Writing in his monthly column in The Daily Telegraph, the day after the Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell announced the budget for the Games had now been set at £9.3 billion, Coe said: "What is important to remember in this debate is that this big number is attached to a vision bigger than just hosting a sporting event.

 

"The size and scale of the regeneration of east London, for which the Games has already been a catalyst, may come as a shock to some, but certainly not to those who have witnessed the deprivation in this area.

 

"And I refer not only to the challenges facing young people in meeting their ambitions, but an area of London that has for far too long been out of kilter economically and socially with the rest of the capital.

 

When we went to Singapore and successfully won the right to host the 2012 Games, we took 30 young people from those communities.

 

"They were the clearest and most visible demonstration of why we had campaigned for the previous two or so years for this prize.

 

"I have little doubt that their presence and the cogent case we made that the Games, in its modern manifestation, had to be broader than simply 60 days of spectacular and spirit-lifting Olympic and Paralympic sport, was one of the reasons why we nudged across the line ahead of four other world-renowned cities.

 

"Should the world's most powerful and inspirational sporting event stimulate this type of ambition?

 

"I think so and I am not alone. I rarely publicly divulge private conversations, particularly those that took place with IOC members during our bidding process, but I will break this code today.

 

"For one hour after London completed their presentation in Singapore I, and my platform colleagues, had a queue of IOC members saying that the vision, which London presented that day, was a vision and a signpost for the Games and the movement."

 

Coe added: "We will be the first of the modern Games.

 

"A Games that enshrines legacy and sustainable communities at its heart.

 

"Some of the confusion surrounding the two very distinct bodies of work that began two years ago may be partly due to the way that those of us who were in Singapore, this columnist included, have championed the cause of the catalytic power of the Games, and in particular its regenerative impact.

 

"But let there be no misunderstanding, you do not need thousands of new homes, restored wetlands, cleaned rivers and canals, new retail development and the infrastructure to essentially support a new city in order to stage a successful Games.

 

"Nor, by implication, do you need the extra investment in pursuit of those things.

 

"I unashamedly welcome the funding made available yesterday to change the lives of young people in some of Britain's poorest Boroughs."

 

The full article can be read at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/03/16/soscoe16.xml.