CanisMinor

Strange that. Two years ago I was listening to Sebastian Coe telling us that it was Tony Blair with his night-before-the-vote hotel room visits that won it for Chicago, and that HRH Anne was simply a passenger. But, you must be right, after all, what does Seb Coe know about the London 2012 bid? Say what? I think my head just exploded. So, NYC "AVOIDED" "NOT" being rejected in the first round? Are you thus saying they were rejected in the first round?? Read "London", since I have no idea how to edit on this board...

No, no, no. The evidence simply does not support that repeat bidding by the same city yields results. This is and remains a myth.

I can see some benefit in a Toronto 2024 bid. There is unlikely to be much challenge from the US, Asia will probably sit out '24, and Europe is likely to have had 2020. If South Africa stumbles, then suddenly Canada can find themselves a shoe-in for 2024. If they don't get it, well then 2024 is a nice warm up for a shot at 2032/2036.

So, so far for 2020 we only have cities from two practically bankrupt nations in Europe bidding. Since Germany will thus be financing the games, can we just pick Berlin, please?

Well-said. I would add though that we are likely to see an increase in frequency of Asia hostings, and this will come in to play. My bet remains on Toronto 2032.

There is no way that Cairo can do this. No way at all. Also agree with you that an African Olympics will really only be viewed as "done" when it gets to Sub-Saharan Africa. Any North-African Olympics will look like a Middle-East Olympics, in which case the IOC would likely go to Dubai or Doha than take the massive, massive risk of sending it to Cairo.

No, not at all. I remember a lot of lamenting in the press that Olympic Baseball was a non-starter at Wrigley. Soldier Field was of course briefly considered for ceremonies under the early two-stadium plan

The idea was to keep the track and field to host smaller city scale events. Then, if a major event came to town, they could always add the bleachers again to reach up to a 20,000 seat capacity. Overall I thought it was a great solution at the time, and still do. In fact, I believe the city should still go ahead and build the permanent part of the stadium to expand sporting facilities in the South side. Now the temporary aquatics center was the weak idea in my opinion. The original domestic bid was centered around a new $50 million aquatics center at UIC. The university would have issued a bond for this. A much better option, in my opinion, than the final temporary aquatics center in Washington Park.

The final plan was to build a new baseball stadium for the Mets in Queens in the existing parking lot of Shea Stadium. This new stadium would have been used by the Mets from 2009 onwards. Then, in 2012, the stadium was to be converted to T&F while the Mets played in Yankee Stadium.

I think the charter only requires that the opening and closing ceremonies be held in the host city. All the rest is up to negotiation with the IOC.

Which is why the next US bid should be: Tulsa, OK!

I think an NYC bid is always a stretch. I was quite surprised when they got the domestic nod for 2012. In addition to politics, NYC faces the tough challenge of the "not in my backyard" crowd. The US is always full of special interests, and a bid from a top tier city will definitely bring those interests out of the woodwork. That said, if political will and citizen will somehow combine, then it is doable. Where though, I don't know.

While there is no denying that Team USA had a great games, I have to disagree with you. Canada owned the podium, and they did it fairly, without having to resort to 10 year old gymnasts. At the end of the day, what matters is gold. Ask nearly any athlete - they'll take one gold over two silvers any day. Amazing effort Canada! A great Games, from a great, achieving sporting nation!

In my opinion, it's pretty clear that the next three games go to Europe, Africa and Asia in one order or another. Why: - The European dominated IOC brings the games back to Europe every 2nd to 3rd cycle. That means 2020 or 2024 is Europe's - The IOC is unlikely to deny a South Africa bid, unless the World Cup goes awry. That means 2020/4 is South Africa's if they bid - By 2028, it will be 20 years since an Asian Games, and more than 60 years since a Japanese SOG. So, at the latest Tokyo gets 2028. So, the earliest date for a feasible North American bid is 2032. So, Toronto should probably do a warm-up bid for 2028, and then go all out for 2032.