Oswald led the Co-ordination Commission on a trip to see the progress that has been made on the construction of the main Olympic Stadium.

 

Oswald said: "I must say, having been here in May last year, I'm very much impressed how much has been done."

Oswald also praised the "concept" of the £950 million stadium, which will host track and field and the opening and closing ceremonies.

 

It will be converted to a 25,000-seat venue afterward.

Oswald said: "For me, it's very relaxing how much work has been done and how far we are.

 

"We will have a stadium.

 

"We are sure.

 

"That was not necessarily the case at some previous Games."

Oswald was previously head of the IOC Co-ordination commission for the 2004 Athens Olympics, whose buildup was dogged by delays and concerns that the venues would not be ready on time.

Sebastian Coe, the chairman of London 2012 who showed the members of the Commission around the Stadium, was confident beforehand that they would be impressed.

He said: "The last time they were on this site, we were literally breaking the soil here last May.

 

"Now it's coming out of the ground in a very demonstrable way."

 

Work on the 174-foot high stadium is about one-third complete, project manager Ian Crockford said.

 

Completion is targeted for June 2011, in time for test events.

On the first day of their three-day visit, the IOC inspectors also toured the rest of the 500-acre Olympic Park in the Stratford area of East London.

 

Construction is also under way on the four other main projects - the Athletes' Village, the Aquatics Centre, the Velodrome and the Media Centre.

Coe said: "On all those construction projects, we are exactly where we want to be, probably marginally ahead."
 

The day began with a series of presentations in which organisers including Coe, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and London Mayor Boris Johnson stressed the Games was in good hands despite the global turmoil.

Coe reassured the IOC that preparations remain on track despite the recession and that organizers will come within the £9.4 billion budget for venues, infrastructure and regeneration.

Coe said: "These are the most challenging times since the mid '70s to be delivering an Olympic Games, but our teams have risen to that challenge.

 

"What we want to be able to demonstrate this week is the budgets are robust and the progress demonstrable."