London defeated its European rival Paris in the race to host the 2012 Olympics, bringing the Games back to the British capital for the first time since 1948.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge announced the winner Wednesday in Singapore, where IOC members voted 54-50 in favour of the Brits.

Thousands of people who had gathered in London's Trafalgar Square cheered after Rogge announced the winning bid, which was shown live on huge TV screens.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is in Gleneagles, Scotland, to host the G-8 summit, said he was "thrilled" with the results, and couldn't even bear to watch the final bids.

"This is a momentous day for London. It's very good news,'' Blair said.

French President Jacques Chirac, who travelled to Singapore for the city's final presentation to the IOC, congratulated London and wished "good luck" and success to the British people.

James Christie of The Globe and Mail said Paris had been "the bookmakers' favourite" since the bidding process began.

"That they fell short this time can only attest to what happened in backrooms," Christie said, suggesting that a deal between London and Madrid may have swayed the final tally.

Many analysts and insiders credited London's winning bid to Blair, who spent two days in Singapore meeting with IOC members individually.

"I think all of Britain should be thankful for that," said Canadian IOC member Dick Pound.

The voting process:

• The five bidding cities gave final 45-minute presentations to IOC members.   
• Electronic balloting began at around 6 a.m. ET. Moscow was eliminated in the first round, followed by New York in the second and Madrid in the third.
• A fourth and final ballot was cast around 6:45 a.m. ET for the winner, which wasn't announced until around 7:45 a.m. ET.

The big surprise was Madrid, which received 31 votes on the third ballot, compared to 39 for London and 33 for Paris.

The 2012 Summer Olympics will follow the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

The bids

The London bid emphasized the city's multicultural appeal and on inspiring youth. It also focused on a proposed Olympic Park, which London claimed would be the biggest urban parkland development in Europe in 20 years.

Blair said in a recorded message that the British would be the "very best partners."

"All of us who have made guarantees to you, are ready to deliver on them now -- on security, on finance -- on every guarantee we've made," Blair said.

The Paris bid highlighted the economic benefits of having existing key venues such as the Stade de France, which was originally built for the 1998 World Cup of soccer, and can hold up to 80,000.

On Wednesday, Chirac said Paris had learned from two previous defeats in 1992 and 2008 for the Olympics, and had come up with a formula for success that could bring back the Games to Paris for the first time since 1924.

"The heart of Paris and the heart of France are beating in unison in the hope of becoming Olympic host in 2012,'' Chirac told the delegates. "You can put your trust and faith in France, you can trust the French, you can trust us.''

Both London and Paris suffered some controversy in the days leading up to the vote.

Paris received some bad press this week, after Chirac criticized British cuisine, saying England has some of the worst food in Europe.

As for London, it came close to controversy when two consultants on the bid criticized the stadium that is the centrepiece of the Paris proposal.

Under fair play rules, it is forbidden for a candidate to criticize a rival city.

The crisis was averted when members of the London bid spoke to the Paris committee.

The surprise winners would have been New York and Madrid -- neither of which have ever hosted the Summer Games.

The New York bid died after the second round of balloting, despite star-studded support from boxer Muhammad Ali and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Moscow was considered a long shot going into the vote. Its bid was undermined by security worries after terrorist attacks connected with conflict in the Russian province of Chechnya.

London has hosted the Olympics twice before -- once in 1908 and again in 1948.