PREVIEW-Olympics-2016 Games bid cities enter final stretch
Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:34am GMT
By Karolos Grohmann
ATHENS, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Four cities bidding to host the 2016 Olympics will present their vision for the Games to the International Olympic Committee by Thursday as they enter the final stretch of their two-year campaign.
Madrid, Chicago, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro, shortlisted last year, will be submitting their bid book to the IOC by Feb. 12, hoping all its questions have been answered convincingly.
What started out 18 months ago as another mega cities race for a large-scale Games has now become an exercise of balance with the bidders juggling finances, size and legacy amid one of the worst financial environments for the Games in decades.
Following the file submission, the IOC will kick off a round of visits to all cities before the evaluation commission reports back to the Olympic leaders who vote on the 2016 host during the IOC session on Oct. 2 in Copenhagen.
Such votes have in the past proved to be very unpredictable but this time round even picking out a clear favourite is difficult.
Chicago seems to be among the frontrunners in this race, largely because the United States, a major financial contributor to the Games through its sponsors, has not hosted the Olympics since the Atlanta 1996 Games.
Source: http://uk.reuters.com
I really hope Chicago will get it. Thanks for agreeing to come to Chicago.
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