Games bid leader hits back over Zara Phillips attack on Greenwich venue

The American businesswoman who launched London's Olympic bid today rejected heavy criticism of staging the 2012 horseriding events in Greenwich Park.

Barbara Cassani spoke out following criticism led by Zara Phillips and her father Captain Mark Phillips who have complained that the temporary Royal Parks venue meant their sport would not get a legacy despite the temporary venue costing up to £30 million.

The former budget airline boss who got the 2012 campaign off the ground, admitted British equestrianism would miss out on new facilities bequeathed to other sports such as swimming and cycling.

But she said Greenwich was "perfect" because of its location at the heart of the Olympic action and said London would not have won without it.

Ms Cassani's frank comments came in her first interview about her 11-month stint as bid leader before handing the baton to Lord Coe who a year later led London to victory over Paris in July 2005.

Ms Cassani, an accomplished horsewoman, said: "I was one of the early advocates for using Greenwich. I know a lot about equestrian sports and they have been at risk from being dropped from the (Olympic) programme. The British Equestrian Federation were looking for venues when this came up and my eyes lit up and I thought it was perfect."

Ms Cassani wanted to "do better" after Olympic horseriding in 2008 was staged in Hong Kong - outside the host nation China - and four years earlier was in a "ridiculous" location near the airport in Athens.

In his regular Horse & Hound column, Captain Phillips wrote he was "perturbed" by the cost of Greenwich. Last year his daughter said in an interview: "What is annoying is that they put something there and then take it all down afterwards. What's the point of that?"