LORD COE, the leader of the London Olympic bid, believes that he has a secret trump card that will secure the Games for the capital just before the crucial vote on July 6.
Lord Coe, keen not to reveal his hand too early in the bidding war, will produce what yesterday he called “the sizzle factor” only as the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meet in Singapore for the ballot to decide which city will stage the Games.
The two-times Olympic 1,500 metres champion, who has said that getting the Games for Britain would dwarf his athletics triumphs, said that the most important factor in the build-up to the poll was the “message sequence” — the timing of announcements about the details, because “the best get nicked and the worst get derided”.
As the IOC evaluation commission left London for New York yesterday, Lord Coe prepared for five months of intensive international lobbying. However, he will do so bouyed by the success of the IOC visit. The inspectors, chaired by Nawal El Moutawakel, the Moroccan athlete who won her Olympic 400 metres’ hurdles title in the same week as Lord Coe won his second gold medal in 1984 and who described him last weekend as “my good friend”, were clearly impressed with the efficiency and attention to detail of the bid.
On Saturday, the delegation was provided even with complete transcripts of the questions and answers on the 17 main themes of staging the Games so that they could complete their report, due to be published in June.
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When one of the commission wanted a takeaway curry, Lord Coe immediately had available the number of an outstanding restaurant in East London.
The inspectors were struck by enthusiasm for Olympic sport in the British presentations. Ms Moutawakel said: “We could feel it, hear it and see it. They all spoke with passion. It was in every speech and every word.”
The commission was also impressed by the number of distinguished competitors, such as Daley Thompson and Tanni Grey-Thompson, who were intimately involved in the planning for the Games.
London is competing with New York, Madrid, Moscow and Paris, the favourite, for the right to stage the Games in 2012. The London team said yesterday that a further 100,000 Britons had signed up as supporters by e-mail or text over the past week, to bring that total to 700,000 — only 300,000 short of its target of one million.
Now Lord Coe will be setting out on a series of visits and presentations across the world, addressing IOC members, representatives of national Olympic committees and international sports officials. He said: “It will be a rare week when I am not on the way out or on the way back from a foreign trip.”
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However, he said that there would also be the “hidden wiring” to help influence the vote.
Bodies such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, officials of British sports organisations and competitors themselves would be promoting London’s case. He added: “We will use anyone who can nudge us across the line.”