The chairman of London 2012 had described the controversial guards as "thugs" but Fu Ying has said that Coe never said anything to her about them.

 

"I met Lord Coe after the torch run, he didn't say anything, he didn't complain," she said in an interview with Jon Snow broadcast on Channel 4 news tonight. 

 

"The attendants, they are volunteers.

 

"The attendants here are from among the 5,000 volunteers in China, recruited from all over the country.

 

"It's unfortunate that so many people are trying to use this opportunity to get on China.

 

"But I think it's an educational process.

 

"China has learned a lot through this process, and I hope the world has learned too."

 

Fu also denied that the flame attendants had been recruited from China's military services.

 

She told Snow: T"he attendants here are from among the 5,000 volunteers in China, recruited from all over the country.

"Most of them are university students, PhD students... 

" By and large, I think they are selected to help the torch relay in accordance with the rules of the IOC (International Olympic Committee).

 

"I don't think they did anything outside the rules.

 

"They're very nice young boys, the boys who ran with me I think they were just 18 or 19, lovely and sunny, bright, very pleasant young people.

"It's unfortunate that they're seen in this kind of light in this country.

 

"And these are single children in China, they're parents must feel very hurt the way they were treated."

 

The full interview can be watched at http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_politics/interview.