2008 Woodie Awards
2012 Olympics - Back the Bid, But Where?
Nicole D'Andrea
Issue date: 11/24/04 Section: Sports
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Final bids are being submitted this week by the five remaining cities that are competing to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The five cities are New York, London, Paris, Madrid and Moscow. It has come across in the opinions of many critics that a European city is best favored for the Olympic because of mild climate.
Currently, it seems that Paris' Olympic plan is at the forefront of the race. The City of Love, with its Olympic slogan only bringing this further being "L'amour des jeux" (literally, "love for sport"), has already much of the infrastructure for the games, including the Roland Garros tennis stadium and the Stade de France. Another advantage of the Parisian plan is that eighty percent of the sports are being held within ten minutes of the central area of the Olympics, known as the Olympic village. Beach volleyball at the base of the Eiffel Tower could be a tough bid to beat.
Other cities, however, are not fairing so well in the struggle. Moscow is one of the more unlikely candidates for the bid as it was the host city of the Olympics in 1980 and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the group who votes where the Olympics are held, likes to offer the chance to as many cities as possible. In addition, Madrid is also not a top choice because fellow Spanish city Barcelona hosted the Olympics in 1992, which is recent by IOC standards.
However, the two cities that are on everyone's tongue are New York and London as a result of their controversial construction plans, the money they are willing to spend if they receive the bid and the ever-present security concerns.
New York City is riding on their Olympic Plan X, as it is known, and has been advertising itself as a "world city" to attempt to sell its' bid. There are, of course, the worries about security, but there are also more controversial issues at hand. There is the anti-American sentiment with the invasion of Iraq, questions of America's strict visa laws and whether all of the athletes will be allowed into the country to compete in the games and then there is the shocking 13 billion dollars New York is looking to spend on build an Olympic-ready city.
Currently, it seems that Paris' Olympic plan is at the forefront of the race. The City of Love, with its Olympic slogan only bringing this further being "L'amour des jeux" (literally, "love for sport"), has already much of the infrastructure for the games, including the Roland Garros tennis stadium and the Stade de France. Another advantage of the Parisian plan is that eighty percent of the sports are being held within ten minutes of the central area of the Olympics, known as the Olympic village. Beach volleyball at the base of the Eiffel Tower could be a tough bid to beat.
Other cities, however, are not fairing so well in the struggle. Moscow is one of the more unlikely candidates for the bid as it was the host city of the Olympics in 1980 and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the group who votes where the Olympics are held, likes to offer the chance to as many cities as possible. In addition, Madrid is also not a top choice because fellow Spanish city Barcelona hosted the Olympics in 1992, which is recent by IOC standards.
However, the two cities that are on everyone's tongue are New York and London as a result of their controversial construction plans, the money they are willing to spend if they receive the bid and the ever-present security concerns.
New York City is riding on their Olympic Plan X, as it is known, and has been advertising itself as a "world city" to attempt to sell its' bid. There are, of course, the worries about security, but there are also more controversial issues at hand. There is the anti-American sentiment with the invasion of Iraq, questions of America's strict visa laws and whether all of the athletes will be allowed into the country to compete in the games and then there is the shocking 13 billion dollars New York is looking to spend on build an Olympic-ready city.