Where was London?

London's Olympic bid leader Barbara Cassani arrived in Paris yesterday - too late to get London's international lobbying campaign off the ground at the World Athletics Championships.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge and other senior IOC members have already left after attending last week's preevent meetings of the IOC and IAAF, the governing body of athletics, while influential figures in the sport have less time for dinner or drinks in the week of the championships.

More importantly, officials from one of London's main 2012 rivals, New York, began schmoozing with Olympic and athletics figures more than a week ago at the meetings held in the Louvre Museum.

Until Sports Minister Richard Caborn and Britain's IOC member Craig Reedie came into town at the weekend, the only sign of a London presence at the championships was the fashionable Old England shop opposite the IAAF's fivestar hotel.

Hardly surprising, then, that many Olympic observers were asking: where is London?

Cassani will argue she is currently focusing on the technical side of the bid. It is fair comment because without a decent plan for the Games in Stratford, London does not have a hope of winning the 2012 vote in July 2005.

But other Olympic experts have been surprised that London has not had anybody working discreetly behind the scenes to counter the advantages 2012 favourites Paris could have from staging successful championships.

"They should be over here with their sleeves rolled up and getting on with it," one experienced lobbyist said. "London are off the pace."

Cassani has yet to put together her international lobbying team and last Friday the bid suffered a setback.

Standard Sport has learned that Britain's most respected IOC expert, Iain Macleod, has decided not to join the bid after an early-morning meeting with Cassani. Macleod is now expected to be snapped up by one of London's rivals as an adviser. He and Cassani could not agree on his role.

Cassani appears to be steering clear of the more traditional Olympic bidding approach, which requires lingering in smoke-filled hotel bars to catch IOC members. While there is nothing wrong with devising her own strategy, London's bid leader would be wrong not to at least pay lip-service to this process, since the majority of IOC members are male and over 50.

The only London lobbying in Paris began after the important meetings had finished, when Caborn and Reedie arrived. Reedie has many friends in the IOC and has been touching base with several of them.

Caborn is also turning out to be a huge asset. Within a few hours of arriving in Paris, the Sports Minister was chatting with Rogge and his predecessor Juan Antonio Samaranch.

But London's bid is keen to be independent of the Government and the British Olympic Association. Nobody from the bid was working the corridors of power when it mattered last week.

The Louvre was left wide open to New York bid chief and deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff and experienced lobbyist Charlie Battle.

The US governing body of track and field held a timely champagne-reception in the Louvre last week.

Big crowds on the opening nights of the championships have given a huge boost to France's reputation as a host of major events. VIPs visiting the event have also enjoyed excellent hospitality, including the offer of free trips to tourist attractions.

Cars are available at all hours to take officials around Paris. The French are throwing money at the event to make sure it is successful.

It is also significant that Essar Gabriel, the organising committee's chief executive, will take on a leading role in the Paris Olympic bid.

The jury is still out on whether the championships will be a major boost to Paris, however, since some believe they will expose the lack of space around the Stade de France for more Olympic development.

But as one athletics official put it: "The French are certainly pulling out all the stops."