Olympic Games: London bid supported for 2012 event

A London-based bid for the 2012 Olympics has the potential to be "world-beating'', according to an independent report published yesterday. Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, welcomed the findings of a report into the cost-benefit of a 2012 Games in the capital conducted by the engineering consultancy Arup.

The report concludes that bidding for and staging a London Olympics in 2012 would produce a net surplus "in the order of £79m''. The overall initial expenditure for the Games would be just under £2bn.

Speaking at City Hall, Livingstone pledged his "total support'' for the bid, adding: "I don't have the slightest doubt that if London plays its cards right, there could be a huge benefit both for our city and the whole economy. This is almost a uniquely good time to put in a bid because so much is coming together that could not have happened at any time in the last 25 years and will not happen again in the lifetime of anyone in this room.''

The cost-benefit analysis, which follows an in-depth feasibility study that was presented to the government in December 2000, works on the assumption that numerous key transport innovations will be in place by the time of the Games, including a Channel rail link to King's Cross, the completion of Heathrow's Terminal Five and the construction of London's proposed CrossRail link.

"With all that happening it's madness not to support the application of an Olympic bid to spur it on,'' Livingstone said. "It would be a major boost to transport and tourism.''

Livingstone acknowledged that Britain's sporting reputation was in need of repair following the delays over the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium and the collapse of the Picketts Lock bid for the World Athletics Championships of 2005. "We've had the fiasco of Picketts Lock, but there's one key difference now ­ we have a government for London,'' Livingstone said. "I don't believe that the problems with Wembley and Picketts Lock would have occurred had a London government been in place earlier.''

Yesterday's announcement made it clear that two of the three major stakeholders in a potential London Olympics were wholeheartedly in favour of bidding for the next available Games. David Luckes, who put together the original feasibility study, described the situation thus: "The British Olympic Association and the Greater London Authority are standing on the edge of the cliff holding hands and we are waiting for the government to join us before we jump off together.''

The International Olympic Committee is seeking applications for 2012 by July 2003. Following a short-listing process at the beginning of 2004, it will make the final decision on the host city in July 2005.

The BOA, meanwhile, is expecting the government to make up their mind about a bid in January of next year when all relevant parties will meet.

Asked how difficult he thought it might be to convince the government, the BOA chairman Craig Reedie replied: "The government is never going to bid on the basis of emotion. It will be a matter of hard commercial fact and political reality. But at least now they have clear information on the hard commercial fact.''

* The 2004 Olympic marathon will probably start in the afternoon, the IOC official in charge of Athens' preparations said. A start time for the marathon has not yet been set, but an afternoon race, probably one that would culminate around 5pm, would help athletes cope with Athens' high summer-time temperatures. The women's marathon final will be held on 22 August and the men's final on 29 August, the last day of the Olympics.