Blair arrived in Singapore on Sunday to spend two days wooing International Olympic Committee (IOC) members ahead of Wednesday's vote before flying back home to host the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

London is vying with Madrid, Moscow [Images], New York and Paris to host the Summer Games.

Blair told his first media conference since arriving in Singapore that he expected to have arrived in Scotland when the announcement is made at around 1930 local (1130 GMT) on Wednesday.

"The Gleneagles will have landed, if you'll pardon the joke," he said. But he added he had not thought how he would celebrate a London victory.

"The celebration will be across the whole country, I suppose," he said.

SUMMIT HOST

Leaders of four of the five countries bidding for the Games, with the exception of Spain, will be in Britain for the summit Blair is hosting.

The British prime minister is clearly unlikely to clink a glass of champagne with President Bush if London defeat New York, or even less likely with French President Jacques Chirac if favourites Paris are beaten.

But he said there would be no Olympic animosity in Gleneagles. "We're all grown-ups. We are all serious people and we all have serious bids. We understand we are all on different sides in this."

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Blair has to concede some ground to Chirac who is scheduled to take part in the Paris presentation to IOC members on Wednesday after the prime minister has left on Tuesday.

To take part in the summit, Chirac has to leave before the vote but is not obliged to depart as early as the British prime minister who has Gleneagles hosting responsibilities.

Blair would give no details of his movements in Singapore but made it clear that he was having a succession of meetings in which he was promoting the London bid.

Blair said the London bid was an excellent one which would leave "a great legacy for UK sport" and provide for the regeneration of a run-down area of east London.