London's Olypic bid team brought out all their big stars Tuesday as Prime Minister Tony Blair, his wife Cherie and David Beckham took part in a pre-Olympic vote charm offensive. The Blairs, accompanied by the England football captain, toured a Singapore-British sports science exhibition in the city-state, where International Olympic Committee members will decide on Wednesday whether London gets the 2012 Games.
While the prime minister and his wife were soberly dressed in business wear, Beckham donned a typically flamboyant white track suit in a shiny fabric, with gold trim and extravagantly flared trousers.
Beckham, along with pop star wife Victoria, flew into Singapore the day before to help the London bid team make a final promotional push ahead of the vote, expected to be a close-run race between London and Paris.
The Real Madrid midfielder is a huge star in Singapore and elsewhere around Asia, meaning that while the visit had been kept totally secret to avoid crowds, word soon spread and a crush of people massed.
Such were the numbers, as the group prepared to leave, Blair was forced to turn around and rescue the footballer, who had become stranded in the crowd.
Earlier, as Mrs Blair made a separate tour of the exhibits, Blair and Beckham were shown round a series of examples of British sports science such as a bodyhugging vest intended to train the muscles used in breathing. Blair formally launched a competition for the mainly youthful target audience, a task which involved merely pushing a button.
"Luckily it looks very simple for me," he said, professing himself not very technically minded.
Beckham himself stayed virtually silent throughout, while raising a laugh by offering a handshake to a Singaporean schoolboy demonstrating a climbing wall, almost causing the youth to fall.