Olympic host London is ready for the world

Most Olympic preparations are beset with a variety of pitfalls and setbacks – Rio de Janeiro is already said to be well behind in its planning for 2016 – and while London has not been totally free of difficulty, all problems have been dealt with without too much fuss.
One hundred days is nothing more than a statistic. And the significance of this week and the impending announcement of the latest Olympic slogan will be little more than a symbolic reminder that the time when the greatest athletes in the world converge on one city is nearly here. The message from London – its organizers, citizens and administrators – is simple.
"We are ready," said Lord Sebastian Coe, two-time Olympic 1500-meters gold medalist and chief of London's organizing committee. "It is thanks to some remarkable people and their work ethic. The last time I saw that kind of focus was the group I had around me in my athletics career."
[ 100 days to go: Key dates before the Summer Games begin in London ]
London had a lot to live up to after the previous Summer Olympics in Beijing, where the lavish spending of the Chinese government created an extraordinary visual spectacle and a master class in organization excellence. London's venues do not have the decorative splendor of the Bird's Nest or Water Cube, but they are up, finished and have generally avoided scathing judgment, even from the notoriously skeptical British media.
When London was awarded the Games on a night of intrigue and drama in Singapore in 2005, when politicians and sports figures like David Beckham danced and celebrated, there was general delight from the British public, especially when those sorry French faces from the failed Paris bid were shown on television. But there were real concerns that the main stadiums could turn into a major problem.
England's sorry reputation in regards to sports stadium construction was primarily thanks to the debacle over Wembley Stadium, the home of the England national soccer team, which was four years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of pounds over budget. The Olympic Park, however, has been relatively trouble-free with the main stadium not only delivered on time but likely to see future positive use as the home stadium of one of the city's many major soccer teams