One in four expected to attend 2012 Olympics

(GETTY IMAGES)

As many as a quarter of British adults hope to attend one or more live events at the 2012 London Olympics, a poll showed today.

Enthusiasm is greatest among those in south-east England, with 43% planning to attend, the survey for travel company Thomas Cook found.

Almost two in five (38%) people aged under 25 are planning a trip to an event at the Games.

The poll of 2,128 adults showed that 35% of Londoners and 35% of those living in eastern England intend to go to an event.

The least enthusiasm is shown by the Welsh, with only 10% planning to attend a live event.

Cyclist Sir Chris Hoy (32%) is the Olympic star people would most like to see at the 2012 Games, followed by swimmer Rebecca Adlington (31%), diver Tom Daley (25%), cyclist Victoria Pendleton (24%) and heptathlete Jessica Ennis (23%).

The former Olympic champion those polled would most like to see come out of retirement to compete in London in 2012 is Sir Steve Redgrave, followed by Daley Thompson and Dame Kelly Holmes.

The nation that those surveyed would most like Britons to beat at the Games is the USA (35%) followed by Germany (10%).

A quarter of those polled said they believed London 2012 hopefuls offered the best chance of bringing sporting glory to Britain compared with other national sports such as football or cricket.

Thomas Cook is an Official Supporter of the 2012 Olympics.

Thomas Cook London 2012 Partnership managing director Stephen Vaughan said: "It's encouraging to see that with just under two years to go so many of the British public are already behind the London 2012 Games."