And that's what we are like as a nation and I'm immensely proud of that. A celebratory press conference at Terminal Four was postponed, London 2012 being regarded as less significant in the public psyche than the events of London: 7 July, 2005. I believe it was the Prime Minister who swung it in our favour."Redgrave had arrived back at Heathrow on Friday morning in sombre mood. It was as if he was only there because he had to be there - a token presence rather than the driving force that was Tony Blair. "The fact that he had taken time off from preparing to host the G8 summit to spend nearly three days backing our bid was incredibly well received," Redgrave says.
"In contrast, the French president Jacques Chirac only flew in on the eve of the vote and seemed to me to be paying lip service to the whole thing. I told Seb 'You have done a fantastic job whether we win or lose, and I just wanted to tell you that before the decision is made so you know it's not clouded by any emotion in any way."Redgrave admits he also had to review his opinion of the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. "I didn't like his 'Red Ken' reputation from the days of the old GLC and I don't approve of some of his policies and the way he sometimes goes about things," he says. "But a lot of my pre-conceived ideas were blown away when I met him. I realised very quickly that he could see the benefits of this for London and that he was totally on board. And while I still might not agree with him on everything I now know his heart is in the right place."Ultimately, Redgrave is convinced it was the appearance of the Prime Minister that secured the vote of the International Olympic Committee electorate.
But it's fair to say I still wasn't convinced about the situation for months afterwards."He adds: "Now, though, I have to hold up my hands and say I was wrong because the job he has done has been amazing. And I said that to him immediately after he had made his final presentation to the IOC members in Singapore last Wednesday. I walked over to him and said 'Remember that talk we had and all the things I said? Well, I take them all back'. I could see all sorts of arguments, conflicts and problems ahead if that happened."Coe insisted that he had no other agenda and his sole ambition was to bring the Games to London, the city of his birth. "He even promised me he was dropping everything else to become involved because he was so passionate about the bid," says Redgrave. "I actually think he took my comments as a positive not a negative. And looking back now, I'd like to think our meeting made him sit down and analyse what he needed to do and that he then followed some of my advice.
