LONDON (AP):

After days of silence while images of fires, looting and riots were beamed across screens around the world, the chief organiser of the London Olympics finally spoke and essentially said: The state of the games is fine.

Sebastian Coe, an Olympic great and former parliament member, said yesterday he has conferred with IOC President Jacques Rogge and other sports leaders as the mayhem in England provided a jarring counterpoint to a showpiece event that will be held in less than a year. He said they assured him the image of the Olympics would not be scarred by the violence.

"They know that things from time to time come out of left field in cities," Coe said at Wembley Arena, where the world badminton championships are serving as a test event for next year's Olympics. "Effectively within two days we had that under control."

Coe stressed that the local organising committee was learning from what happened.

"Over the next year we will continue our contingency plans," Coe said. "They will deal with all sorts of things, including public disorder."

The riots began in the Tottenham neighbourhood Saturday, less than two weeks after London celebrated the one-year countdown to the opening of the games on July 27, 2012. They soon spread to other parts of London and to other cities, forcing Prime Minister David Cameron to cut short his summer vacation in Italy.

Although several football games, including England's match with the Netherlands, have been cancelled or postponed because of the four days of unrest, Olympic test events have gone ahead with few problems.

The badminton worlds in northwest London have been unaffected, but the first day of the beach volleyball competition at Horse Guards Parade in central London on Tuesday was stopped a few hours early to allow everyone to get home before dark.

Other test events this week include a marathon swimming competition at Hyde Park on Saturday and a cycling road race through the streets of London on Sunday.