FEATURE: After London's "Golden Games" legacy moves into focus By Anna Tomforde, dpa

London (dpa) - The London Games have provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build on an "enormous" legacy that would rival the post-Olympic benefits seen in Sydney and Barcelona, organizers believe.

"The red carpet has been rolled out for us. Sport has never been so popular. The sheer appetite of the public is driving this debate," said Sebastian Coe, chairman of organizing committee LOCOG Friday.

But, he warned, there was a "time limit" for the government and sporting organizations to make sure that they could "leverage every ounce of legacy" from the Games.

"It is for the government to decide. Sport is a bridgehead into so many other things," said Coe, who worked on organizing the London Games from the moment London won its bid in Singapore in 2005.

"Believe me, winning the bid is the easy bit," he said.

And, asked to offer any advice Rio for the 2016 Games, Coe said four things were essential: smart and efficient governing bodies, world class coaching, having the "best crop" of talent and predictable and good funding.

"Good Games" like in Barcelona in 1992 and Sydney in 2000 had succeeded in realizing the legacy potential, said Coe. "If you do it and you do it in a structured way then there is a very, very strong legacy."

Much praise has been heaped on London by the IOC, which has repeatedly expressed admiration for the single-minded focus and comprehensive nature in which the London Games have been planned.

There were "many lessons" Rio could learn from the London Games, Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, said.

"The most important lesson, I believe, is the fact that the legacy and the sustainability have been organized at the very beginning of the life of the organizing committee," said Rogge in London.

"At times in the past, a city will take care of legacy and sustainability during the preparation of the Games or at the end of the Games. Not so with LOCOG because they have established a very soon legacy company and the philosophy was one whereby legacy and sustainability was very important upfront."

London organizers had also tackled the issue of leaving "white elephants" well, said Rogge, adding that the IOC experts routinely monitor the long-term effects of legacy left in Olympic cities.

"There have been eight specific sports venues being built here and in the surroundings in the Olympic Park. Of the eight venues, six already have a tenant and a commercially viable future. So, yes, there has been a tangible legacy and there will be no white elephants being left and that‘s unique."

For Alex Loukus, a local boy from Newham, in east London, where the Games are based, the benefits are already clear to see.

"I mean I don‘t think there is anybody that can say we‘re not better off now than we was seven years ago," said Loukus, who was an "ambassador" for the London bid in 2005.

"It‘s definitely put Newham on the map. What tourists would you have seen in Newham or Stratford seven years ago? ... It‘s obviously done some good to the area," he added.

However, while the drive and enthusiasm generated by the Games is evident, the decision on how to capture the legacy of the Games was one for politicians to seize, conceded Coe.

The debate in Britain is currently focussed on the future of school sport, and on how physical education in the state school sector can be brought up to the level of private schools, which have two hours of compulsory sport on their daily schedules.

As school playing fields are sold off for profit to property speculators and funding for school sports are cut, the government has been caught in an embarrassing spot, admitting that sport provisions for state schools are "patchy."

"School sport and legacy, this is an opportunity. This is never going to come around again. It is the vehicle of our lifetime. There is inevitably a limited window," said Coe. dpa aet hl