London bid given Vancouver boost

By Gordon Farquhar
BBC sports news correspondent

Barbara Cassani, the London 2012 Olympics bid leader, might be playing down Vancouver's success being named as host of the 2010 Winter Games.

But, make no mistake, there will be considerable relief among all the London stakeholders that Salzburg or Pyeongchang did not win the race.

Cassani is leading London's bid Canadians cheer Olympic decision

There is little doubt Toronto would have waded into the fray for the 2012 Summer Games if Vancouver had not prevailed in the 2010 vote.

Toronto would have been a formidable opponent - a North American bid would have had a better chance of success.

And surely Toronto would have learned much from its rather unfair fight with Beijing last time around when the odds were stacked so heavily in the Chinese capital's favour, the Canadians really had little chance.

So, a sigh of relief for London's bid team.

But, whatever the outcome here in Prague, London's task is still Herculean.

The rivalry for 2012 is shaping up to be the most competitive in Olympic history.

Nine cities have now declared: New York, Havana, and either Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro; plus six from Europe: London, Paris, Madrid, Leipzig, Moscow and Istanbul.

The gossip around the bars and cafes at the Prague Hilton suggests the sports federations are genuinely pleased London is involved in the process.

Early signs suggest the biggest threat to London will come from either Paris or Madrid.

But the voting for the 2010 Winter Games perhaps shows a new strand of thinking within the IOC - few, if any, expected Pyeongchang to edge Salzburg into third in the voting.

A sign perhaps that the IOC is now giving more weight to bids from cities where the greatest legacy for sport and potential for development is offered.

The quality of the bid has to be the first priority.

But perhaps if the IOC can be convinced the Cuban, Brazilian or Turkish bids are good enough, the potential for development in one of those countries could be compelling.