SINGAPORE — The deadly blasts that ripped through London's transit system on Thursday came only one day after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Games, raising anew security concerns relating to the Olympics.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, affirming support for a London 2012 Games, called the blasts "tragic" and "barbaric" and said he had written letters of condolence to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Sebastian Coe, the two-time gold medalist in track and field who led London's winning bid. "I am a very sad man," Rogge said in an interview.
Rogge and other Olympic officials said they had received no suggestion the attacks were linked to Wednesday's IOC vote that gave London the 2012 Games. London narrowly defeated Paris, 54-50, in the fourth round of voting; earlier rounds eliminated Moscow, New York and Madrid.
The London transit system is due to play a central role in the 2012 Olympics. A new Olympic Park to be built in the city's east end is due to be served by 10 subway lines, including one now under construction for a high-speed shuttle linking the Olympic site with the King's Cross station in central London.
That station is the planned hub of spectator access to the 2012 Games. The second of the four bombs that exploded Thursday tore through a Piccadilly line subway train between the King's Cross and Russell Square stations.
In selling their 2012 plan, London officials had sought to highlight what they believed was a key security-related advantage -- the self-contained nature of Olympic Park, site of many of the major Games venues, including the Olympic village.
Also inside the Park: an 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, a sprawling aquatics center, a cycling velodrome and four arenas for sports such as fencing, volleyball, team handball and basketball.
Other events on the Olympic program would be held at venues scattered throughout London -- beach volleyball, for instance, at Horse Guards Parade in the center of the city, and soccer at 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium, now under construction in northwest London.
Moreover, sailing would be held in Weymouth, southwest of London. And, as has become traditional in recent editions of the Games, the early rounds of the soccer tournament would be scattered around the host nation. In Britain, that means at such famous venues as Old Trafford, Manchester United's home grounds.
