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The envelope, please

The 2012 Olympics has turned into quite the little microcosm of the political split over the war on Iraq. Paris just tossed its hat into the ring. The other cities bidding are New York, London, Leipzig, Madrid, and Moscow. The choice isn’t made until July of 2005, so plenty can change between now and then, but it’s still a significant group of cities.

Oh, OK. Cuba is bidding too.

I can’t see New York winning, not so much because of the political issues but because of the corruption scandals wracking the USOC. Leipzig is really too small. Cuba isn’t seriously likely. The other four… well, the IOC always says there’s no political aspect to the selection, but I still think it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

6 Comments

  1. Hm. So Paris had the Summer Olympics in 1900 and 1924, London had them in 1908 and 1948, and Moscow had them in 1980, and the rest have never hosted.

    I think Paris would be entertaining, in kind of the same way Nascar crashes that take out half the cars are entertaining – nothing I’d want to be anywhere near, but fun to watch on teevee.

  2. The BBC claimed this morning that Paris was the front-runner, although it strikes me as too early to tell. Still, they did point out that Paris has a very successful recent World Cup under its belt, which ought to impress the IOC.

    I think Moscow’s going to feel too risky, particularly since SARS has sent a chill down the spine for 2008. (I know, it’s silly, but people are talking about it since China’s been cancelling sporting events lately.)

    London doesn’t have a world class facility, but could build one. Dunno about Madrid.

  3. According to the BBC, Paris is the front-runner. I think it’s probably too early to tell, myself, but they made the point that Paris successfully hosted the World Cup recently. That’s gotta be attractive.

    Moscow seems pretty unlikely to me; I think the SARS scare in China has got people worried about stability and Moscow is just not a stable place. “Sure, let’s put it somewhere that sees a lot of terrorism!” It’s kind of silly that people are worried about 2008 due to SARS, but they are.

    London doesn’t have the world class stadium, really. Wembley is a bit old.

    Fun fun. Maybe I’ll blogfocus on the Olympics for the next couple of years.

  4. According to the BBC, Paris is the front-runner. I think it’s probably too early to tell, myself, but they made the point that Paris successfully hosted the World Cup recently. That’s gotta be attractive.

    Moscow seems pretty unlikely to me; I think the SARS scare in China has got people worried about stability and Moscow is just not a stable place. “Sure, let’s put it somewhere that sees a lot of terrorism!” It’s kind of silly that people are worried about 2008 due to SARS, but they are.

    London doesn’t have the world class stadium, really. Wembley is a bit old.

    Fun fun. Maybe I’ll blogfocus on the Olympics for the next couple of years.

  5. I finally got around to breaking down the IOC members by coalition/non-coalition. Of the main Committee, 79 members come from…

  6. M M

    Not everyone supports a London Olympics 2012 bid,
    mostly due to the cost, the disruption and the corruption.

    Now that most people experience the Olympics via global television, why does the venue have to shift every 4 years ?

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