Here's hoping

RICHARD Buck has an Olympic dream. The young Pickering athlete wants to win the Olympic 400 metres gold - and he wants to win it here, in the UK, in London in 2012.

Whether that dream will ever come true is down in part to the deliberations of the 116 International Olympic Committee delegates who are gathered in Singapore this week.

They will announce tomorrow which of five competing cities has won the right to stage the 2012 games.

Most commentators agree it is a two-horse race, with Paris and a fast-improving London running neck and neck.

So does Richard think we will win?

"I know we are favourite to come second," he said. "But I would like to think we will win."

It is not only Richard's dreams which are hanging on that momentous decision. If London does win, it will be the first time in more than half a century that Britain hosts the world's biggest sporting event.

And that would be a massive shot in the arm for British sport - not only in London, but across the country.

Sport England and Yorkshire Forward estimate a London games could bring up to £600m to the Yorkshire region. And York would almost certainly get a healthy slice of that.

The city's existing sports facilities at Huntington Stadium and the University of York provide the basic facilities that could be upgraded for use by athletes preparing for the games.

The sports science department at York St John College also helps make the city attractive for top-class athletes. York would be well placed to compete with other major Yorkshire cities like Sheffield and Leeds for a share of any sports development money.

Just how seriously the city is taking tomorrow's vote is demonstrated by the fact that York hopes to play host to one of the international Olympic teams for the duration of the Games, if London wins. So top athletes could be training and preparing here, before travelling to London for their event.

A team from the Active York Partnership - which includes the city council, the university, St John's College and other organisations - is poised to lodge a bid for York to be considered as a host city as soon as tomorrow's decision is announced.

"We would want to host one of the competing nations," said Charlie Croft, the city council's director of leisure. "Maybe not one of the biggest nations, Russia or the USA or China. But one of the slightly smaller ones, maybe a European country such as Spain."

Hosting an international Olympic team would be glamorous, but the real benefit to the region would be in terms of the improvements a London games would bring to our sporting facilities.

Even if London doesn't win tomorrow, the region can expect to receive something like £90m of Olympic legacy money, according to Sport England's regional director for Yorkshire David Gent - and "considerably more" if London does get the nod.

Such money could be used for upgrading facilities, boosting training, and providing more opportunities across the board for young people to participate in sport.

According to Colin Smith, director of physical education at York University, a London victory tomorrow would see the university's plans for a new sports village being brought forward. There may also be cash for an upgrade of Huntington Stadium. And there would almost certainly be more money for better coaching and improvements at local sports clubs.

That could pave the way for the region to produce a new crop of young Olympic hopefuls such as Richard Buck.

The 18-year-old has just placed second in the 400m event at the national under-20s championships, despite having his appendix removed only ten weeks ago.

He is hell-bent on making the Olympic team for Beijing in 2008. If the UK were to host the 2012 games, he said, the investment in local facilities that would unlock would provide an enormous boost for young athletes such as himself.

Huntington Stadium, his home track, has great potential, Richard says - but it does need upgrading. The track is too hard for training at the highest level, so he often has to travel to Leeds or even Sheffield.

"Ideally you want to train at your home track," he said. "So if London wins it would be better for my preparation."

It wouldn't only be young athletic stars of the future that would benefit either. Gordon Priestley, former chair of the Nestl Rowntree Athletics Club, whose members train at Huntington, believes a London Games would encourage a flood of youngsters to take up sport.

"It would enthuse people, there is no question," he said. "When the Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, we experienced a great influx of young athletes."

Improved facilities and greater involvement in sporting activity are not the only ways the region would benefit, however. There could also be an important business spin-off.

An estimated 10,500 athletes would flock to Britain for the games, according to David Gent. Yorkshire businesses would have the chance to bid for contracts to feed and clothe them.

They would also be able to bid for contracts to produce Olympic merchandise and to build new sporting facilities in London and elsewhere.

In short, a London victory tomorrow would be great news all round.

Can we do it?

"I think we can," Mr Gent said. "We have real momentum. Two years ago we were being totally written off. But the London 2012 bid has got better and better, stronger and stronger. I think it is going our way."

Fingers crossed.

Updated: 10:00 Tuesday, July 05, 2005