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give Mrs Johnson and asked which. Now it's time for HARDtalk. The | :00:07. | :00:10. | |
London 2012 Olympics has been applauded at home and abroad as a | :00:10. | :00:12. | |
huge success in terms of organisation and medals for the | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
host nation. My guest today, Lord Moynihan, is chairman of the | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
British Olympic Association and director of the London organising | :00:20. | :00:25. | |
committee of the Olympic Games. His legacy was at the heart of London's | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
bid to host the Games. What is being done to show that Britain has | :00:29. | :00:39. | |
:00:39. | :00:58. | ||
more than medals to show for its Lord Moynihan, welcome to HARDtalk. | :00:58. | :01:01. | |
Thank you. Britain's coalition government promised that Britain's | :01:01. | :01:08. | |
Olympics would put the 'Great' back into Great Britain. They have been | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
described as a golden Games. Were they? All of the organisers played | :01:14. | :01:23. | |
their part. The organisers put on a great Games for the athletes. Team | :01:23. | :01:32. | |
GB performed and excelled and exceeded my expectations. It was a | :01:32. | :01:36. | |
truly great Games. You have announced your resignation. You | :01:36. | :01:39. | |
will stand down after an election in November. Why step down when | :01:39. | :01:47. | |
feeling is so good? I came in to travel the path to London 2012. | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
That meant focusing on Beijing and, from Beijing, up to London 2012. I | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
want to give my successor a chance to work towards the Winter Olympic | :01:57. | :02:06. | |
Games. That's just 18 months away. Then, on to Rio. It is in the best | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
interests of the organisation. They need to get to know the organising | :02:11. | :02:18. | |
committee. That will be in Russia for the Winter Olympics. When you | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
step down, everyone will look at the 2012 games. They have been | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
successful but there have been some glitches along the way. Some quite | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
embarrassing ones. G4S, the private security firm that was supposed to | :02:29. | :02:32. | |
take care of security on the ground announced they could not come up | :02:32. | :02:41. | |
with the 10,500 security personnel they were supposed to. That was | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
quite embarrassing. David Winnick said it was a humiliating shambles. | :02:45. | :02:51. | |
It was. There was no problem with regard to security around the | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
venues. LOCOG had security in place. It was clear we had to increase | :02:57. | :03:03. | |
numbers. We hoped G4S would meet the challenge of the second | :03:03. | :03:09. | |
contract. It was not possible, at the end of the day. Then, the army, | :03:09. | :03:17. | |
thanks to Philip Hammond, the Secretary for Defence, stepped in. | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
The situation was rectified but it was embarrassing. You had Mitt | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
Romney talking about disconcerting signs, about preparations for the | :03:23. | :03:29. | |
Games. Not the type of headlines you want. If you are Mitt Romney, | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
it is best to make an error when you are abroad. He was wrong about | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
his expectations. It was an outstanding Games. The armed forces | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
came and they played their part. It provided an opportunity for the | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
British public to say thank you to them in a way they cannot usually | :03:46. | :03:56. | |
do. You must have been disappointed. We cannot say enough how much of | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
the security concern there was. One day after we won the bid, there was | :03:59. | :04:07. | |
a terrorist attack. I was involved since it first competed. You have | :04:07. | :04:10. | |
over 20,000 journalists turning up just before the Games. They are | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
focusing on every potential problem they can find. When you look at the | :04:13. | :04:16. | |
difficulties from Beijing, the focus of human rights, when you go | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
to Athens, all the press focus about whether the stadium would be | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
ready, we faced one issue - one important issue - which was | :04:22. | :04:31. | |
rectified. That issue, in my view, in the totality of the preparation, | :04:31. | :04:37. | |
made the rest of the problems look small by comparison. There was a | :04:37. | :04:44. | |
problem with seating and ticketing. London 2012 promised to be | :04:44. | :04:52. | |
different from previous games which have had issues. You said you would | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
have pounds sitting at the front. There was meant to be no empty | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
seats but there were. There were two elements to ticketing. | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
ticketing challenge in my view should now be taken over and led by | :05:03. | :05:13. | |
:05:13. | :05:17. | ||
the IOC. Every time we have an Olympic Games, a new organising | :05:17. | :05:25. | |
committee starts from scratch with the ticketing. It's a massive | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
challenge. You have 26 World Championships going on at the same | :05:29. | :05:31. | |
time. You have uncertainty about which athletes will allow their | :05:31. | :05:40. | |
family to come and watch them. Will it take up that opportunity? It is | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
hugely complex. My view, which is clearly stated, is that this is a | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
subject into which the IOC should invest millions of pounds to get | :05:47. | :05:57. | |
:05:57. | :05:57. | ||
the platform right. Each host city should build and improve. After a | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
few Games, we would have a state- of-the-art ticketing system. In the | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
meantime, the London 2012 Paralympics are coming up. Can you | :06:05. | :06:11. | |
guarantee there will be no empty seats? I cannot guarantee that. I | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
can guarantee that we will work exceptionally hard to make sure we | :06:14. | :06:24. | |
sell more tickets than ever before. I will give you one example. We | :06:24. | :06:26. | |
sold more tickets in football, women's football, than any other | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
host nation ever has done. The British public deserve the right to | :06:29. | :06:39. | |
:06:39. | :06:40. | ||
buy those seats. We wanted to fill those seats. I addressed this issue | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
as chairman of the BOA. We needed to fill the seats to back Team GB. | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
We needed to fill the seats because the public are passionate about | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
sport. They must have the opportunity to go to the Olympic | :06:50. | :06:58. | |
Games and the Paralympic Games. When people were in their seats, | :06:58. | :07:01. | |
the press took every opportunity to take pictures of them tucking into | :07:01. | :07:03. | |
fast food. A lot of controversy about Coca-Cola and McDonald's | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
being sponsors. We have got a children's charity, the children's | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
food campaign, saying it was a valuable chance to create a | :07:09. | :07:15. | |
positive health legacy and it was squandered. Was it? I do not think | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
it was. The committee who choose the top sponsors, and you mentioned | :07:19. | :07:21. | |
two of them, they are not chosen by international individual Olympic | :07:21. | :07:29. | |
committees. They helped us to invest in opportunities for eating | :07:29. | :07:31. | |
healthier food, having greater opportunities to participate, | :07:31. | :07:41. | |
:07:41. | :07:42. | ||
getting more schools into sport. well. I think McDonald's have | :07:42. | :07:52. | |
:07:52. | :07:53. | ||
changed the quality of their food significantly. It's in response to | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
such questions. They have responded to people putting emphasis on them | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
to improve the content of their food so that it is much more in | :08:00. | :08:07. | |
line with the IOC's image. It was not the only fast food chain that | :08:07. | :08:10. | |
was part of the official sponsors. There were chocolate and beer | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
companies. Jacques Rogge said the bottom line was to support | :08:13. | :08:15. | |
individual committees and federations or they would be in | :08:15. | :08:23. | |
trouble. What does that mean? No fast food sponsors, no Olympics? | :08:23. | :08:32. | |
has to make sure that sponsorship comes in at the top level. Through | :08:32. | :08:35. | |
the investment that they make back out to the international committees, | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
we can see the opportunity given to a lot of small countries to be able | :08:39. | :08:46. | |
to fund the athletes that come to the Games. My whole life in sport | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
has been about the athletes. If that can flow back to communities | :08:50. | :08:53. | |
and give young athletes the chance to come to the Games and have the | :08:53. | :09:01. | |
experience of a lifetime, I am absolutely comfortable with that. | :09:01. | :09:05. | |
You had a nation who wanted to share in the joy of the Games. When | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
local shops wanted to show the Olympic brand, the five rings, they | :09:08. | :09:14. | |
were told to take him down. Do you think that the IOC controls the | :09:14. | :09:19. | |
brand too tightly? I think there have been examples during the Games | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
when there was a bit of an over- zealous response to protect the | :09:22. | :09:28. | |
brand. There is a balance that needs to be struck between | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
recognising that the brand must be protected to maximise income to the | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
organisation and, on the other hand, not applying a dampener to the fact | :09:34. | :09:43. | |
that people are really engaged and inspired. They do not want to worry | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
too much about whether or not a fish-and-chip shop has Olympic | :09:46. | :09:55. | |
rings. That is a bit over-zealous to me. So Jacques Rogge, the | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
current President of the IOC, he is about to step down after 12 years | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
in that job. When you look at the IOC as an organisation, do you | :10:03. | :10:10. | |
think it is fit and healthy for the 21st century? It has had an amazing | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
Games. What is its job? To deliver an Olympic Games for the world to | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
come together every four years. These were a stunning Games. They | :10:20. | :10:23. | |
were superbly organised. The relationship between the organising | :10:23. | :10:28. | |
committee and the IOC was close, professional and effective. The IOC | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
have left these shores thinking it was an extraordinary Games that | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
touched millions of people over the world through television and | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
inspired a generation and was worthy of all the hard work that | :10:37. | :10:47. | |
:10:47. | :10:48. | ||
they put in. I think they will be change necessary for the future? | :10:48. | :10:55. | |
organisation. I think the IOC will look at the Games and see what they | :10:55. | :10:58. | |
can learn from them. Speaking personally, I think some of the | :10:58. | :11:08. | |
:11:08. | :11:10. | ||
things were not necessary. May be like sports administration. You | :11:10. | :11:19. | |
need to have support for athletes. Should the organisation itself be | :11:19. | :11:26. | |
more accountable? I am a passionate democrat. I always have been. I | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
voted in favour of reform of the House of Lords to make it more | :11:29. | :11:32. | |
accountable. The difference between the House of Lords and the IOC is | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
the House of Lords is a revising chamber. The IOC runs the Olympic | :11:36. | :11:43. | |
world. I believe that over time it will become more accountable. Its | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
membership should not be appointed for life, as some of them are. All | :11:47. | :11:49. | |
the membership should be accountable, either to the | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
international federations or to the athletes or to the National Olympic | :11:52. | :12:01. | |
Committee. Over time, I anticipate that will happen. Nobody can deny | :12:01. | :12:06. | |
it was a great Games this time round. One of the key points of the | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
London 2012 bid was about legacy. It was about inspiring a generation. | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
You could not go round the venues without seeing that written | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
everywhere. The 68 medals that Britain won, is that enough to | :12:17. | :12:25. | |
inspire a generation? medallists are important. Every | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
time someone sees the medal - gold, silver, bronze, that changes the | :12:28. | :12:38. | |
:12:38. | :12:39. | ||
life of the people around them. Massively inspirational. For me, | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
being chairman, it is about helping the athletes to do personal bests. | :12:44. | :12:50. | |
If they did that, they would have a phenomenal Games for Team GB. We | :12:50. | :12:57. | |
wanted a genuine sports legacy. We wanted to raise the bar for able- | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
bodied and disabled kids across the country. We have got a long way to | :13:01. | :13:08. | |
You criticised the current government and the previous | :13:08. | :13:18. | |
:13:18. | :13:19. | ||
government in the middle of the Games. That is the best time to get | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
a message across. It was important to get that message across. The | :13:23. | :13:27. | |
Government has been treading water in this area. We need to have | :13:27. | :13:29. | |
complete focus on teacher-training, and primary school sport and the | :13:29. | :13:38. | |
quality of that. We have to check that the provision of school sport | :13:38. | :13:48. | |
:13:48. | :13:50. | ||
is of a high standard. The community will be more engaged. I | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
am passionate about sport. I believe there should be a huge | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
legacy and we should raise the bar for everyone in this country. | :13:58. | :14:08. | |
the coalition going in the right direction? The government has cut a | :14:08. | :14:11. | |
directive by the previous government to ensure at least two | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
hours of sport are played in a school every single week. Michael | :14:14. | :14:17. | |
Gove has re Gove has reanges to the guidelines on playing fields | :14:17. | :14:27. | |
:14:27. | :14:28. | ||
to sell them. Is that the right way forward? The prime minister made an | :14:28. | :14:38. | |
:14:38. | :14:42. | ||
secured before Rio. The athletes support my fight. It is a huge step | :14:42. | :14:45. | |
forward. The Prime Minister said primary schools will be the centre | :14:45. | :14:51. | |
of competitive sports. That announcement needs to be followed | :14:51. | :14:56. | |
up. That is an important step forward. Sebastian Coe would be an | :14:56. | :15:03. | |
ambassador, he said. I have known him since we went to our first | :15:03. | :15:10. | |
Games in 1980. He will not sit back and allow this to disappear. The | :15:10. | :15:20. | |
:15:20. | :15:20. | ||
announcement shows there is a potential for change. The work has | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
only just begun. I will be doing everything I can to make this into | :15:24. | :15:30. | |
real concrete changes. At the moment, there are mixed messages. | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
You mentioned some things David Cameron has promised. On the other | :15:34. | :15:41. | |
hand, Michael Gove is saying things that is completely contradictory. | :15:41. | :15:44. | |
spoke to Michael Gove during the Games as much as I spoke with the | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
Prime Minister. He is absolutely aware that we need to capture that | :15:48. | :15:54. | |
extraordinary power of sport. And that we need to transform it into | :15:54. | :15:56. | |
policies that will benefit able- bodied and disabled children across | :15:56. | :16:04. | |
this country. It will not happen in the narrow window of the Olympics | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
and the Paralympics. It will be higher up in the agenda then it has | :16:08. | :16:17. | |
ever been in this country. Do we need to improve organisation? | :16:17. | :16:19. | |
Keith Mills said there were some great organisations doing some | :16:19. | :16:22. | |
great work but they are not connected and the government is not | :16:22. | :16:32. | |
:16:32. | :16:33. | ||
connected. There is no national strategy. He has his finger on the | :16:33. | :16:40. | |
pulse when it comes to acronyms in the world of sports administration. | :16:40. | :16:43. | |
We need to empower the clubs, the schools, local communities, parents | :16:43. | :16:53. | |
:16:53. | :17:01. | ||
spoken about the big society. This is the classic example of how the | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
big society can be put into practice. We need policies that | :17:04. | :17:07. | |
focus on giving young people, everybody, the opportunity to | :17:07. | :17:17. | |
:17:17. | :17:26. | ||
participate. The word empowerment... Sir Keith Mills is right, we need | :17:26. | :17:29. | |
to start to build a new sports policy. Let's have a look at | :17:29. | :17:33. | |
women's sports. A female cyclist has won the medal in that sport for | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
the first time. She has used that platform to talk about sexism and | :17:37. | :17:45. | |
media coverage and salary. That is the first thing that captured the | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
headlines. And what was the outcome? It was a massive | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
demonstration of girl power. The women of Team GB absolutely | :17:53. | :18:00. | |
excelled. Our first gold medal in rowing was a pair of women. Three | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
medals out of four in rowing which has has traditionally been male- | :18:03. | :18:13. | |
:18:13. | :18:19. | ||
dominated... No-one is questioning girl power. Women only got 0.5% of | :18:19. | :18:26. | |
sponsorship. And 5% of TV coverage in January 2010 and August, 2011. | :18:26. | :18:31. | |
Social media is on a different path. The female World Cup was the most | :18:31. | :18:37. | |
tweeted event in 2011. No-one can look at these Games or any other | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
sport and say the women do not absolutely perform and they deserve | :18:40. | :18:50. | |
:18:50. | :18:53. | ||
to have huge support. I would go further than that. Every sports | :18:53. | :18:55. | |
organisation should look at increasing the number of women who | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
are involved in senior positions, medal positions and junior | :18:58. | :19:06. | |
positions. We need to embed the role of women in sports | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
administration to a far greater degree than before. It used to be | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
very male dominated. That means change. The athletes' message is | :19:15. | :19:21. | |
that they want the change. I am very supportive of that. There was | :19:21. | :19:31. | |
:19:31. | :19:33. | ||
a big push to send women for the London 2012 Olympics. Then comes | :19:33. | :19:43. | |
:19:43. | :19:47. | ||
the question of tokenism. Like the Saudi Arabian female athlete. | :19:47. | :19:50. | |
focus from all the groups around the world is to change their | :19:50. | :19:52. | |
policies an policies ansome of the outstanding women athletes to be | :19:52. | :20:02. | |
:20:02. | :20:04. | ||
representatives of their country, it was a very welcomed focus. The | :20:04. | :20:08. | |
very fact of that debate was very much in the press of the Games and | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
it was welcomed. It was a stepping- stone towards the overall goal to | :20:13. | :20:18. | |
make sure there is equality in the sport. There were some very | :20:18. | :20:21. | |
sensitive issues associated were some Islamic countries on the | :20:21. | :20:26. | |
subject. They did respond and that is a plus. Overall, the fact that | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
women are so much in the heart, in comparison to the 1908 where only | :20:29. | :20:33. | |
two events had women participating, through to 1948 when we took a step | :20:33. | :20:43. | |
:20:43. | :20:52. | ||
forward. This Games has changed the face of sport. 80,000 people turned | :20:52. | :20:58. | |
up to watch women's football. you there? I was not. I wish I had | :20:58. | :21:05. | |
been. These were successful Games. These are also expensive Games. The | :21:06. | :21:12. | |
original bid was said to be over �4 billion. It looks like at least | :21:12. | :21:16. | |
double that was actually spent. Is the feel-good factor worth it in | :21:16. | :21:23. | |
these times of austerity when services are being cut? The answer | :21:23. | :21:31. | |
is unquestionably yes. And for one massive reason. Over the 9.3 | :21:31. | :21:34. | |
billion that was spent, overwhelmingly the main amount of | :21:34. | :21:44. | |
:21:44. | :21:44. | ||
the money was in regenerating the poorest areas. It improved | :21:44. | :21:50. | |
infrastructure, housing, facilities. A green lung in the East End of | :21:50. | :21:56. | |
London. It was a very deprived and polluted area. If sport can be the | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
catalyst for urban regeneration, that is money well spent. Not just | :21:59. | :22:04. | |
for the community but for generations to follow. As of | :22:04. | :22:07. | |
November, you will be free of the shackles of the British Olympic | :22:07. | :22:14. | |
Association, where will we see you next? The House of Lords? For the | :22:14. | :22:20. | |
rest of my life, I will be fighting the cause on behalf of the athletes. | :22:20. | :22:28. | |
That has been a passion all my life. It has been a huge privilege. I | :22:28. | :22:31. | |
will speak openly, and publically, and as persuasively as I can to | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
make sure we really raise the bar and leave a serious sports legacy | :22:34. | :22:42. | |
for these Games. What advice do you have for Rio? Make it your own | :22:42. | :22:47. | |
Games. Learn the lessons from the past. The one lesson I will give | :22:47. | :22:50. | |
them, that we did in London, was reflect the Cosmoplitan nature of | :22:50. | :22:57. | |
your city. Don't try and improve on Beijing. Or on London. We did not. | :22:57. | :23:02. | |
We focused on London. They said they were intimidated by London. | :23:02. | :23:08. | |
They should not be. Rio will be a fantastic Games. As long as they | :23:08. | :23:11. | |
focus on what is great about Rio and Brazil and reflect that in | :23:12. | :23:17. | |
their Games. And use the volunteers. The volunteers have made the Games. | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
70,000 people. 70,000 people just went the extra yard to make this a | :23:20. | :23:25. | |
great Games for all our visitors and the athletes. If they can | :23:25. | :23:27. |