The Winner of the Olympic Games 2016 will be settled on Friday, as the announcement is made in Copenhagen. This is the moment which the nations involved have been waiting for, as they look to succeed London in 2012. This is probably one of the closest races for the honour of hosting the games, and there isn’t much to choose between the candidates at the Bookies, and this is largely down to the many factors which are weighed up by the IOC Council. There is still some time to lay your bets down on the winning nation. Here is the lowdown:
Chicago has the benefit of American President Barrack Obama’s smiling face backing their campaign, and they will be slight favourites. Obama was a former resident of Chicago, so who better to lead the popularity campaign? The First Lady has flown to the ceremony in order to help sway the influence over the decision presumably, as the nations will be eliminated one by one throughout a very long day. Chicago gets to go first with their presentation, and the impact of the political influence has been seen in the past, with former British PM Tony Blair a large factor behind the 2012 games. It is essentially a popularity contest, as Obama has a semi play off against the King of Spain, the Brazilian President and Japan’s Crown Prince and Princess, all of which are at the ceremony.
Chicago: 4/5 at Ladbrokes
Slight favourite possibly in the popularity contest, as the States will have a lot of money to throw at state of the art facilities. They have the room to grow and get things done, and with the new President heralding a new paradigm shift in the political and social scene, its is something which could land perfectly in their lap. Chicago though has its problems with crime and the Council might be cautious as being seen as playing Obama lap-dog, and where politics and America go, there will be some controversy, like with the US’s protests over Cuba participating in a 2006 baseball tournament.
Madrid: 16/1 at Paddy Power
Would be a popular choice across Europe of course, and European nations have the benefit on being a more central hub. This ease of accessibility from many countries may play a factor, but with the 2012 games in Europe, and the 2014 Winter Olympics also in Europe, this may count against the Spanish capital’s bid. Madrid does have a lot of it’s Olympic status in place though, as they had made a bid for the 2012 games and so a lot of facilities are almost ready.
Rio de Janeiro: 15/8 at Paddy Power
Just as the World Cup being held in a new continent for the first time, and the hype surrounding that, Rio would be the first ever South American hosts to hold the games. That is something which could bring a lot of renewed interest in the games, and be a publicity dream for the IOC members. One thing which may not be in their favour, is the much reported high levels of crime.
Tokyo: 12/1 at Bet365
Asia have also hosted fairly recent games, with Beijing hosting them last year. but Tokyo brings a lot of technological advances in making the games a lot greener than ever before. They also proved their organisational skills by putting on a great 2002 World Cup, with excellent transport systems.
The final decision will be made on a number of factors, such as the political state of the country, the finances, the quality of the sports venues and Olympic village, as well as things like transport and of course security. Those are just the practical things, and others to be taken into consideration are geography and the emotions and readiness of the winning nation. It’s a long winded process, but as to who will be crowned 2012 Olympic hosts on Friday, there seems a little too much stacked against Madrid and Tokyo, so it should be a close call between Chicago and Rio.
