Paris stay favourites with the right budget

Paris scored a hit with its "excellent accommodation" proposal and "achievable" budget in today's report by the International Olympic Committee.

Although London's positive report means that the capital's odds of winning the 2012 vote next month were cut from 3-1 to 11-4, Paris remains the hot favourites at 1-4 with William Hill. The report says Paris's transport network "would cope comfortably" while London's "could cope" with staging the Games.

Paris, which has run a much quieter campaign than London in terms of grabbing headlines, pulled off the most spectacular public relations stunt of the 2012 race on the eve of today's report.

Close to a million people turned out on the Champs Elysees in Paris when the famous tree-lined avenue was transformed into an arena to demonstrate Olympic sports, featuring a huge running track, swimming pool and tennis courts.