The International Olympic Committee has announced that London will host the 2012 Olympics.
Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC, made the announcement in Singapore, watched closely by the visiting British delegation, including bid chairman Sebastian 'The New Lord Nelson' Coe.
The result came as a surprise to many as Paris had been widely regarded as long standing favourites. In the final round of voting, however, it was the French who lost out by 50 votes to London's 54.
The IOC is thought to have broken with tradition by choosing to award the Olympics, on this occasion, to the city that submitted what well-placed insiders are calling the ‘best bid’.
This is a dramatic departure from previous years when games were awarded based on a complicated computer formula that took into account a variety of factors such as the quality of hotel rooms available to IOC members and the total weight of gifts delivered by host cities to the IOC.

After coordinating London’s astonishing victory in the race to host the 2012 Olympics, Lord Sebastian Coe has been setting out his plans for the future.
In addition to his Olympic role, Coe has said that he will shortly be embarking on a concerted campaign to end global poverty, bring about world peace, find a cure for the common cold and allow the blind to see.
Firstly, however, Lord Coe will fly back to Britain (without the aid of an aircraft) before setting about ensuring that the capital has nothing but fine weather for the duration of the summer.

The summit of leading industrialised nations has been cancelled in favour of a ‘big piss up’ to celebrate London’s victorious bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
Leaders of the G8 are meeting at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland but will now forgo discussions on climate change and world poverty in favour of a 'concerted and unwavering campaign of drunkenness'.
Upon hearing the result from Singapore, Prime Minister Tony Blair issued an official statement saying 'Wahey! Get the beers in!'
It is thought unlikely that French President Jacques Chirac will attend.

The Swiss government has announced that an entire suburb of Lausanne is to be powered by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
The founder of the modern Olympic games, who is buried in Lausanne but was a native Parisian, recently began violently spinning in his grave. A plan is now underway to harness this movement to provide electricity.
Matthew Robinson, UptheBeavers Switzerland Correspondent and resident of Lausanne, said ‘I can’t believe Notts Forest went down, but I’m very happy that the mighty Derby County made it to the play-offs’.

Now that London has been awarded the 2012 Olympics, members of Barnet Copthall Swimming Club have wondered when their new pool will be built.
Although no additional facilities for Barnet Copthall were specifically mentioned in London’s bid document, it is widely thought that visiting swimming competitors will need somewhere to swim when the new London Aquatic Centre is busy with public sessions and aqua aerobics.
‘Where better than Copthall?’ asked Ian Woollard. ‘There’s room for a new ten lane 50m pool, just build it on top of the golf course. Job's a good'un.'