One Hurdle Nearer to Gold

London successfully cleared the first hurdle in its quest to host the 2012 Olympics. Last week, London's bid team were overjoyed to discover they were one of five cities shortlisted by the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC's report highlighted the strengths of the London Bid. London's abundance of historical sites and iconic sporting venues is a massive bonus and would provide a photogenic backdrop.

The regeneration of the East End and its proximity to the city centre is a key factor of the bid. The proposed site for Olympic Park is in Stratford, East London and will include a core 80,000 seat stadium, a 20,000 aquatic centre, three multi-sport arenas, a 17,000 bed athlete's village plus a media complex.

The IOC rated London third after Paris and Madrid. The two main criticisms were a lack of faith in London's transport network and the evident lack of support from the British public.

London was ranked fifth in terms of transport. An estimated investment of £17 billion is needed to improve capacity and safety. Average travel distances outside of the Olympic park were estimated as the longest of all applicant cities.

One crucial development seemingly overlooked by the committee was the planned use of the Channel Tunnel extension from King's Cross to Stratford, to ferry competitors and spectators to their destination in seven minutes. Transport for London is adamant that the upgrades will be in place by 2012 including the Crossrail development.

Apathy towards the bid was also cited as a potential stumbling block. The report's polling revealed only 67% of the public supported the team. The bid team are now focusing on fostering enthusiasm amongst Londoners and convincing business community, local politicians and members of the local East London community of the advantages of staging the games.

Following the publication of the report there was a dramatic change of leadership within the Bid Team. Barbara Cassani stepped down as chairman of the bid in favour of Lord Coe. The move came just a day after the IOC announced the shortlist. Former Olympic champion Lord Coe will become the public face of the campaign whilst Ms Cassani will concentrate on developing the technical aspects of the bid.

The board must now submit detailed plans of their proposals to the IOC by November. The next eight months will be spent convincing the board to award them the world's most important event before the decision is announced on July 6 next year in Singapore.

London is capable of putting on an Olympic Games every Londoner would be proud of but as Londoners the bid cannot succeed without our belief in it. Some may feel discouraged by the IOC's early criticism but as Lord Coe said: "No one wants to be handed the baton first place in the race, there are always competitors to be chased down".

Free Festival Fun

The Line up for London's biggest free festival was confirmed this week. Leading hip hop artists, Ty, Big Brovaz and hot new talents Shystie and Lady Sovereign will headline this annual anti-racism event. This year the festival returns to Victoria Park after a year's hiatus at the Millennium Dome. Over 100,000 attended last year and it looks set to be even bigger this year with an increased number of refreshment stalls and a comedy tent. The forecast is for sunny spells.

Mercedes Murder

A London man who murdered his former partner as she tried to stop him taking their £12,000 Mercedes has been jailed for life. The Old Bailey heard how Frank Wade, from Kilburn, north London, ran down Melanie Malcolm, 49, as she leaned on the bonnet to stop him driving off. The car originally belonged to Ms Malcolm but she gave it to 46-year-old Mr Wade to drive because she was disqualified. Judge Brian Barker said: “This was a loss of temper, awful behaviour. This car was described as a gift of love but you used it as a lethal weapon.”

Londoner Wins Lazy Record

London is officially the world’s laziest city. Londoner, Tom Gibson, succeeded in his bid to break the world record for continuous TV viewing. His mammoth 47 hour viewing session slashed the previous record by a whopping seven minutes. Gibson carried out his task in a mocked-up living-room on the Cromwell Road which was open to public viewing. He kept himself awake by stretching his legs at regular intervals and claimed his highlight was watching the Champion’s League.

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