GamesBids.com: Candidates Kick-Off Final Year of Campaigning For 2016 Olympic Bid

Candidates Kick-Off Final Year of Campaigning For 2016 Olympic Bid
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GB Editor on Thursday, October 2, 2008  9:45am EDT
 
One year from today, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will elect the
Olympic host for 2016.  On October 2, 2009 the IOC membership will convene at
the Olympic Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark along with the remaining candidates
for 2016.
Currently Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo have been chosen for the
shortlist; however the IOC can further trim that list after on-site inspection
and a review of the candidature files next year.
Online bookmaker Intertops.com says Chicago is on the money as 4/5 favorites
followed by Tokyo at 9/4, Rio 9/2 and Madrid 13/2 – and similar odds are being
offered by bookmakers around the globe.  But gamblers are warned, IOC members
are an unpredictable bunch and odds makers have been wrong for the past three
consecutive bids including 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Chicago 2016 is marking the milestone by distributing clocks, calendars and
other educational information throughout the city to keep Chicagoans involved in
the bid process.  Additionally CEO Patrick G. Ryan, will meet with the Consul
General of Denmark and share a countdown clock with him and to commemorate the
location of the final vote.
For the Rio 2016 bid, the countdown began Wednesday, with a celebration at the
Palacio do Planalto in Brasília, in which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
honored athletes from the Brazilian delegation that took part in the Beijing
2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“There is just one year left until the IOC decision, and the Brazilian
government once again is demonstrating its support to the Rio 2016 bid. It is
unquestionable that Brazilian sport is improving in quality and this celebration
recognizes our athletes’ efforts. South America deserves to hold the Olympic
Games for the first time, and Rio 2016 has much to offer the international
Olympic Movement”, said Rio 2016 bid president Carlos Arthur Nuzman at the
celebration.
In Madrid, plaques will be presented to 26 new sponsors of the bid to show the
corporate support available to Madrid 2016.
“The huge support of the Spanish Government, the Mayor and the people of
Madrid has made us a very “safe” and reliable choice for a host city which
is ready to deliver in 2016” Madrid 2016 CEO Mercedes Coghen explained.
“We are not daunted that the time is passing by so quickly because we know we
are ready.
“We will continue striving to improve every detail of our bid. Our
preparation and planning of venues, our infrastructure, transport and all the
tangible criteria that are vital to the success of the Games are well advanced.
The infrastructure is ready and 70% of the other work required is in place.”
In Tokyo, two separate one-year countdown kick-off events were held.
Japanese medallists from the Beijing Games and other entertainers headlined a
Midtown outdoor celebration in the heart of Tokyo and hundreds of passionate
Tokyo 2016 supporters were on hand as well as major press and all national
television broadcasters.
Also on Thursday, Dr Ichiro Kono, Chairman and CEO of Tokyo 2016 held a press
conference to further review the bid’s plans for the year ahead.
"The sense of excitement is increasing all the time as we enter the final year
of our Bid to welcome the world to Tokyo in 2016. If Tokyo were given the honour
of hosting the Games, it would herald an unprecedented urban and environmental
legacy for the city, as well as produce an ideal model of sustainable
development for major cities across the world” explained Kono.
"We are celebrating Bid Day in the heart of the city to give the Japanese
people the chance to show yet again their enthusiastic support for Tokyo 2016.
The Bid has strong backing across all levels of Japanese society, as reflected
in today's events uniting Japanese leaders in government, athletics and culture,
as well as Olympic enthusiasts."
The four bids have a tireless year head that will include endless globetrotting
to meetings and presentations including several IOC sanctioned meet-and-greet
events with some 100 plus voting members of the IOC.  It all begins next week as
the candidates meet at the Pan American Sports Association (PASO) Assembly in
Acapulco, Mexico to make presentations on October 11.  Moving forward, the bids
will ramp up international marketing campaigns and continue to improve their
plans for the Olympic Games.
The next major milestone is the submission of the full candidacy files to the
IOC by February 12, 2009 – a three volume, 600-page dossier of how each city
plans to organize and stage the Olympic Games that will be the basis of the IOC
Evaluation Team’s final report to its voting members.  Then in April and May
the IOC will conduct on-site visits to the four candidates.