to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Being at this superb stadium just makes me want to compete today. I can’t wait to be part of it.”