London's 2012 Bid: London Bid Boosted By Blair Backing

London's bid to host the 2012 Olympics received a significant boost yesterday when Tony Blair again met the International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge during a reception at the House of Commons to celebrate the centenary of the British Olympic Association.

In what resembled an elaborate dance in a room overlooking the Thames, to comply with IOC bidding rules the prime minister avoided all mention of London's bid during his 10-minute speech attended by the likes of the former Olympians Sir Steven Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent and Sir Menzies Campbell. But he clearly got the message across to the six IOC members present that his government was solidly behind the bid.

The presence of so many influential IOC members in London only 42 days before the vote to elect the host city takes place in Singapore on July 6 was controversial. That explained the absence of any official representatives of London 2012 - they had decided to stay away because this was obstinately a BOA affair - but the bid chairman Sebastian Coe was there in the background throughout.

He attended in his capacity as a double Olympic 1500 metres gold medallist, but few among the 150 people in the room mistook what his real task was.

Coe diplomatically maintained a low profile apart from the end when he engaged in conversation with Mario Pescante, the Italian sports minister, a senior IOC member who is head of the European Olympic Committee and who many experts believe has the ability to move a number of block votes that could prove crucial to the final outcome.

The race is now approaching the bell and, as in any congested contest of this kind, the jostling to manoeuvre into the best position is increasingly aggressive. Paris, perhaps fearful of losing its position as favourite, is hosting a media luncheon in London for the British media today which the chief executive Philippe Baudillon will attend.

It all adds to Coe's confidence that London is gaining ground on Paris. "About a year ago people thought this was a predictable contest," he said. "Now people are pausing to think about it."

It was a year ago last week that Coe succeeded the American Barbara Cassani as the chairman of the bid. He took over when the IOC's initial evaluation had heavily criticised London's transport plan. Insiders claim that when the final report is released next month London will come out on top.

"We dealt openly and honestly with the initial evaluation," said Coe, who was a whip during his time as a Conservative MP. "When you are involved in politics you are rarely given steers halfway through the campaign.

"The most graphic was on transport. It would have been easy for us to sit back and say, 'We are right, they are wrong.' We made it fairly clear we would turn it round - and we have. It is now one of the strongest aspects of our bid."

Blair's arrival yesterday at the lunch hosted by the former defence secretary Geoff Hoon, who is now leader of the House, reinforced Coe's view that the prime minister is a major asset for the bid.

"Tony Blair going to Athens [for the Olympics last year] was a huge commitment for us," said Coe. "He stayed for a number of days and met a number of IOC members. It helped bring the public on board. You can't win campaigns by stealth. You have to let people know what is going on. We had to crowd out people's negativity".

That negativity resurfaced briefly last month during the controversy over Coe's plan to offer a charter to athletes and officials competing in London 2012, the highlights of which included free economy return flights for all competitors and officials, subsidies for training camps and free rail travel. London was forced to withdraw such blandishments but encouragingly Rogge yesterday claimed he "had almost forgotten about that".

The bell for the last lap is about to toll and, just as Coe used to be during his outstanding career, London is on the shoulder of the leader. We will soon find out whether he still has that fearsome kick finish.