Press responses to the official launch of the London 2012 Olympics bid, 19 November 2004….
Writing in the London Evening Standard, prime minister Tony Blair declared that the London bid would strike gold like Kelly Holmes in Athens, ‘if only we believe in ourselves and aim high’.
The Evening Standard revealed that David Beckham plays a cameo role in a promotional film for the London bid. Becks is pictured puzzling over a crossword in a London café. The film also features Roger Moore, reprising his James Bond role.
Interviewed by Fiona Maddocks in the Evening Standard, ‘entrepreneur of the imagination’ Jude Kelly promised ‘the most diverse and spectacular cultural celebration that has ever accompanied an Olympic Games. We’re talking art, architecture, dance, theatre, cinema, galleries, music, fashion, the lot’.
She also promised that the cultural festival will have long-lasting consequences: ‘An entire quarter of the city will be revitalised, and that’s a legacy for the future, not just for the duration of the Games.’
Guardian sports correspondent Paul Kelso reported that the bid has already had a positive effect in uniting government and the governing bodies of British sport in a concerted effort to bring the Games to London.
The IOC, observed Ross Lydall (Evening Standard), has expressed concern over London’s transport infrastructure, with ‘considerable investment’ required in capacity and safety. The bid team claims that £30million will be invested in transport.
The IOC is also concerned about the lack of public enthusiasm for the Games. While an ‘official’ poll showed only two in three in favour, the bid team claims that support is growing, especially among the young, with 75 per cent support in a more recent poll.
In the Morning Star, London mayor Ken Livingstone maintained that the bid is ‘already paying dividends’ such as the go-ahead for the East London Line tube extension.
He concluded that ‘the development of the ethical dimension of the bid is an indication that we are not only serious about winning but also about the legacy that the Games will leave behind for London’s communities’.
Louise Ford is a second-year journalism student at the University of East London and media monitor for Rising East Online.
© 2004·05
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