THE sportsman responsible for heading the successful bid for London to host the 2012 Olympic Games will be speaking to Islanders at an awards ceremony next month.

Lord Sebastian Coe will be the keynote speaker at the Jersey Enterprise Awards gala dinner on 26 February at Fort Regent. During his athletics career Lord Coe, who now chairs the London Organising Committee for the Games, set 12 world records at four distances. His medals include two golds and two silvers from the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984.

After retiring from competitive athletics he then embarked on a career in politics, as Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Cambourne in Cornwall. He served as a parliamentary private secretary to Michael Heseltine and as a government whip, then as private secretary to William Hague.

The Jersey Enterprise Awards are now in their seventh year and recognise both individuals for their contribution to the community, and businesses for their performance during the past year. Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean said that securing Lord Coe to speak at the awards is a ‘major coup’.

• Picture: Lord Coe unveiling the logo for the 2012 Olympic Games. Picture by Andrew Parsons/PA Wire