AFTER last hosting the Olympic Games in 1948, London will once again stage the greatest sporting event on the planet.

To mark the London 2012 Olympic bid team's fantastic achievement in being named host city, Royal Mail issued a special set of stamps on August 5 featuring images of athletes in motion.

The images were first used on the Atlanta and Paralympic Games stamps in 1996, but this time they appear on a six-stamp mini sheet, called London 2012 - Host City.

The stamps show athletes celebrating, throwing the javelin, swimming, on the starting blocks and playing basketball.

Lord Sebastian Coe, London 2012 chairman, said: "By backing the successful London bid, the people of the UK have helped London win the most exciting sporting prize ever.

"These special London 2012 stamps will keep this wonderful achievement at the forefront of people's minds over the next few months. This is a celebratory gesture to be proud of."

Julietta Edgar, Royal Mail's head of philatelic sector, said: "Royal Mail has a proud history of marking world sporting events and the UK's sporting success.

"We feel that the incredible energy and dynamism displayed on the stamps encapsulates perfectly the reason that the Olympic and Paralympic Games is the greatest show on earth - and what winning the 2012 bid for London means to people up and down the country."

This stamp launch is not the first time Royal Mail has worked with the 2012 bid team.

In November 2004, Royal Mail provided a first class service to ensure all 150 copies of the bid were hand-delivered to the international Olympic committee in Switzerland.

In 2002 Royal Mail issued two sets of sporting stamps - the World Cup in May, and the Manchester Commonwealth Games in July.

In December the following year, Royal Mail marked England's victory in the final of the rugby World Cup with a mini sheet.

The Shuttle/Times and News has teamed up with Royal Mail to run a competition where 20 readers can each win a set of the London 2012 stamps.

To be in with a chance of winning, answer the following question:

In what part of London will the 2012 Olympic Games be staged?

by Friday, September 16.

Normal Newsquest rules apply.