British legendary middle distance runner Sebastian Coe lavished rich praise on the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, saying the venues are one of the best he has ever seen.
Coe is the only man to have won the Olympic gold medal in the 1500 metres twice, in 1980 and 1984, and is also known for setting eight outdoor and three indoor world records.
Chairman of the Organising Committee of the 2012 London Olympic Games, he spent a lot of time checking out the venues and the Games Village in Delhi.
And his first impression of the Delhi Games were: "Fantastic, great atmosphere."
"It has been terrific and I am very happy to be here," he told rediff.com
Coe disclosed that he had spoken with the British athletes and they all were happy with the swanky Games Village built at a whopping cost of nearly Rs 1200 crores.
"I spent a lot at the Games Village and the athletes told me it is a very, very good village. They told me the experience is good, they told me the food is good; they like the fact that the training venues are close to the village," the 54-year-old said.
"The sports have been good and I have been to many venues and I must say that the venues here are all world-class venues," he added.
The Delhi Games seemed heading for disaster with reports of corruption and delay in preparation of venues before the organisers woke up at the last moment and got things sorted out days before the start of the mega event.
But Coe sought to defend the Games' organisers, saying it is not easy to host an event of this magnitude.
"Everybody knows it is complicated and that delivering the Games is not easy. Whether it is London or Delhi, any city that takes it on knows that it is complicated. But Delhi is delivering a great Games and hoping to globalise sports," he said.
He also pointed out that preparations for the London Olympics are on schedule and there will be no delays as was witnessed in Delhi.
"The preparations for the London Games are going on well and we are in good shape. We are ahead of schedule and it is really important to be there at the moment."
