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 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:
Paris emerged as the general highest scoring candidate at 8.5, although it scored highest in only three categories ("Accommodation", "Safety and security" and "Experience from past sports events"). However, the "Accommodation" category is one of the most important and Paris scored 10 in it. Bookmakers have listed Paris as their strong favourite to win the nomination. But their bid may be hampered by the fact that Paris has already held the Games twice, even though long ago (see 1900 Summer Olympics and 1924 Summer Olympics). If granted the XXX Olympiad, Paris will become the first city ever to host the Olympic Games for a third time.
Madrid 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 their bid may be hampered by the fact that the Games were held in Spain as recently as 1992 (see 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 (while Atlanta held the Games only twelve years after Los Angeles).
London 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, their bid may be hampered by having already held the Games twice before (though not as a result of a bidding process; see 1908 Summer Olympics and 1948 Summer Olympics), so London could as well become the first city to host them for a third time in 2012. 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 a teenage volunteer worker Amran Hussain was published by The Sun, and was said to have "stuck the boot into London's bid", as she also boasted Paris' bid. [1] (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1244075.html). There is a London-based campaign against the city hosting the games. [2] (http://www.nolondon2012.org)
New York 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 organisers 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 possible "advantage" is believed to have been countered by anti-Americanism caused by the 2003 Iraq war. Some believe that the building of the West Side Stadium is essential to getting the Olympics in New York.
Moscow scored lowest of the selected candidates at 6.5. It did not score highest in any category and their bid may be further hampered by Moscow having already held the Games in 1980 (see 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:
Bid organisers 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
Toronto, Canada, which did not bid after Vancouver, Canada won the bidding process for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Having two consecutive games in the same country was considered extremely unlikely. Toronto, until Vancouver's success, was considered the front runner, having what many considered the best bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics, beat out by Beijing, China, because Juan Antonio Samaranch wished for an Asian host.
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, will be held in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012.
The 2012Olympics will use a mixture of newly built venues, existing facilities, and temporary facilities, including the 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium and the new Wembley Stadium.
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) was put in place to oversee the development of the Games after the success of the bid, and held their first board meeting on 7 October 2005.
On 18 May2004, the International Olympic Committee, as a result of a scored technical evaluation, reduced this to a shortlist of London, Madrid, Moscow, New York City, and Paris.
The plans for the 2012Olympics involve a major regeneration of the East End of London, which will be the site of the Olympic Park and several other venues.
The remainder of the £1.4 billion is to be met by an annual £20 surcharge on the council tax of households in Greater London for a fixed period of ten years.
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