LONDON -- London hopes to show the International Olympic Committee this week it has the political and public support to host the 2012 Olympics.
A 14-member evaluation commission starts a four-day visit Wednesday, the second candidate city to be inspected after Madrid, Spain. New York, Moscow and Paris are also bidding, with the decision announced July 6 in Singapore.
"Back the bid" and "Make Britain Proud" posters are dotted around the capital. Newspaper mastheads carry the logo, and trains on one line are decked out with embroidered seats supporting the bid.
The IOC is to visit the planned Olympic hub, a largely run-down area in east London. Other venues include Wembley Stadium and Wimbledon.
London bid leader Sebastian Coe, the 1,500-meter gold medalist at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, will try to counter impressions that Paris is the favorite.
"I will tell you that it is actually too close to call, and with five months to go we'll settle for that," Coe said. "I know that a lot of members have yet to make up their minds. So the evaluation phase is more important than it's ever been."
The last time London staged the Olympics was 1948. Since then, a series of bids to host international events have failed, including the 2006 World Cup. In 2001, London withdrew from hosting this year's world track and field championships because it could not afford to build a new stadium.
The country's media largely support the bid, with little organized opposition. But there have been glitches.
Queen Elizabeth II allegedly told a student at a Buckingham Palace reception in December that Paris had a better chance of winning than London because of better public support. She will be hosting the IOC at a Buckingham Palace reception.
Cherie Blair, the wife of the British prime minister, breached IOC rules by criticizing other bids: "What does Paris know about culture?" she said. "New York? No contest. London is the cultural capital of the world." She most likely will attend the IOC's working meeting with the prime minister.
The IOC visit comes at a time when there will be fewer cars on the road because of school vacation. And when the commission travels on London's aging subway system, the evaluators are to ride only on a modern branch line.
Commission members will be driven in cars through a new tunnel that will carry trains from central London to the Olympic hub. The new line promises to shuttle 25,000 people an hour.
"There is a long way to go but this is the most open race in years," former IOC marketing chief Michael Payne said. "There is everything to play for."
