Sebastian Coe, Olympic legend and chairman of the London Olympics 2012 organisers, has announced that London 2012 has entered the ‘Killing Zone’, a crucial time in the Game’s development that will determine it will meet the Olympic gold standard or fall back amongst the ‘also-rans’.

“In terms of an 800 (metre race)…I think this is between 500 and 600 metres, the second lap and in 8—metre running that’s known as the ‘Killing Zone,” the Olympic gold medallist explained, before adding, “And it’s how you come out of that 100 metres that often determines the order that you finish in.”

The London 2012 Olympics preparations has recently reached its “one year to go” mark and its chairman is confident that London will rise to the challenge and has only the best people organising the biggest event the English capital will have ever put on.

Talking about the progress of the Game’s organisation at a Reuters “Newsmaker” event, Sir Cole said:

“I guess what I would say at this moment is that what we have within our control is under control. But I am not that cavalier that I don’t recognise that there are things that will come to us in the last year that you don’t always foresee.”

For the London 2012 Olympic preparations, a series of ‘London Prepares’ test events will be taking place across the capital in the forthcoming months in an attempt to ‘iron out’ any potential problems, particularly associated with security and transport, the two areas that have been under particular scrutiny.

Talking about the transport for the 2012 Olympic Games, Sebastian Coe commented:

“You can’t by conscience bring them (the athletes) to a city where transport unravels within 10 minutes of the opening ceremony, or bring them to venues that don’t work or a village that isn’t creating that ambience or environment that they need to compete at the highest level.”

With all except one of the Olympic Park venue now completed, 12 months before the Games is due to start, London looks like it has the organisation of the Games ‘under control’, but as Seb Coe admits, you can never quite predict what is going to happen, and “you have to be adaptable.”