London, July 9 – At the end of a four day visit, the IOC Coordination Commission said they like the way plans for the London Olympics are taking shape. The meetings, which ran from 6 to 8 July, saw good progress being made across the project, particularly in the area of venue and infrastructure construction.

The Commission visited a number of the Olympic venues,  including the Olympic Park, Olympic Village,  and heard reports from the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) on the progress being made in preparing the services for a number of Games participants, such as the athletes, media, spectators, National Olympic Committees and International Federations, as well as in areas like technology, medical services, commercial, transport, communications, marketing, culture, ceremonies and education.

LOCOG also updated the Commission on its plans for the ticketing, volunteer and Olympic Torch Relay programmes, which will be rolled out over the coming two years.

During this week’s meetings, IOC President Jacques Rogge and  Coordination Commission chair Denis Oswald   met with the British Prime Minister David  Cameron, Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson, as well as the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, at No.10 Downing Street.

The Commission said it was impressed with the work completed to date and was looking forward to seeing LOCOG and its partners plans put to the test and refined over the coming months.

With the Games a little over two years away,London 2012 is now approaching a crucial stage in its development as it shifts from the planning stage into its operational testing phase.

“The staff at LOCOG is top class and has been key to the success of the project so far. And there have been many successes, including the great advances in construction, in particular at the Olympic Park,” Oswald said. “They have done an exemplary job so far, but now is not the time for complacency; they need to continue working diligently and to focus on the details of the project during the upcoming operational testing phase in order to put on great Games in 2012.”

 In the next 18 months, LOCOG will run numerous tests to determine that everything is in place to smoothly deliver the Games. It is at this stage that the local organisers will determine where improvements can be made and calibrate their plans accordingly.