Former gold medallist Sebastian Coe acclaimed a report from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday as "springboard" for London to win its bid to host the 2012 Games.

Coe, double Olympic champion and chairman of London's bidding committee, said that while the IOC's glowing write-up of London's candidacy was not in itself enough to bring the Games to the city, it would be a big help.

"It will act as a springboard for the next 30 days," he told a news conference. "A good evaluation on its own is not enough to get you over the line. But we have the confidence to build the momentum this bid has enjoyed over the last year."

"We are in good shape to take the battle even harder and further towards our goal."

London is one of five cities bidding for the Games along with favourites Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow.

The IOC's Evaluation Commission report, released in Lausanne earlier, described the bids from London and Paris as of "very high quality". It was less complimentary about the bids from the other three cities.

After the report was published, British bookmaker Coral cut the odds on London hosting the games to 3-1 from 7-2. It maintained Paris as hot favourite with odds of 1-5. Bookmaker William Hill trimmed London's odds from 3-1 to 11-4 but kept Paris as favourite at 1-4.

Source: Xinhua