It takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention money, to secure the rights to host the Olympic Games but just how far did the organisers of the London games go?
If the latest reports are right the London bid committee went as far as a bit of electronic tomfoolery to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that it was the ideal venue for what is known as The Greatest Show on Earth.
Towards the end of London's application process the IOC evaluation committee paid a visit to inspect what was foreseen as London's possible weak spot - its transportation system. Aware that London was at that point vying for position with Paris the London Bid Committee placed GPS transmitters in all of the vehicles used by the IOC and sent the delegates upon a pre-planned route.
Once on the move the vehicles were monitored from the London Traffic Control Centre via its bank of CCTV cameras and as London Bid Committee CEO Sir Keith Mills says "...when they came up to traffic lights we turned them green."
Ok so the news may not be as ground breaking as talk of brown envelopes or all expenses paid trips to private resorts but it certainly explains to a confused London population how the IOC thought this was a good idea. They were simply hoodwinked...
Paul Healy - 11 May 2012