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London bid 'getting stronger'
07/09/2004 15:00 - (SA)
London - London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games is "strong and getting ever stronger," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday.
"There is an increasing view that London's bid for 2012 is strong and getting ever stronger," Blair said during his first press conference since the Olympics were held in Athens last month.
Blair said London's sporting facilities were already being improved, with Wembley Stadium due for completion in 2006 and the Millennium Dome being transformed into a 20 000-seat arena the year after.
He added Lord Sebastian Coe, a former Olympic gold medallist who heads the London Olympic bid committee, would make a presentation to the cabinet next Thursday.
"The government is 100% behind the bid," Blair said. "Hosting the Games would be a tremendous thing for the country and a tremendous thing obviously for British sport."
Blair also praised the performance of British athletes in Athens, where they reaped a total of 30 medals.
In August, Blair's wife Cherie Blair announced she would join a team of ambassadors promoting London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
The British capital is one of five candidate cities to host the Games, the others being Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris. The winning bid is to be announced in Singapore in July 2005.
- AFP
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