British Prime Minister Tony Blair met bid chairman Lord Coe and leading sports stars from the past and present at Downing Street on Monday night. And he said: "I am particularly pleased to see Seb Coe because I want to emphasise our 100% and total support for our 2012 bid. "We are going to do our best to bring the 2012 Olympics here." And Mr Blair also met around 100 aspiring athletes aged between five and 20 who hope to compete for Great Britain in the 2012 Games.

Former British Olympic stars who attended to add their backing to the bid included Colin Jackson, Steve Cram and Tessa Sanderson.

London's bid was only ranked third when it won a place on the five-city short-list and the meeting in London was thought to be part of the efforts to reinvigorate the bid.