Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Sports writer Mihir Bose fills us in on London’s security preparations for the upcoming 2012 Olympics.

Read the Transcript
This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

JEB SHARP: I’m Jeb Sharp and this is The World.  It’s 998 days and counting till the 2012 London Olympics.  Construction is underway on the main stadium, the aquatics center, and the athletes’ village, and organizers say they’ve met all the targets so far.  Preparations for security are also necessary for the Olympics.  After all, the suicide bombings in London’s public transport system on July 7, 2005, are still fresh in people’s memories.  Mihir Bose is a former sports editor for the BBC.  He says authorities are devoting significant resources to security, but no amount of money can guarantee safety.

MIHIR BOSE: As far as the British are concerned, they have budgeted 600 million pounds.  There’s a lot of feeling that that may not be adequate.  There’s also a lot of feeling that given the fact that the day after London won the games, we had 7/7, the British equivalent of 9/11, that security is an issue that you cannot nail down.  You just do not know what may happen.

SHARP:  So 600 million pounds, so close to $1 billion for the security budget for the London 2012 Olympics and people are saying that might not be enough?

BOSE:  Yes, because security has created a lot of problems.  The original person looking after security, Tarique Ghaffur, has gone.  His security plans did not quite work out.  The Home Office is now in charge.  There have been a lot of administrative changes.  Remember, the Olympics is a very, very unique event, if you like, where people who are accredited to the games by the International Olympic Committee have the right to enter the country to which they are accredited.  That acts as a visa, so there’s a feeling that if that acts as a visa, how do you prevent somebody sneaking in, if you like, and torpedoing the games in some way?

SHARP:  Have the authorities announced any specific new measures over and above what’s already in place?  I mean, security in London’s quite tight anyway.

BOSE:  No, they haven’t announced any new measures, but I know security officials have talked about the problems, let’s say, of a sleeper organization coming in and renting accommodation near a team that is training in and around Britain, plan some outrage.  How are they going to cope with that?  These are some of the planning operations that have been discussed.

SHARP:  London has a lot of experience with terrorist attacks and it’s sort of known for being able to handle it and dealing with all the precautions in the IRA days and, as you say, there’s been the specter of 7/7 lingering.  There is a sense that life goes on as usual.  Do you really think it’s going to be that different?

BOSE:  I hope that life will not be that different, but these games will be the biggest event in London in all our lifetime and it will take place against a background of heightened security in Britain, maybe a country targeted by certain groups because of what they perceive to be British foreign policy, or things like that, and that is a great worry.

SHARP:  Thanks very much for the update.

BOSE:  Thank you very much.

SHARP:  That’s sports journalist Mihir Bose in London.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.