IOC under pressure in Olympic bids

PARIS: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair may be best remembered for standing shoulder to shoulder with George W. Bush over the Gulf War but in the sporting world it will be how he produced a dramatic late flurry of lobbying to gain London the 2012 Olympic Games.

His "table side" manner in Singapore, where the vote was held in 2005, contrasted sharply to that of then French President Jacques Chirac whose more formal behavior later drew strong criticism from members of the devastated Paris bid.

Blair's timely intervention was followed by a bravura performance by the then Russian President Vladimir Putin in Guatemala when it came time for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to vote on who would host the 2014 Winter Games.