LONDON, 19 February 2005 — British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission to Downing Street yesterday where he held a meeting to promote London’s bid to host the 2012 Summer Games.
The commission, which is on the third day of its inspection of London’s preparations, was due to visit Buckingham Palace later for a dinner hosted by Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Phillip.
The head of London’s 2012 bid, Keith Mills, will make a presentation on culture to the commission before former Olympic champion Lord Sebastian Coe makes the farewell speech.
The commission will also stage a news conference today before leaving tomorrow for New York, the next candidate city on its itinerary. After New York, the commission will visit Paris and then Moscow.
The IOC will select the 2012 hosts from a field of London, Paris, Madrid, Moscow and New York on July 6 when it meets in Singapore.
Meanwhile, London Mayor Ken Livingstone said yesterday he expected the contest for the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games to go “down to the wire”.
London is in a five-way race to stage the Games with Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow.
The British capital was seen as an outsider when bidding began but appears to have closed the gap on long-time leader Paris.
“At every stage we’ve strengthened our position. We are in a better position than when we began but it’s going down to the wire,” said Livingstone.
