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I know I'm late to the party, but I've just seen the pictograms for the first time. Absolutely love them! Totally different to what has been done before, and will look great when animated on TV. They're also not difficult to understand either really, so well done Paris!

Look a gift horse in the mouth! The IOC's problem to a 2030 host is staring them right in the FACE!! It has been snowing in southern California / LA metro area -- so how much more prepared could an Olympic Organizing Committee be than one already in place for 2028? Blizzard warnings continue in California; severe storms forecast in Texas, Oklahoma: Weekend weather (msn.com) Everything is already there for 2030!! (ANd, of course, Salt Lake 2034 will be waiting in the wings!!) C'mon, IOC, your search for 2030 is OVER!!

The site might have been originally created to follow bids (or actually, created for one particular bid - Toronto’s bid for 2008), but that soon became only part of the activity on this site. It’s long attracted general Olympic fans, and long branched out to discuss all aspects of the Olympics - lots of general threads speculating on future hosts, hypothetical bid plans, ceremonies, logos, music, stadiums and, yes, spotlights on upcoming chosen hosts (why do you think these get their own dedicated sub forums with specific sections for ticketing, ceremonies, sports etc? Paris’ and LA’s ARE active, and will only get more and more active as those games approach). Not to mention member-generated contests and sweeps and swapping jokes etc. And then there’s interest in other sports events - World Cups, Universiades and, yes, Commonwealth Games. Personally, I’m not interested or enthused by Victoria 2026 - I rarely look in or participate in that thread. But if it excites some people, good for them, and at least they’re confining their discussions to one thread and not disrupting others across the board. You’re right, bidding itself isn’t what it used to be. There’s not as much information and campaigning now happening in the public eye to follow and analyse. But there’s still bids going on, these are still being followed here, and every news item that surfaces about them still gets dissected, discussed and debated here. And as for Russia? The members aren’t the ones driving that issue. Whether you like it or not, the Russia issue is THE MAJOR international sports issue preoccupying the Olympic movement, world sports federations and world governments at the moment and in particular in the lead up to Paris. It’s natural that members here have opinions on it and express them here. You’re welcome to, and do, post your thoughts on it. Why is it a problem if your biases don’t align with others biases? Good on you for posting some contrarian views - I might not agree with them, but I’m glad it drives some discussion. Do you remember the old member here @Guardian? He used to take on that news posting role for the site. And interesting and generally relevant stuff, not reposting every boring and pointless tweet that came up on his Twitter feed. And he did it without an attitude or agenda - he was almost always mostly cheerful and gracious. I miss him. Much of that “news” posting now is more akin to TonyELovesArchitecture (I’m not going to @ him in case it reawakens him) than anything useful to drive activity and discussion.