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In just over three hours time, we’ll know whether London has secured the 2012 Olympic bid. I have to confess I’m a late convert to the proposal. When I lived in London I was more than a little shocked to hear that Londoners would be expected to pay quite a chunk (something approaching £100 extra on our council tax for a few years), and somehow the idea of thousands more tracksuited people descending on the city was less than appealing (all be it without the Burberry and the pushchair perhaps).

But my chav aversion aside, listening to the discussion over the last few days, hearing about the redevelopment of the east-end of London that would occur, I’ve come to think that this really could be a great event to be hosted in the city. The scale of redevelopment suggested puts it at an advantage over Paris, which has much already built. There also seems to be a genuine turnaround in public opinion regarding the bid. Perhaps, given my personal opinion until recently, I’d thought it was inflated, but I suspect it’s more than genuine.

Frances and I visited the Olympic site in Sydney. One of my only concerns is we were less than impressed by the venue. I don’t mean to say it wasn’t impressive as a sporting venue: It was big, impressive and had lots of flagpoles: All things I think are important factors. But it somehow felt empty (we were there at about 8pm, on our way back from the Blue Mountains). So I just can’t get worked up by politicians saying it’ll be a great “legacy”, as sporting stadia are only used occasionally. Much of the rest of the time they’re empty and somehow drab as a result, and I’m not sure I’d want that down the end of the road.

That aside, to snub Jacque Chirac one more time by snapping it away from the supposedly favourite bid from Paris would be so desirable. The pique this man is putting on is ridiculous, and seems to be more appropriate from a 12 year old child than a senior European statesman. I’m almost expecting Chirac to run across to Tony Blair, snatch the football from him, and steam off on his own (perhaps with Bush bursting into tears).

Rumour has it on the political programmes that much in the G8 actually hangs on the Olympic decision. If Paris looses, expect some grandstanding. If they win, expect some snide remarks. Whilst France supposedly backs Britain’s push of the Make Poverty History agenda, I’m somewhat cynical that loosing out to Britain would serve only to encourage more fits of pique from Chirac, a most curious statesman.

But all that aside, I’m very hopeful that at 12.46pm we’ll be awarded the games. Hearing the level of support from both British athletes and sportsmen, as well as famous figures such as Nelson Mandela, it’d be great - and boost the entire country - to actually win the right to host the Olympics in 2012.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2005 at 9:40 am and is filed under London, Olympics, Sport, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.