Blair Helps London to Hit Bid Targets

The most intense day of lobbying yet in the race for the 2012 Games began with all five candidate cities insisting they could win and ended with London sounding more confident than ever that their optimism amounts to more than bluster.

With all but a handful of the 115 International Olympic Committee members installed at the Raffles City Plaza hotel yesterday, London set in motion a three-pronged strategy designed to secure the support of the 55 votes it will ultimately need to win the Games.

The Prime Minister Tony Blair, his wife Cherie and the capital's mayor Ken Livingstone have been primed to make London's case to different constituencies within the IOC. By contrast Paris set out to work quietly on shoring up its vote, attempting to earn a new reputation for humility in the face of London's criticism of its stadium plans.

That tactic was beginning to look flawed, however, after news of President Chirac's comments at London's expense began to filter through to Singapore. The jibes were commented on by IOC members in the lobbies and Chirac's arrival today will prompt questions about his conduct rather than the strengths of Paris's bid.

The IOC executive is also likely to be asked for its opinion on what in the cloistered world of the IOC amounts to criticism of a rival bid.

Blair, meanwhile, has spent his two-day visit focusing on the IOC's big beasts, the opinion formers and vote movers, while his wife set about meeting with more than 20 members she has come to know during close to three years' involvement with the bid.

The fundamental plank of London's strategy rests on the belief that Madrid holds the key to victory. With the Spanish capital expected to outlast Moscow and New York, London hope that, should Madrid fall in the third round, leaving a straight fight between Paris and London, they will inherit some of the Latin votes.

The British Olympic Association chairman Craig Reedie insisted yesterday that no formal deal had been done but in the bars and meeting rooms of the hotel complex the picture was very different.

Among the first people to have one-to-one meetings with the Prime Minister in his suite yesterday morning were the influential Latin American IOC members Mario Vázquez Rana from Mexico and Carlos Nuzman from Brazil.

Both men are expected to back Madrid first time round but Rana in particular could be crucially influential. A media mogul, he is president of the Association of National Olympic Committees, one of the IOC's most prominent umbrella bodies.

Nuzman, meanwhile, a member of several key Olympic commissions and president of the organising committee of the Pan American games, dined with a senior member of the London bid team on Sunday evening, before meeting Blair.

The Prime Minister's diary for the final 48 hours of the campaign is as full as at any time in recent months, according to his official spokesman, and in a series of 15-minute meetings he will attempt to reach all the key IOC members.

Jan Zelezny, the Czech three-times javelin gold medallist, met the PM yesterday. Also on the list are Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Alex Gilady, a vice-president of NBC, the television network that bankrolls the Games, and Sergei Bubka, the former pole-vaulter tipped as a future IAAF president.

Bubka is an influential figure in Eastern Europe, a constituency whose vote initially should cluster around the Moscow bid. Diack, meanwhile, is one of the senior voices in Africa, though his trust in London was damaged, possibly beyond repair, by the decision to withdraw from staging the 2005 World Athletics Championships.

"Until now London's approach to lobbying had not been as aggressive as the other cities," said one IOC member. "But wheeling out the Prime Minister and his wife at this crucial stage, just two days before the vote, has had a real effect. It's too early yet to tell whether Mrs Blair has persuaded any members to change their minds but it cannot have done any damage."

Paris have designs on many of the same members as London and are privately confident of securing votes from London's core Commonwealth constituency but there are encouraging signs for the bid. Three IOC sources indicated that the Italian president of the European Olympic Committee Mario Pescante has swung behind London after appeals from Blair to the Italian president Silvio Berlusconi.

Support from the Spanish bid, which would be reciprocated should London fall early, was also on display in the early hours of Monday morning in the Ink Club Bar, the expensive watering hole of choice of the IOC in Singapore.

Sebastian Coe and two key strategists spent several hours in the company of Juan Antonio Samaranch Jnr, a member of the Madrid bid and son of the former IOC president. Yesterday he was prowling the lobbies discreetly declaring support for London should his bid fall.

The London party was joined by Gilady, a close ally of Samaranch Snr and potentially helpful for influencing the four north American votes should New York fall early as many expect.

Livingstone for his part met with Mustapha Larfaoui, the Algerian member and president of the International Swimming Federation, and Els van Breda Vriesman, Dutch president of the International Hockey Federation.

The mayor's pitch was that the facilities to which London is committed regardless of the result on Wednesday - an acquatic centre and hockey facility - will significantly benefit those sports.

This flurry of effort, to be augmented today by the first official deployment of David Beckham on bid duty, is not guaranteed to succeed.

What is clear, however, is that London is running a focused campaign in its attempt to overhaul Paris. Only tomorrow will it be clear if it has been worthwhile.

Key Targets

Lamine Diack

Senegalese president of IAAF, believed to be a Paris supporter. Could be persuaded to change mind because of the legacy an Olympics would bequeath his sport.

Sergei Bubka

Ukrainian pole-vault record holder, seen as a potential future IOC president. Could be key factor in swinging the Eastern European vote behind London.

Mario Vázquez Rana

Mexican media mogul, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees. Is believed to have the ability to deliver vital Latin American votes.

Mario Pescante

Italian sports minister is head of the European Olympic Committee. He may be forced to vote for London after Blair put pressure on Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi.

Adel al-Subaih

Watford-supporting, Radlett-based Kuwaiti oil minister is believed to be firmly behind London, but Blair hopes he can persuade Asia to follow him.