Actors and sports stars join party to back bid

Sporting heroes Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Roger Bannister gave their backing to Britain's bid for the 2012 Olympic games at a star-studded party at the London Eye.

They joined 700 guests, including Sir John Hurt and Sir Ian McKellen, to promote the bid after it was announced that London had made it to the shortlist of five cities.

Sir Ian, star of the Lord Of The Rings series, said the Olympics would transform the East End and "build the future, not just dream about it".

"This is the greatest city in the world," he said. "It has always welcomed outsiders, immigrants, visitors. The heart of London is beating faster with the great news that we are on the shortlist - and about time too.

"If London is successful it will swell, and not just with pride.

The East End will be revived with lasting sporting facilities. This is about feeling good about London and what it offers."

Speaking after the party, which featured carnival dancing girls and a mammoth fireworks display, he told the Standard: "I'm not a sports person but I remember watching the Olympics in 1948 from where I then lived, up north - the first Games ever to be televised. Now I am an adopted east London boy. But this is very much a bid on behalf of the whole country. Events will be taking place outside London, and TV makes people feel a part of it."

Fellow actor Sir John Hurt said: "I'm a big sports fan and I believe that London has a very strong chance of getting the Games. It's very tough opposition but we can do it."

Mayor Ken Livingstone also took to the podium to declare: "If I had suggested four years ago that London would make the final shortlist then everyone would have laughed. Four years ago Wembley was a fiasco. Since then things have been completely transformed.

"We want something that can trump what they achieved in Sydney. We want the sense of pride that once again we can stage a great event. The whole world will join in the pleasure of

7.5 million Londoners when we discover what we can do when we put our minds to it."

Sir Roger Bannister said the battle had only just begun.

"We now have to prove to the rest of the country the significance and worth of London 2012."