A women reacts in Trafalgar Square, central London to the International Olympic Committee's announcement from Singapore that London has won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games

London will host the 2012 Olympics. VOA's Heda Bayron in our Asia bureau in Hong Kong has more on the much-awaited announcement, made by the International Olympic Committee in Singapore.

The British capital's long Olympic drought is finally over.

"The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing that the games of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the city of London," said Olympic Committee President, Jacques Rogge. With that announcement, London edged out Paris, Madrid, Moscow, and New York to win the coveted right to host the 2012 games.

The city of seven million last hosted the games in 1948.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair made vigorous appeals to IOC members over the past two days.

London's bid stressed the creation of a "legacy," saying the Olympics would rejuvenate a rundown part of the city. The government promised to spend about $6 billion for the event.