A three-storey high statue and a £750,000 high-tech exhibition will grace Trafalgar Square when Olympic chiefs visit London to review its bid for the 2012 Games.

The fibreglass sculpture of a female middle-distance runner holding a British flag, Britain's largest ever image of an athlete, will stand next to Nelson's Column.

It will accompany a 300-square-meter promotional display called "Home of the Bid".

At its entrance, a life-size walking, talking hologram of four-time Olympic rowing champion Sir Matthew Pinsent will greet visitors.

Inside people will be taken on an audio-visual tour along the Thames from Wimbledon to Stratford. Plasma screens and directional sound will show "London's transformation if it was declared the host city", a London 2012 spokesman said.

At the exit visitors can jump through a leap counter to back the bid. The live counter will tally the total number of supporters, which has reached the 500,000 mark last week.

Bid chairman Lord Sebastian Coe hopes the show, which "encapsulates the spirit of the games and the UK 's passion for sport", would "significantly" increase this figure.

The £750,000 marketing ploy is funded by bid sponsor Ballymore Properties.

After its launch on 19 February, the free exhibition will stay in the square for two weeks between 10am and 8pm. Then it will move to Canary Wharf for another run between 14 and 18 March.