Tessa Jowell said the Olympic race was going to be close

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told 300 business delegates at a conference that the city's chances of hosting the 2012 Olympics were "good enough to win".

"Our chances are good and we believe they are getting better with every day that passes, but it's going to be close," she said.

In a letter of support Tony Blair said he would do all he could to help.

Ms Jowell told the special Olympic conference: "With six months to go, we need a sprint finish that even Kelly Holmes or you Seb (Lord Coe) would be proud of.

There is no point putting in facilities that people can only press their noses up against. Lord Sebastian Coe, team chairman

"Kelly won by 5/100ths of a second. We are used to close finished and it's going to be close.

"This is a race that is going right down to the wire."

Team chairman Lord Sebastian Coe and rowing champion Sir Steve Redgrave also set out the advantages of the lengthy build up to the Games and their "after-life" at Monday's conference.

These include developing preparation camps, staging world-class events and increasing tourism and business.

Speaking before the conference Lord Coe said each new facility would have a 25-year plan attached to it.

'White elephant'

"One of the most important things about the changed guidelines of putting an Olympics in any city is the after-life of these facilities," he told BBC News.

"There is no point putting in facilities that people can only press their noses up against."

Lord Coe said it was important for people to use the facilities so that they did not end up as expensive "white elephants".

He said he did not believe the UK bid had been damaged by newspaper stories claiming the Queen had backed the Paris Olympic bid ahead of Britain.