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Beckham leads London Olympic bid

July 05, 2005 10:41 IST
The mad hunt for David Beckham ended on Monday when the English soccer captain was spotted hand-in-hand with his wife Victoria in Singapore to back the London bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Beckham is in the city state along with other high profile sports celebrities like Bobby Charlton and Olympic athletes Daley Thompson and Jonathan Edwards to support London's bid to host the world's biggest sporting event.

Rumours of Beckham arriving in Singapore, where he has a cult following, have swept the island where fans have been desperate to catch a glimpse of their hero.

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London
faces Paris for the right to stage the Games in a tight race which also includes Madrid, Moscow and New York.

Beckham, dressed in a pin-striped suit and gold tie, stopped just briefly to sign autographs for two children waiting outside the British High Commissioner's house to catch a glimpse of him before he headed inside for a reception.

"It felt really good to see him live, and not just on TV," said 12-year-old Tim Supramaniam, who waited for Beckham nearly two hours with his brother, both of them donning red England football shirts.

Double Olympic medallist Sebastian Coe, who is at the head of the London bid team, arrived just minutes after Beckham and told reporters: "London is the only bid. We are very happy and privileged to be represented here."

The International Olympics Committee will vote on Wednesday on who will stage the Summer Games.

Olympic coverages: Athens 2004 | Sydney Olympics 2000

Mia Shanley
Source: REUTERS
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