COME 2012 the eyes of the world will be on London and Gus Oates is determined to help a Kent city win a share of the sporting spotlight.

Oates, the recently-appointed chairman of Polo Farm Sports Club in Canterbury, doesn’t just believe it would be a good place to host a pre-Olympics training camp he thinks it would be THE best.

The 41-year-old has made it one of his first jobs to work with the city’s other big sporting clubs and institutions to put Canterbury on the Olympics map.

He said: "People are talking about there being very few world-class sports facilities, but we should not underplay what Canterbury has.

"We’ve got facilities to cover pretty much everything. The only sports we can’t do are cycling and kayaking."

Oates feels the 50 acres available at Polo Farm make it a major draw for countries looking for a pre-Games training camp.

He also points to other facilities available, including those at the two universities, the King’s School and the Canterbury High Sports Centre, which could provide a home for tennis, volleyball, gymnastics and trampolining as well as athletics.

Oates added: "Facilities are improving all the time which I think makes Canterbury the dream ticket."

* READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN THE KENTISH GAZETTE (JANUARY 4).