MANCHESTER, Aug 5: Manchester’s successful staging of the Commonwealth Games has prompted calls for Britain to launch a serious bid to hold the Olympics for the first time since 1948.

The Commonwealths, like the Olympics held every four years, wrapped up Sunday with a spectacular if rain-soaked closing ceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

It was the biggest multi-sport event ever held in Britain and revived pride and passion in British sport both from the organisational and performance points of view.

Calls for a concerted effort to bring the Olympics back to Britain were led by the head of the British Olympic Association (BOA) Craig Reedie who said that there was a “window of opportunity” to bid for the 2012 Games in London.

The BOA have identified an area of east London as the centre of an Olympic bid, as it has development opportunities which could be tied into hosting the Games, but these may disappear as the pressure for space in the capital increases.

“It’s our belief, and the cost-benefit analysis supports this, that this is a window of opportunity in east London which will not be there permanently. The opportunity may be now,” said Reedie, who is also a member of the elite International Olympic Committee.

“We have a history of sporting enthusiasm in Britain that is unusually high, and the Commonwealth Games have made it clear that if we put our minds to it we can actually organise very well.

“One thing for sure is that if there is a bid and if it is successful it will be in no small part due to the success of the Commonwealth Games here.

Another issue in favour of London bidding is that if a European city does succeed in hosting the 2012 Games, and Moscow, Madrid, Budapest, Paris and a German city may all be rivals, it is likely to be 2024 before the Olympics return to the continent.

Simon Clegg, the BOA’s chief executive, said he had seen “nothing to frighten him” in the cost-benefit analysis, which is currently under study.

It was all a world away from the acrimony and back-biting that followed Britain’s failed campaign to stage the 2005 World athletics championships and the confusion that still surrounds the redevelopment plans for a national stadium at Wembley in London.

That brought British sports into ridicule worldwide and cast doubts over the country’s ability to again host a major sports event in the forseeable future.

All that has changed with the Commonwealth Games, although Manchester has been told that despite the success of the event, it is unlikely to be named to front the bid.

Reedie has said that a second Manchester Olympic bid after the campaign to host the 2000 Olympics is out of the question and IOC chief Jacques Rogge appeared to agree when he visited the Games last week.

“If Manchester goes well, if the question mark over a modern Olympic Stadium is lifted, then you have every chance because you have a great reputation in sport and any bid coming from the United Kingdom would be a very strong bid,” Rogge said.

“However, I think that Manchester can change the image and produce something that’s going to be very positive for future international events in the United Kingdom.”

“I think it’s definitely going to have an influence on the potential bid for London for 2012.”

There was support also for the superstar of the Games, Australia’s six-gold swimmer Ian Thorpe who said that it had been an outstanding competition.

“Seeing how we’ll it’s been done here, I have a great deal of support for any country that can put on such a successful Commonwealth Games,” he said.—AFP