BBC defends Olympics staff numbers

The man masterminding the BBC's coverage of the Olympics has defended accrediting 765 staff to cover the Games.

The corporation, having recently relocated to BBC Sport's new home in Salford, has been criticised for putting some staff up in London hotels to cover the event.

BBC staff numbers have increased from the 493 that worked on the Beijing Games in 2008.

Dave Gordon, BBC Sport's head of major events, told the Radio Times: "Don't forget, NBC is flying 2,700 over from the USA. So we're pretty lean and mean."

He said he was confident the BBC would not face the kind of criticism that followed its coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

"I look on it as a reminder of how passionately the audience cares what the BBC does and the way we do it," he said. "We've a hard-earned reputation for doing the Olympics well."

But he said the broadcaster would feel anxious if there were no stories of success to report.

"Ultimately, one of the measures of the success of the Games and the success of our coverage will be how the British public feel about Team GB's performance. Say we have a barren first few days, we'll all get a little twitchy," he said.

BBC1 and BBC3 will be the flagship Olympics channels, with BBC1 showing continuous coverage of events except to switch to the news.

Audiences will also be able to watch "wherever and whenever they want" on PC, mobile, tablet and connected TVs.

The BBC has lined up presenters including Gary Lineker, Sue Barker, Clare Balding, Chris Hollins, Gabby Logan, Matt Baker and Sian Williams to front more than 2,500 hours of live coverage.