2012 Summer Olympics

Nine cities submitted bids for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and five have made it to the shortlist for hosting the Games of the XXX Olympiad. The International Olympic Committee will announce the host city on July 6, 2005 during its 117th Session in Singapore.

The shortlist

The deadline to submit a bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games was July 15, 2003. All nine cities that submitted bids before that date also met the January 15, 2004 deadline for the 50-page questionnaire. The committee gave a weighted average score to each city based on scores in eleven categories, such as finance, security, accommodation, past experience and transport. On May 18, 2004, the International Olympic Committee announced a shortlist of potential hosts. The finalists are:

1. 8.5 Paris, France
2. 8.3 Madrid, Spain
3. 7.6 London, United Kingdom
4. 7.5 New York City, United States
5. 6.5 Moscow, Russia

• Paris's bid emerged as the highest scoring candidate with a general score of 8.5, although it received the highest score in only three categories ("Accommodation", "Safety and security" and "Experience from past sports events"). However, Paris received a 10 for "Accommodation" which is one of the most important categories. Bookmakers have listed Paris as their strong favourite to win the nomination. But its bid may be hampered by the fact that Paris has already hosted the Games twice, even though that was a long time ago. Paris hosted the 1900 Summer Olympics and the 1924 Summer Olympics. If granted the XXX Olympiad, Paris would become the first city ever to host the Olympic Games for a third time.

• Madrid's bid ranked second with a general score of 8.3, ranking first in six categories ("Government support, legal issues and public opinion", "General infrastructure", "Sports venues", "Olympic Village", "Transport concept" and "Overall project and legacy"). Some commentators have suggested that its bid may be hampered by the fact that Spain recently hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics); although those Games were held in Barcelona and were praised by the IOC for their excellent organization, and by 2012 they will be twenty years behind. (Meanwhile, Atlanta hosted the Games only twelve years after Los Angeles). The massive popular support and economic viability of the project could be a positive for the bid.

• London's bid was ranked third on the list at 7.6. It scored poorly in the "Transport concept" and "Government support, legal issues and public opinion" categories, but it shared a 10 with Paris and New York in the important "Accommodation" category. Like Paris, its bid may be hampered by having already hosted the games twice, the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1948 Summer Olympics), though not as a result of a bidding process, so London would also be the first city to host them for a third time. According to the Queen there was "a lack of support" among Londoners for the Games, and she commented on the matter at a Buckingham Palace. This comment, to teenage volunteer worker Amran Hussain, was published by The Sun and was said to have "stuck the boot into London's bid" while also boosting Paris' bid. [1]. There is a London-based campaign against the city hosting the games. [2]

• New York City's bid scored fourth at 7.5, although it scored first in the "Accommodation" category, sharing a 10 with Paris and London. Their bid may be hampered by the fact that the 2010 Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver and organizers are believed to be eager to avoid having consecutive Olympics on the same continent. Additionally, the Summer Olympics have been held in the United States as recently as 1996 and 1984. However, of the five candidates, only New York and Madrid have never hosted the Games before. Although New York was at one time expected to benefit from sympathy arising from the September 11 terrorist attacks, this potential advantage is believed to have been countered by anti-Americanism arisen from the 2003 Iraq war. Some believe that construction of the West Side Stadium is essential to bringing the Olympics in New York.

• Moscow's bid scored lowest of the selected candidates at 6.5. It did not score highest in any category and its bid may be further hampered by Moscow having already hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics.

IOC members will now visit each city in turn during the early part of 2005. They will submit a report in May, which may result in the cutting of more candidates from the list. The final decision will be taken during the IOC Session in Singapore in July 2005. Shortlisted candidates have been granted the right to use the Olympic flame and Olympic rings imagery in their campaign literature.

Cities that did not make the shortlist

Nine cities had submitted bids for the 2012 Olympics. Four of those cities did not make it to the shortlist:

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – scored 6
• Leipzig, Germany – scored 5.1
• Istanbul, Turkey – scored 4.8
• Havana, Cuba – scored 3.6

Bid organizers in Istanbul were particularly frustrated that their bid was not sufficient to make the shortlist – their 2008 bid had made the shortlist and the organisers believed their bid had only improved since then. Of the failed bidders, Rio de Janeiro was perhaps the least expected to fall at this hurdle.

Cities that considered bidding, but did not submit a bid before the deadline

Africa

• Abuja, Nigeria
• Cairo, Egypt
• Nairobi, Kenya

Americas

• São Paulo, Brazil made a bid to the Brazilian Olympic Committee (won by Rio de Janeiro)
• Toronto, Ontario, in Canada, which did not bid after Vancouver, British Columbia, also in Canada, won the bidding process for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It is considered extremely unlikely that any one country would be granted the privilege of hosting two consecutive games.
• Detroit, Michigan in the United States and Windsor, Ontario in Canada, which are neighboring cities, briefly considered a joint bid.
• Los Angeles, California made a [very] premature bid to host the games.
• Made bids to the U.S. Olympic Committee (won by New York City):
  • Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C., made a joint bid
  • Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Dallas, Texas
  • Houston, Texas
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • San Francisco, California
  • Tampa, Florida and Orlando, Florida, made a joint bid

Asia

• Hyderabad, India
• New Delhi, India
• Tel Aviv, Israel

Europe

• Budapest, Hungary
• Milan, Italy
• Rome, Italy
• Seville, Spain made a bid to the Spanish Olympic Committee (won by Madrid)
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Warsaw, Poland

See also

• 2012 Summer Paralympics
• Ancient Olympic Games
• International Olympic Committee

External links

• Bid status – 2012 Summer Olympics
• Homepage of the Paris bid
  "Paris 2012" (french wikipedia)
• Homepage of the Madrid bid
• Homepage of the London bid
• Homepage of the New York bid
• Homepage of the Moscow bid
• Homepage of the Istanbul bid
• Homepage of the Leipzig bid