Tessa Jowell, London 2012 Visionary

(ATR)Without TessaJowell lobbying Prime Minister Tony Blair to support a London Olympic bid, the 2012 Games would never have happened.

This is a common theme in many of the tributesthatpoured in Sunday from leaders of the London Olympics andsports world to a woman who was highly regarded both inside and outside Parliament.

The formerculture secretary under Blair and laterminister for the Olympicsdied on Saturday froma rare form ofbrain cancer after being diagnosedin May last year. She was 70.

Despite her diagnosis, she has been widely lauded for campaigning over recent months for more cancer treatments to be made available through the NHS.Jowell received a standing ovation in the House of Lords in January after making an emotional speech about cancer and the need for adaptive trials. "In the end what gives life meaning is not only how it is lived, but how it draws to a close," she said.

London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe described her as "not just a close friend, she was a life enhancer".

"No politician deserves greater credit for the Games. She showed unflinching tenacity in persuading the prime minister and the cabinet that the government should throw its full weight behind the bid," said Coe, current president of the IAAF.

"Her contribution to the Olympic andParalympic Games is easily defined - without Tessa there would have been no London 2012, and without Tessa they would not have been the success they were."

CraigReedie, the British IOC member who worked closely withJowell during the London bid andGamespreparations, remembers her mammoth contribution to the campaign. It ended with London being awarded the Olympics at the IOC Session in Singapore on July 6, 2005.

"Tessa was central to bringing the Prime Minister - then Tony Blair - and the cabinet to support a London Olympic bid,"Reedie tells Around the Rings.

"TheBritish Olympic Associationhad secured the total support of Mayor Ken Livingstone and London but central Government support was crucial. On the morning of the eventual cabinet decision she arranged that the Prime Minister would call IOC president Jacques Rogge who was in Madrid. London’s decision brought to the IOC the best Olympic bid race in history."

Reedie added:"Throughout the bid process and the life of theorganising committee Tessa was a committed supporter and was overjoyed at London’s success. Without her contribution the history of the East End of London and British sport would be very different."

Driving the London Bid

Dame Tessa waswell-liked and highly respected in Parliament. Former PM Blair said she was a "committed public servant" whowas "always true and loyal".

"Tessa had passion, determination and simple human decency in greater measure than any person I have ever known," said Blair."She was an inspiration to work with, and a joy to be near. She was themost wise ofcounsellors, the most loyal and supportive of colleagues, and the best of friends.

Her steely determination for London to bid for the 2012 Olympics was initially met with skepticism. But she won over Blair in what was said to be a seven-minute meeting in Downing Street.

Aformer London 2012 adviser tells ATRthat before she recommended the Blair government support the London 2012bid,Jowell made a low-key visit to IOC headquarters in Lausanne for a candid meeting with then-IOC president Jacques Rogge.

She wanted to know if a view had formed within the IOC and wider Olympic Movement that the Olympics should go to Paris in 2012.

"She said that Rogge confirmed to her that the city for the Olympic Games was not pre-ordained, and that the bid race would be an open competition the IOC would be pleased to see London participate in," the advisertoldATR.

"Tessa said the meeting with Rogge dispelled all doubts and gave her confidence to inform cabinet that London’s Olympic bid was winnable."

Commenting onJowell today, Blair said she left an "enormous" legacy as "everything she touched turned to gold in some way".

The London Olympics was the biggest part of her political legacy.

While she failed in an attempt to becomeLabour’s mayoral candidate for London in 2016,Jowell will always be remembered fondly as theinspirationalcabinet ministerwho succeeded in bringing the Games to London.

Political Lessons for Olympic Bids

MichaelPirrie, part of the London Olympic bid effort, tells Around the Rings that many of Sunday’s tributes toJowell don’t quite capture the "enormous importance" of her political savvy and vision for the London 2012 bid and the Games.

"The importance of TessaJowell’s political skills as Olympic minister can be demonstrated just by looking at the succession of bid cities for the 2024 Olympic Games that collapsed due to a lack of community and political support - Rome, Hamburg, Budapest," saidPirrie, who led London's international media relations strategy for the successful bid

He said that even during the turbulent times after 9/11,Jowell had persuaded Blair, chancellor Gordon Brown, and the wider cabinet of senior ministers that London's Olympic bid "was a valuable domestic and international project and was winnable, even against Paris, New York, Moscow, Madrid and other rival cities".

Pirriesuggests every Olympic bid andGames could do with a trusted and respected Olympic minister likeJowell who had the ability to bring cross-party political support and public support for such a huge national and international project like the Olympics: "The IOC, London, the UK, and international Olympic Movement all owe TessaJowell a huge debt of thanks and gratitude."

Reported by Mark Bisson

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