The new chief executive of London 2012 has declared he is confident he can turn Sebastian Coe's "Best Games Ever" vision into reality. Paul Deighton, 49, will leave investment bank Goldman Sachs to take up his post with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games next spring.
He said: "I'm a great buyer of the vision that Seb laid out. For me, our objective has got to be to deliver the best Games ever for the athletes, the spectators and also for what we leave behind for London and this country.
"I am up for it. And it seems to me that London, at this stage, is further ahead and better prepared than any host city has been at a comparable stage so that gives me confidence that we will be able to pull this off."
Deighton did enough in his first outing to suggest he would make the difficult transition from being a banker to the person in charge of the greatest sports project on earth without making a fool of himself. On such occasions non-sports people who are keen to impress their sporting credentials usually trip over on their grasp of sporting minutiae. Deighton avoided any such obvious traps.
The Winter Olympics in Turin in February, when he will accompany Coe and his deputy chairman, Keith Mills, as they make their first presentation on London's progress to the International Olympic Committee, will be Deighton's first visit to a Games. But he has a convincing recall of how at the age of eight he listened on the radio as Bobby McGregor was tipped by American Don Schollander for the gold in the 100 metres freestyle in Tokyo in 1964.
Deighton's choice is a shrewd one for Coe and Mills. He can claim to be a Londoner as an Arsenal supporter who went to school in Carshalton.
Given that David Higgins, an Australian, and Jack Lemley, an American, are heading the Olympic Delivery Agency, it was important to have someone from London to claim the other top job. He is also clearly not doing this job for the money. He is likely to earn about £400,000, which will not make much of a difference to a man who, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, is worth £100 million.
The way he presented his efforts to get the job sounded evangelical. He saw the advertisement in The Economist which he then showed to his wife, who said, "Darling that's you". After interviews with head-hunters he beat 300 other applicants to be confirmed in the job last week. "This is the only job I would have left Goldman Sachs for," he said, brushing aside any worries that he might miss out on the huge 2005 bonus Goldman will give their employees.
With Higgins and Lemley responsible for building the venues for the Games and Mills, the deputy chairman, responsible for raising the £1.5 billion budget that the organising committee need, Deighton initially will take a back seat as he builds the team who will organise the Games.
In recent years the chief executive's post at an Olympic Games has been a busy revolving door with none lasting the distance. And there is also the example of Barbara Cassani, the American businesswoman who gave up the job of London 2012 bid leader as she did not find the task of lobbying IOC members appealing.
Deighton, who has yet to meet an IOC member, said: "I am up for it. Believe me, if you'd have been in my interviews, if it was possible to put me off by explaining any of the difficult parts of the job, these guys [Coe and Mills] did an excellent job in laying out what they may be. Despite that, my enthusiasm to do it overrode everything."
Coe, who played the most significant part in appointing Deighton, lent support by suggesting that if in the future Deighton had to go, he might have to accompany him. "We did cover this in previous conversations and I said you shouldn't feel alone in that because normally the chairman goes with the CEO at the same time."
Deighton admits he faces a huge learning curve and the steepest part will be that for 22 years at Goldman Sachs he has worked in an organisation with one master. At London 2012 he has three: the Government, the Mayor of London and the British Olympic Association, all of whom had to approve his appointment.
If the experience of previous Olympics is anything to go by, such triple-headed monsters require much managing. Add to that the demands of the IOC, who are very sensitive to the fact the Olympics belong to them. Deighton's mettle will be tested when issues arise between these bodies.
