Lord Coe was met by Stadium Manager Gerry Toms for an exclusive tour of the venue, during the final preparations for the first match of the women’s Olympic Football Tournament which takes place at 4pm when Team GB women’s team face New Zealand.
The eyes of the world will be on Wales as the tournament gets underway where around 38,000 tickets have already been snapped up for the Millennium Stadium event.
Eleven soccer international matches will take place at the stadium in Cardiff as the world’s biggest sporting event takes place in the UK.
The kick off today in Cardiff takes place two days before the official opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games which takes place in London on Friday.
Lord Coe was being joined by a host of other VIP’s in Cardiff for the first event of the 2012 games.
Culture Secretary James Hunt and Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan are scheduled to be in Cardiff for the opening match.
Mrs Gillan said: ”I want the whole country to take this opportunity to showcase everything that’s great about Wales and ensure a lasting legacy long after the Games are over.”
She said she was “immensely proud” that the games were beginning at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Supporters enjoying the carnival atmosphere in Cardiff for the game were being advised to turn up early at the Millennium Stadium.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said: “The Olympics are the greatest show on earth and today we will see the very first sporting action taking place here in Wales and it is great that we are part of this global event.
“In two days the eyes of the world will focus on the opening ceremony in London, but today Wales is in the spotlight and once again we have an opportunity to show people across the globe what a fantastic host we are for top sporting events.”
Lord Coe said: “I came in this morning and I felt I’d arrived in an Olympic city. This is a city I know well; I come to Cardiff regularly, but it had an Olympic feel to it today and that’s fantastic,” said the former Gold medallist.
“It’s been a long journey and an exhilarating one, now a few hours away from the start and it’s fantastic.
“And it’s great that start is in Cardiff too because one of the commitments we made form the start – and I have strong feelings on this as someone who was not brought up in London – was that it had to be about the UK. Being here is a really strong signal of our commitment to the concept that, although the Games are in London, it is not uniquely a London story.
“The football tournament is a big tournament, a long tournament, and we didn’t want to base it solely in London when you have stadiums like the Millennium.
“These are world renowned theatres of football. It is not only great to be able to use them, but it is also a great way of us making sure where possible we could take sport out of London and around the communities.”
