They gave Jacques Rogge an unfeasibly big envelope from which to extract just one word but still it seemed to trouble him slightly, writes Tom Humphries in Singapore
"The International Olympic Committee has the honour of announcing that the Games of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the city of [pause] London."
London! The silence in the Raffles Convention Centre in Singapore was ripped apart by whooping and roaring from the beige-suited London contingent. Daley Thompson, suitless and grinning, suddenly sported a red T-shirt with blue legend, London. Job Done. He had no sooner changed into it than the hall was emptying, defeated bid teams heading out to clear their heads in the thick tropical air.
The Moscow bid left first, as they had in the voting, when they were eliminated in the first round. The Spanish came next, faces thunderous, knowing they had come close to causing a surprise. Hillary Clinton led the New York delegation from the hall. "Brought the wrong Clinton," yelled somebody. True. It was a week for schmoozers, not policy wonks.
And finally came the French, for whom this narrow and bitter defeat will have as many negative ramifications as London's win will have positive. Tony Blair came to Singapore and beat Jacques Chirac hands down when it came to spreading bonhomie.
The French arrived with a lead and left with a beating, the third defeat the bidding process has handed them in 20 years. With the margin in the final round of voting being just four votes, 54 to 50, the blame wasn't long finding a home.
For Mr Chirac, the result is a catastrophe. He was a day late and a franc short with his contribution and French bid leaders were quick privately to blame his uncharismatic demeanour for the crucial leaking of votes in the final days. "In comparison with the Blairs he was no help," said one. "It was a narrow gap and we lost it." With his domestic approval rating running at 28 per cent, Mr Chirac's plans to run for a third presidential term in 2007 have taken a huge knock. It had been predicted that a Paris Olympics would have added €40 billion to the French economy over the next 14 years and created 45,000 permanent jobs.
Instead that dividend goes to Tony Blair, prime minister of the rosbifs, premier of mad cow nation. The London bid made the most sensational comeback in IOC history and the timing and momentum which it built over the last few days was critical.
Coming on top of the feel good images generated by the Live8 concerts at the weekend, this week's campaign in Singapore was all about glitz and promise and youth. The IOC bought it and even that represented an odd triumph of belief for the London bid. All along the IOC had insisted it was on a diet and would be declining all offers of glitz and giganticism when it came to deciding on a host city. But then. . . "The London bid has this idea of legacy, and not just for our country but for the Olympic movement," said Mr Blair, responding to the win.
Mr Blair, who with his wife, Cherie, campaigned over the past few days as if the very future of mankind depended on a London success, had put his finger on something important.
The Olympic movement, while pretending to be sternly shopping for tight-fitting hairshirts, is always a little ticklish in the ego area. Paris offered to accommodate the Olympics, to run a tight ship. London offered to transform itself. London offered celebs and magic. London outromanced Paris.
"It's a momentous day for London," added Mr Blair, who claimed to have been too nervous to watch the vote on TV. "Many people really do reckon that London is the greatest city in the whole world at the moment."
It was a critical defeat for IOC president Jacques Rogge. Those who will feel his pain most keenly include Jacques Chirac and one Gordon Brown, the first losers of the 2012 Olympic Games.