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I DECLARE CHRISTMAS 2021...OPEN! Lowestoft's finest there, with one of the all-time great Christmas songs...here goes: Here we go again, because you can't keep a good idea down - at least not at the start - it's the symbol of December - THE 15TH ANNUAL GAMESBIDS OLYMPIC LOGO COMPETITION! Last year's comp didn't result in its demise, quite the opposite with both rounds being won by debutants - so let's hope that showed that the old thing still has some life in it yet. To help give it the best shot, we're sticking to last year's tried and tested, non-batshit mad format - two cities, one summer, one winter, one winner for each and one month (ish) to make them in. You probably want to know where they are, so here you go. They're good ones... SUMMER 2036: ISTANBUL, TURKEY Not Constantinople, and definitely not Byzantium, the city so good they named it three times needs no introduction. But this is one. One of the world's oldest, largest, and greatest cities with thousands of years of history, a symbol of the exotic and exciting (for Western Europe anyway), and a perennial Olympic hopeful, the only surprise is that 14 previous comps have somehow missed it! Let's be honest, even if it's not 2036, the Istanbul Olympics will surely happen eventually, so here's your chance to show how it should look. How will you design the games where Turkish Olympic dreams finally come true? WINTER 2034: GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, GREAT BRITAIN* Possibly even more amazing than 14 years of missing Istanbul is 14 years of completely ignoring the UK*. So on this St Andrew's Day, it's time to rectify that as the Winter comp heads to Scotland, the birthplace of curling. Glasgow, much in the news lately, is Scotland's largest city, even if internationally it's been a bit overshadowed by capital Edinburgh, but there's plenty of inspiration here on the Clyde for you in a city of great design history - even if actually hosting a Winter Olympics here might stretch Agenda 2020, it's still not implausible with some imagination, and that's what it's all about. How will you design the games where curling comes home? *Legal disclaimer - I'm using Scotland, British, Britain, UK etc interchangably based on context simply because that's the situation currently, and as anyone who says they know what'll happen by 2034 is either a) fibbing, or b) Doctor Who, it's easiest. This is not an endorsement of either side on Scottish independence. So there. THE RULES AND THINGS We are, as ever, after logos that encompass the overall feel of the city and local influences that can be tied into a design concept. How can any of these cities articulate graphically what they could bring to future Olympics hosting? What flavour will they bring to the games? Will it inspire the Turks to pull their fingers out and stop Putin's 2036 coronation? (Although Erdogan still...eh). The logos should be presented as full colour designs on white background. If you like, however, they can also be presented in black and white or utilised in forms like street banners, t-shirts, apps, vehicles, pins etc. For voting purposes, the main (colour) logo will be used on the polls, & extra stuff is not obligatory, but any extra material you produce may help you “sell” your design better to the wider GamesBids voting membership.  These logos are for the cities as they HOST the games. So you CAN use the rings, and don't need to include the words “Candidate City, Olympic Games 2036” or whatever the IOC want this week. Please post your preliminary submissions on this thread. If you want to hold anything back to be presented as a “surprise” when voting starts you can contact me or Rols via PM and I'll tell you where you can send the extra material. However, it would be nice to see as many on-thread submissions as possible for people to chew over in-thread, & to try & get the old buzz back. We can hope, right? You can submit logos for either or both cities. However, you cannot enter more than one logo for the same city (see below). So entering one logo for each is fine, but two logos for Glasgow, say, is not fine. You are able, encouraged even, to enter both 'sides' of the comp. Feel free to post as many logo designs as you like, & to ask for feedback from our famously discerning electorate. If you really can't decide between your own designs for a city, feel free to start a poll (or to ask for one to be started). When the time comes for voting, however, you will be asked to settle on a maximum of ONLY ONE official logo per city as your official entry. The format depends on the numbers. Most likely, it will be the traditional exhausting exhaustive ballot preferred by the IOC, but if numbers fit & opinion ok, we may have the World Cup-style tournament system. Whatever happens, the winter & summer 'halves' will be entirely separate, there will be two winners in the Olympic comp tradition. The competition is open to all members of GamesBids, or to any new legitimate members who join before the end of the submission period. I, with consultation, will rule on the legitimacy of new members. As you would expect, I will rule on any disputes - always aiming to be as fair as possible in the process. As always, just remember, this is all meant to be fun. Olympic spirit, remember?. Hopefully this will spark up some action on the board. I'll be dipping in, keeping a close eye on things, but otherwise will try and keep my green yoshi-paws off until the polling stages. The deadline for submissions is 1pm London time (that is, midnight in Sydney, as per tradition) on NEW YEAR'S EVE, 31 DECEMBER 2021. Thus, GB will begin the Olympic year (yup, another one) 2022 with the voting. Just one extra thing, there is something of a tradition of that being extended, but I don't know yet exactly how the numbers will add up - I want to schedule the comp so its last act, a final in the summer comp, if it goes fully through the rounds, would be on February 3, the eve of this year's first human rights-loving sporting spectacles /sarcasm. And this is just to alert @Rob. Rob to the existence of the new comp in the hope that he'll do his traditional bit of putting up links to various free design programs etc for the benefit of those who want to take part but may not have the facility at the moment, and to alert @GBModerator Rob to the fact the comp is back! All that is left to say is thank you Rols once again, and to all participants for having the guts to put your logos up for the annual GamesBids dissection, & may the best logos win - GOOD LUCK!

I know I've poked fun at the idea of a double allocation in the past, but I agree this seems like a real possibility. 2030 is Sapporo's if they can get support for it (easier said than done), and then Salt Lake is right behind them for 2034 which the USOPC will likely appreciate even though the SLC folks might not be as happy. And that'll be a huge boon for American TV rights if the first Games of the new contract is on US snow and ice.

Let's not forget, that like Brisbane, SLC has been at this for YEARS now. At least the last five. And three years ago, the USOC officially named SLC (over Denver) as their next candidate for the Winter Olympic Games. And now that everything is done behind-the-scenes, who's to say how much of that list has already been completed. The IOC hasn't remained idle since Tokyo 2020ne. And this is the IOC afterall, & they tweak their own rules as they go along as long as they can see it benefits them in the end in some way. That said, though, if anything, I can at least see the IOC naming SLC as their "preferred candidate" right before Beijing 2022 (like they did with Brisbane, five months before they officially crowned them with 2032 at Tokyo 2020ne). At this point, I'd say it makes more sense to hold off Sapporo, or the likes of Ukraine, 'til at least 2034. Too much uncertainty, especially with Ukraine, to see that all clear up in only 18 months from now. Needless to say, but we've all also have tried to gauge the global map of what other 'dark angel' could mysteriously pop up now that would want to work with the IOC at this point in time. And right now, that map, especially for the winter Games, is looking very bleak.

The other great tradition of comp opening day is the mass @ - here we go: @paul @JDCLauron @Glacib @daveypodmore @Scotguy @Lord David @Rob. @thatsnotmypuppy @mr.bernham @woohooitsme83 @VIK @baron-pierreIV @JMarkSnow2012 @nzl @Utkarsh Verma @Athensfan @Citius Altius Fortius @Olympian1010 @TorchbearerSydney @Sir Rols @AustralianFan @JO2024 @Nacholympic @aismanggo @Anthony @Jon Will Chambers @Victorian @DannyelBrazil @ScoBit @Palette86 @cfm Jeremie @Fiorenzo @pcutone @Olympic Fan Darcy @Athens 2004 forever It's everyone in my previous mass @, plus everyone who posted or voted in last year's comps, even those who voted in August (!). Plus Danny as he expressed interest when he came back after Tokyo

Sapporo expected to announce cost cuts to land 2030 Olympics

/\/\ That's you wishing it will just go away. But we know that the virus-- any virus -- does not recognize anyone else's boundaries or calendar. Better safe than sorry. Except for those retiring from a competitive career, there's always next season.

Good to see you, especially impressive because I @ed the wrong you - sorry, I'll remember the II next time

That seems possible as like a post COVID-19 pandemic era for the 2032 Olympics.

I know someone probably said this already but screw the IOC and screw Thomas Bach. Part of me hopes things get even worse so they're finaly completely cornered and forced to make changes if they want to survive in the current era.

Glasgow to host World Indoor Athletics Championships in 2024 Another event for Glasgow to build on the legacy of 2014 https://news.stv.tv/sport/glasgow-to-host-world-indoor-athletics-championships-in-2024?fbclid=IwAR2TYsT7mhXcMowDLO-VdF6jlvLvUkjy5osK465UpFFFncjsM3x50NnpFKk&top

Gina Rinehart calls for more places to moor her yacht by Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games Won't somebody think of the super rich and their super yachts!

Thats pretty much the ultimate super mega happy ending. I really hope it goes down like that. Ill be cracking some of the good stuff if thats how it goes down, thats exactly how I want to see it. Really want Japan to surprise me here.

After the Chinese WTA tournaments being cancelled two years in a row and dismal attendance every year before that this seems like a very convenient out for the WTA. The previous WTA CEO really gambled too big on developing tennis in China leaving the current CEO with a big mess.

A lot of the people on social media complaining about NBC's coverage clearly did the bare minimum in terms of figuring out where events would air and just assumed that Peacock would have everything. Shame on NBC for probably being intentionally vague, but Peacock was never going to be the solution for everyone in terms of live coverage. And the best stuff they had was actually on the free version of the platform with various studio shows and live coverage in the mornings of gymnastics and track and field that NBC did little to publicize. From what I've read, NBC has plans to re-imagine Peacock around the start of February because of all the issues with Tokyo. Supposedly the plan is for much more streaming on Peacock, with most events live and in full with ads. My hope is that won't affect what they have on the NBC Sports App where everything is normally accessible if you have a cable subscription. As long as that's unchanged, let them do whatever they want with Peacock. Obviously a lot fewer events during the Winter Olympics than the Summer, so that'll be a lot easier to manage

Looks like the matches in the group stage are scheduled for 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, and 10pm. So not necessarily all during the evening, but it'll basically be 2.5 out of the 4 matches each day that occur after sunset

How Brisbane snubbed the Gold Coast in Olympic power play

France honors Josephine Baker further by making her the first Black Woman "interred" at the Pantheon in Paris. (It is a mere symbolic internment--of a cenotaph--since Baker's remains will stay in Monaco. The smaller coffin carries the soils of Baker's 3 countries - the USA, France and Monaco.) Viva, Mlle. Baker!! They gave her a quasi-military send-off -- another honor which even Edith Piaf was not given.

No rush. Covid is still messing things up. And the IOC is still we ahead of its standard 7-year lead. And with an ex-host city like SLC, they can even go six without skipping a beat. So I say that the IOC will hold off on naming SLC until the next full IOC sessions in either Baranquilla (mid-2022) or Mumbai (2023), hoping that Sapporo, Ukraine or some other dark angel can come through for 2030.

Exactly. In this day & age, marketing is just everywhere. I think the only people that are complaining the most about the sponsorship are the people over at LA28. Perhaps they are still upset that they didn’t get the 2024 slot instead. Yep. Although, some are still ‘less than convinced’.

Equestrian / BMX events close to Briabane’s centre - Victoria Park It’s incredibly exciting that the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events and BMX freestyle will be veryvclose to Brisbane’s centre (3.4 kms by road). Victoria Park for Cross Country eventing/freestyle BMX and nearby Brisbane Showgrounds for Showjumping/Dressage. At Sydney 2000, while Horsley Park was a nice setting, it was a long way out from the Sydney CBD (58kms) and it was a marathon of trains and then shuttle buses to get out there. With my late mother we picnicked in the largely long grass rural paddocks converted to an eventing course which was the only area that was mowed, understandably. But we had fun, laid a picnic blanket down under a tree in the long grass and watched the horses flash by. But, a long exhausting day and a long journey there and back. However, looking at beautiful Victoria Park in Brisbane as it is now, and as it will be, what a nice place for locals and visitors to watch the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic equestrian eventing and freestyle BMX competitions. You could literally conduct an eventing competition right now in Victoria Park. At Games time in 2032, with temporary grandstands, and the other temporary facilities, it will be good to go. The world-wide television coverage of this beautful course and the surrounding gorgeousness and greenery of Brisbane, the city, Brisbane River, mountains, coastline will be priceless.

Thanks Tejas57, you’re a legend. A great find, thankyou, much appreciated. It’s interesting to note that the legislation before the house is the Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics Arrangements Bill 2021. Also noting the correct title of the organising committee’s name in the Bill which establishes the: “Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the corporation).” Further, it’s interesting to note for those interested that the main function of the corporation is to undertake and facilitate the organisation, conduct, promotion and commercial and financial management of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. However, I cannot see mention in the Bill of an “Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA” so this confirms this body will be enacted with a separate piece of legislation. For the many of us Olympics fans, not too long to wait now (as in probably first quarter of 2022?) to see some early key decisions around the organisation Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the establishment of an OCA.

here is a link to the bill before the house - it's only 40 pages

I predict the IOC will announce a WOG TRIPLE awarding soon: 2030 - Salt Lake City 2034 - Salt Lake City 2038 - Salt Lake City!!

No, let the speculation on Beijing end. I have a better chance of qualifying for the Olympics than the Olympics do of being postponed. Tokyo was held during a surge. So you can be certain that China will do the same, even if they have major COVID protocols or vaccine requirements in place that make participation difficult for some. Yes, we can talk about what those protocols might be, but let's not pretend for a split second that Omicron is a threat to the Olympics.

Gina can pay for Perth to host-she can afford it!

Your seats sound truly amazing for such a memorable life experience. Yes looking at the OC video now you can see people holding up cameras everywhere, before the smartphone era. Yes, you’re right, plenty of photos online. My camera photos weren’t the best I remember the buzz of the very first look at the stadium set-up when I walked in and I couldn’t figure out where the cauldron was going to travel as had no idea that it was hidden under the top tier of the stage. I also recall the jumbo screens were gradually scrolling through different international messages such as, “Wave if you are from Canada,” .. or “South Africa”, etc etc. Great photo of you with the torch by the way. It must have been truly amazing an honour to actually carry the Torch. Incredible memories. I saw the relay in Perth in three different locations, couldn’t get enough of it.

No shot there's a postponement. Even less of a shot there's a cancellation. I agree that COVID protocols could change and make it tougher for athletes to make it in and out of China, but the fact we're so much further along when it comes to vaccination and detection of the virus since Tokyo helps a lot. We all know that China has tight restrictions when it comes to COVID, but they're going to have to take a long look at how they want that to work once 3,000 athletes and all the volunteers, media, and support staff are in whatever Olympic "bubble" they have set up

Best day of my life was carrying the Olympic torch into Byron Bay (ala my avatar pic)...

I was on the tier right above Juan Antonio and the gang on the front railing....best seats in the house! However, my new digital camera failed about 5 minutes in and I got no pics...not to worry there are pics and videos everywhere now, and I could concentrate on the show! I caught the train in from my house hosting 12 people!

I remember getting off the train at Concord West Train Station having come in from the north and looking at how overcast and threatening the sky looked late afternoon. From the train station, through an underpass, the crowd marshalls directed us through the Olympic parklands over to Stadium Australia. What a feeling of anticipation it was and thankfully, there was no rain. My seat was high up well above the athletes entrance and when the flame was lit, we felt the heat of the cauldron washing all the way up to where we were seated.

I was at the Opening too...best night of my life!

They might get Japan. That's not a given. Salt Lake getting an Olympics in the 2030s is a virtual certainty. If the USOPC had their way, it would be for 2034, but obviously that presumes the IOC has a 2030 host. We'll see what the Japanese appetite is for another Olympics so soon after Tokyo, and I imagine more than a few people will be watching Beijing in a couple of months to see how that goes, know that it'll be an unusual Olympics for a number of reasons. Hard to imagine any cities emerging for either of those 2, particularly if the IOC is looking at more backroom deals. We'll see how things look 2.5 years from now when hopefully for the IOC that the "genocide games" as some want to call them is a distant memory and they're only looking ahead at a brighter future. I'm sure there's some sentiment within the IOC to just these Olympics over with and hope they can move on. But like I said, all the IOC ever needs is 1 willing and capable partner every 4 years. They haven't failed at that yet, so there's little reason to think they're in grave danger at any point in the foreseeable future.

8 white elephants

Particularly on a website decided to Olympic host bidding, let's not be ignorant to history here. We didn't get another Olympics in Beijing because they ticked boxes or because the IOC really wanted to partner up with a communist country. There were more than a few cities interested in bidding for 2022. The IOC scared nearly all of them off, in large part because of the recency of Sochi and their massively expensive Olympics, but also because of the miles long list of demands the IOC wants to impose on the host city/country. We know pretty definitively that's why Oslo dropped out, which is a shame, because that would have likely been another amazing Olympics. So that left the IOC with a giant douche and a turd sandwich in Beijing and Almaty. And it was a 44-40 final vote. If just 3 Beijing voters have a change of heart that day, we're not having this discussion (although we're probably having a different discussion as it relates to Kazakhstan). The moral of the story here being that let's not paint a picture of the IOC that they were really gung ho to return to Beijing and to partner with China. Nearly half of the IOC voters didn't want that, and I'm sure in hindsight, many of those 44 who advocating for Beijing probably regret that decision. We all know the IOC wants to play it both ways.. when things are good, they'll claim credit for the Olympic movement. When they aren't good, they'll avoid any notion that they can do anything for the cause of human rights. That all said.. Shanghai 2036? No shot after the trail of bad press the IOC is going to leave in their wake here, unless China does a complete 180 in the next decade, and we all know that's not going to happen. As the story goes and what we saw with 2032 is that the IOC only needs 1 willing partner that they want to work with. And then they can ignore the rest for whatever reason they want. Literally the only way Shanghai is even a thought in their minds would be for no other cities to be interested, which undoubtedly would include a lot of begging from the IOC for someone to come in and save their collective asses. As for Agenda 2020.. the whole purpose of that direction for the IOC isn't to find an ideal candidate, but rather for cities to be more open and less rigid about what they are allowed to offer up. If Italy offered up their Milan-Cortina bid for 2006 with venues spread over the country, they probably wouldn't have won. But in the age of agenda 2020, they get consideration they wouldn't have 2 decades ago. Agenda 2020 doesn't help a city like Shanghai if China can't help themselves and will spend extravagant amounts of money to make it happen. That's literally the antithesis of what Agenda 2020 is supposed to be about. The silver lining for the IOC is that once they're through this fiasco, they have 4 future hosts locked in with France, Italy, the United States, and Australia. It's been a long time since the future Olympics calendar hasn't included the likes of a China or a Russia or a new frontier country like Brazil. So they have an opportunity to salvage their reputation if 2 years is enough time before Paris for the world to forget everything that's happened in the last 20 months. Easier said than done, but that's why if we're talking about future summer hosts, the time for that discussion is likely years down the road

This is the problem with Agenda 2020. If Shanghai jumps in now and does everything right, of course it will tick every box and be technically sound. On what basis can the IOC turn it down? Not every Agenda 2020 'preferred candidate' will be as benevolent as Brisbane. What the rigidness of Agenda 2020 fails to capture is optics and mood - something only an IOC vote with multiple options could hope to mitigate. Case in point is the select of Sydney over Beijing in 1993 with Tiannamen Square so fresh in people's minds.

From what I read, the figure skating schedule is a compromise.. NBC gets about half of the figure skating events in the morning in Beijing so they can be show in primetime in the US. As Karenina noted, most of that is in the 1st week. The majority of the 2nd week of figure skating is at night, which is obviously better for Asian and European audiences. Noteworthy here is that ice dance free dance was moved to the morning of 2/14 in Beijing, which means the last groups will get shown on NBC after the Super Bowl (it's been confirmed that will be NBC's lead-out program from the Super Bowl, they won't have an episode of a series there, first time in 46 years that's happened)

I knew it! He can’t be a bad bloke if he supports the Tigers!

That is probably NOT a wise idea for any O host city now because the winners -- espeiclally Athletics are NOT finalized until 8-9 yers down the road. Remember, the IOC and WADA are still re-awarding many medals from London 2012 to those found doping by the cheating Russians. So, certainly, any smart stadium will NOT be engraving names of Olympic "winners" on their walls so long as those are still in flux and the jury is out.

I'm slightly less cynical than you, I do think smaller cities have a chance now, and that they'll be taken seriously rather than dismissed outright. That's partly because the supply/demand equation has shifted, but I would also credit the IOC's rule changes too. Of course, smaller cities still need to hope there's not an Alpha+ city wanting a Games in the same year that they're eyeing up. We're not going to see a situation where the IOC chooses Manchester over New York or Boston over London. And of course the buffer between the old and the new was the IOC ripping up their rules so neither of the megacities on offer lost out (so we have Paris and LA Games). A good decision, but they would never have done the same if Paris and Brisbane were the last two standing. The IOC have given themselves and smaller cities some more flexibility, which I think is a good thing. There are some aspects of the new norm I'm cynical about (transparency being the biggie), but this actually isn't one of them.

^^ I don't know what evidence you have for that. Birmingham was the British candidate for 1992 and Manchester for 1996 and 2000. Neither city came higher than third. Many of the 128 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who will make the decision, have emphasised that only London would stand a chance in future. As one said when Manchester lost to Sydney: “We will know you’re serious when you come back with London.” I'm not making (or attempting to make) any judgement on Manchester's capability but the IOC repeatedly rejected UK cities that aren't London and bit our hand off as soon as London was offered upsetting repeat bidder and strong favourite Paris. 2020 was not a bid race conducted under the "new norm" rules, so I don't know why you'd think Manchester (in a world where London 2012 didn't happen) would have a chance against Tokyo. Whether a city like Manchester has a chance in future with the new rules is a more interesting question. But to suggest any UK city but London could've won in recent decades is fanciful.

Brisbane will be a super cheap Games.....Sydney was a cheap Games (3rd cheapest per event after LA and Atlanta)...... Australia can pull these things off very efficiently. Sydney was a low tech Games in many ways (half the venues and media facilities were metal sheds in a state fair ground, the stadiums were simple design with no 'hero architects'), but they still pulled off the best Games ever. I suspect Brisbane, planned and funded over 11 years, will come in on a low budget.

What on God’s earth could make you possibly think that everyone didn’t know the rules in advance ? It was announced to the world 3 years ago. Let me repeat that ……… it was announced to the world 3 years ago. 3 years in advance of the point in time when the Candidature from Brisbane was elevated. I fully agree with you that the system will very likely need tweaking at some point because the changes have been so major.

Emperor's cup final in early January will be the first ever event played here in the finally finished olympic stadium.

Sapporo? How bout he IOC foots the bill. That might work. It's now official. The winter universiade has been cancelled over the new quarantine requirements. Let the speculation on Beijing begin. Mike Rowbottom: Lucerne 2021 is off - will Omicron impact Beijing 2022? (insidethegames.biz)