Ohuruogu insists young 'not interested in Games'

Olympic gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu claims that young people are "not really interested" in the London Games, and the 400m champion has called for more to be done to include youngsters.

Ohuruogu said: "I've seen, not apathy, but it is like, 'We don't take part in sports, what's in it for us?' It is very hard to sell the Olympic story when you have not experienced it."

Ohuruogu, 27, was brought up less than a mile from the Olympic site and has been speaking to young people in her local area. She added: "The general impression I get is that they are not really interested. I am fortunate enough to have been to two Games so I know how brilliant it can be.

"They don't really see what is there for them. It is very hard to get people to understand how amazing it actually is. It is almost like it is for everybody else: people who are athletes, the sponsors, the older generations, all the ones who have money. That is a shame and there is more that needs to be done over the next year to make sure we include all our young people."

Ohuruogu's comments suggest she feels a key aim of London's Olympic bid – inspiring more young people to get involved in sport, both at school or college – might not be met.

Lord Coe agreed with Ohuruogu that more needs to be done to inspire young people. "What Christine is saying is probably what we recognise across the whole project, that over the next year there is a lot more work to be done on engaging people and explaining what we are doing," he said.

"I do partly agree with Christine but I spend a lot of time in East London, its our headquarters... and we go to all the boroughs and we do a lot of work [there] and in schools."