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 highest scoring candidate with a general score of 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 would 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). The massive popular support and economic viability of the project could be a plus.
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 would be 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]. There is a London-based campaign against the city hosting the games. [2]
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 organizers 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 1980 Summer Olympics).
IOC members will now visit each city in turn during the early part of 2005. They will submit a report in May, which may result in the cutting of more candidates from the list. The final decision will be taken during the IOC Session in 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 organizers 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. It is considered extremely unlikely that any one country would be granted the privilege of hosting two consecutive games.
