LONDON — Sebastian Coe is doing what he does best: kicking for the finish line.
After flying back to Heathrow Airport recently, he settled into the back of his chauffeured car, caught up on the latest news with an aide and worked on his next speech as he sped to another appearance in a frenetic campaign that's taken him across Britain and around the world.
"I haven't spent more than two or three days at a time in my own house for the last four to five months," Coe said between checks of his diary and calls on his cell phone. "But I love what I'm doing."
Coe, a middle-distance great who won two Olympic gold medals in the 1,500 meters, made a career of timing his finishing burst on the bell lap. More than 20 years later, Coe is now chairman of the London bid committee and zooming into the final straightaway of another high-profile Olympic race: the competition to host the 2012 Summer Games.
The contest enters its last month Monday, marking the 30-day countdown to the International Olympic Committee vote in Singapore on July 6. Monday also coincides with the release of an IOC evaluation report assessing the bids from London and its four high-profile rivals: Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow.
"I think we are well placed," Coe said. "I think it will go to the wire."
While Paris is the favorite, Coe has established London as a serious contender through his dogged determination. Bringing the Olympics back to the British capital for the first time since 1948, he said, would be his greatest prize.
"This would be the biggest thing I've ever done — by a distance," Coe said. "People say to me, 'Bigger than winning an Olympic title?' Yes, it is, because the impact is so much broader. It's massive. The impact of staging the games can be profound. We really can renew a nation through sport."
A year ago, Coe took over as chairman of the London bid, replacing American businesswoman Barbara Cassani. She had been successful in getting the project going but was seen as a possible liability because she wasn't British-born.
London had just received a less than glowing preliminary technical report from the IOC, which, among other things, criticized the city's transit infrastructure. Coe revamped the transportation plans and energized the entire effort, running the bid much like an election campaign, drawing on his experience in politics as a former Conservative Party member of Parliament. He became a member of the House of Lords and carries the title Lord Coe.
The overall bid centers on London's tradition and landmarks, including venues at Wimbledon (tennis), Lord's cricket ground (archery) and Hyde Park (triathlon), but also on the regeneration of rundown East London into a huge Olympic park — a factor that could appeal to the IOC's desire for host cities to offer a long-term "legacy."
London's candidacy initially faced government wariness and public and media skepticism, but Coe helped turn that around. The media now are generally in favor, polls show support of up to 80 percent and Prime Minister Tony Blair is one of the most vocal proponents. Blair will travel to Singapore to lobby for London.
"We are by nature a slow-burn country," Coe said. "But now there is a momentum building."
While a year ago there was a feeling London's bid was foundering, there now is a sense that the city is giving Paris a true challenge.
"I never looked at it on the basis of catching up," Coe said. "I tended to take a more sanguine view. When we've had to shift emphasis, we've done it quickly."
Some rivals have accused Coe and his team of being aggressive and pushing the bid rules. In April, London withdrew incentives to sports bodies worth more than $20 million after the IOC ethics commission opened an inquiry.
The bidders are bound by strict regulations enacted after the Salt Lake City scandal. IOC members are prohibited from visiting the cities, and lobbying is tightly controlled.
"For all the cities, we're into unfamiliar territory," Coe said. "This is the first (Summer Games) bid under the new guidelines. There's the old adage: 'When you're bored of the message, they haven't begun to hear it yet.' We always felt we had a good story to tell."
Coe is still trim and fit, little changed from the wiry athlete who spearheaded Britain's golden era of middle-distance running and won back-to-back 1,500-meter titles in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984.
As a former Olympic champion and member of IOC commissions, and current senior official of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Coe is well-known by many IOC members. He's met each of the 117 eligible voting delegates at least once.
But Coe knows IOC votes are unpredictable, and there's no way of telling how the cities actually stand at the moment.
"The circuitry is quite extraordinary for an election of such a small group of people," he said. "The honest answer is I don't think anybody knows."