Paris, New York, Moscow, London and Madrid have been accepted as candidates to stage the 2012 Summer Olympics, the IOC said on Tuesday. Havana, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul and Leipzig in Germany were dropped from an initial shortlist after a unanimous decision of the IOC’s executive board, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge told a news conference. Having survived the cull, the five short-listed cities have until July 6 next year to convince the IOC’s membership to award them the world’s most important sports event. Rogge said it was possible one or more of the five cities could be removed from the list in May 2005 if the IOC did not believe they “could deliver”. Paris, which last hosted the Olympics in 1924, is viewed as the front-runner. In deciding host cities, IOC experts give the heaviest weight to two categories — general infrastructure and accommodation. The IOC wants to be sure the basic framework of a city is sufficient to take on the load of the Olympics in terms of transportation, overnight accommodation and security. About 10,500 athletes are expected in Athens for August’s Games. More than 200,000 people were accredited for the 2000 Games in Sydney. Four years ago 10 cities were slashed to five at this stage in the race to stage the 2008 Games. Along with Beijing — which eventually won — Osaka, Toronto, Paris and Istanbul were invited to submit formal bids. Havana was axed along with Bangkok, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur and Seville. All nine 2012 contenders launched their bids in January with the emphasis on compact and easily accessible venues. Favourites Paris and London, which staged the Games in 1948, promoted the attractions of their celebrated landmarks. Madrid is proposing a green Games, concentrating on public rather than private transport, New York is focusing on its energy, drive and spirit while Moscow promises to stage “the best and most compact Olympics ever”. (Reuters) The five that made it PARIS: The main aspects of its bid should be the same as the 2008 project: a 10,000-capacity velodrome and an Olympic pool of similar capacity. The city’s assets are a good public transport, cultural and tourist attractions and sufficient accommodation. LONDON: A government poll showed 81 per cent of Britons favour efforts to bring the Games back to London for the first time since 1948. The city also hosted the 1908 Games. MADRID: Madrid is basing its campaign on being one of the few major European capitals yet to stage an Olympic Games. The organising committee envisages between $721.6 million and $1.08 billion) will be invested on new sporting infrastructure. MOSCOW: IOC chief Rogge has praised the sporting superpower’s staging of the Games. “Russia is a great sports country and the 2012 Games in Moscow could be the Olympics for all of Russia,” ROC President Leonid Tyagachyov said. NEW YORK: The Big Apple promised triathlon in Central Park and boxing in Madison Square Garden to beat San Francisco in the bid race. One of New York’s main selling points is that no venue would be more than 20 miles from the Olympic village. The projected cost of hosting the Games in New York is $2.7 billion.
