Smith said: 鈥淭his is a bogus issue. The question is simply whether the stadium at Picketts Lock can be used for an Olympic venue, and the bottom line is that it can.鈥�
Smith鈥檚 comment follows speculation that the stadium will not be adequate for Olympic events, echoing similar claims over the development of the new national stadium at Wembley, north-west London, last year.
The Picketts Lock stadium design is for a 60 000-seat venue. However, Olympic criteria stipulate that the host nation must have a stadium capable of housing a minimum of 80 000 people.
Smith said this would not be a problem. 鈥淭he current design for a 60 000-seater stadium can be easily extended to accommodate an additional 20 000 if necessary. There is also sufficient space to build a warm-up track next to the stadium, which the Olympic committee would insist on.鈥�
The new stadium is to be built on the 125-acre Lee Valley regional park in a partnership between UK Athletics, the British Olympics Association, the Government Office for London, UK Sport and the Department for Media, Culture and Sport.
