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2012 stadium to retain athletics track

London’s organising committee chairman, Sebastian Coe, has said that said he is committed to leaving an athletics legacy in London's 2012 Olympic stadium, despite speculation that it could be demolished to make way for a football stadium.

Speaking to reporters Coe said: "We made a commitment to the IOC to retain an athletics stadium after the Games and nothing that has happened changes that at all. Our design is for an 80,000-seat stadium during Games time and a 25,000-seater in legacy. That is what we have agreed and we are working on a range of options as to who will use the stadium after the Games."

The news comes after a report in the London Evening Standard that said there was a possibility that the £500 million stadium could be flattened after the Games with a Premier League club building a purpose-built soccer stadium on the site.

West Ham United are the closest Premier League club to the east London Olympic Park but have ruled out a move to the stadium because it will retain an athletics track - a feature that is unpopular with English football clubs.