The bar is raised for 2012

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Addressing an Olympics summit in the Chinese capital, 2012 chief Paul Deighton said his hosts had raised the bar so high he felt "intimidated".

However, Mr Deighton insisted that London would provide the model for future Olympics and not the supersized Beijing Games which have cost an unprecedented £20 billion.

Aided by a cheap labour force, Beijing organisers have built about a dozen new facilities including the spectacular "Bird's Nest" stadium and the "Water Cube" aquatics centre. The athletes' village has also been described by the head of the British team as the "best ever".

Mr Deighton called on the International Olympic Committee to throw its weight behind more scaled-down Games in future or risk them going beyond the reach of most cities.

He said: "Beijing will be unique and London will set the standard and I think it is important for the IOC to establish that standard because otherwise it is potentially narrowing the field of candidates who can stage a Games.

"If we can achieve that you can stage a Games that makes financial and operational sense then I think we really would have accomplished something."

Mr Deighton said the difference in approach could be seen at the Beijing opening ceremony on Friday. "(London) won't have 20,000 people in unison. We may have a smaller number doing things randomly on their own and that's fine."