stryker

Interesting. Seems like that estimate of just over 5 billion is rather low. If I'm reading correctly, Brisbane is planning on two new arenas for gymnastics and basketball plus a new stadium? Seems like costs could get out of hand very quickly. Also not sure what arena would serve as an aquatics center like Rod Laver did for the world championships unless they plan on a temporary one like Tokyo is doing and Rio did but left it to rot. It would also make more sense to use some of the more problematic venues (rowing and slalom canoeing) from the Sydney Olympics. I am also assuming that the much needed transportation upgrades aren't included and I've seen some reports that say without those planned upgrades the bid doesn't go forward. Even with the changes to the bidding process, it still seems like a big undertaking.

Not sure if this has been posted in another thread, but has the feasibility study been made public? Any preliminary venue plans?

IMO as the costs of building two new ice hockey arenas (with no planned legacies) along with a new speed skating oval and extensive renovations to the Cortina sliding track are revealed I suspect CONI will try to get Torino back on board. As the plans stand right now, Milan is looking at a hefty price tag with a shaky legacy (I do think renovating the sliding track is a good move as without it Italy lacks a sliding track for their sliding team not to mention I highly doubt using the nearby track in St. Moritz would go over with a local population that has been rather hostile to Olympic bids recently). The WOGs are practically on life support and the last thing the IOC needs is another WOGs that goes over budget or is left with white elephants.

I am going to say it's a three horse race between Australia, Japan, and Brazil with Brazil a slight favorite since it would represent a new frontier of sorts in a country where the women's game is growing. Brazil also fits into that all-important U.S. media market with a favorable time zone.

Will there be indictments is the question. If indictments come about in a court of law whether it be Brazilnor somewhere else then the IOC will have a PR nightmare on their hands. It could seriously affect future bidding cycles as well as I suspect this gives even more ammunition the No Olympics crowd.

I was in London for a few days a couple weeks ago and I finally had the chance to visit the Olympic Park. It's a great legacy and while a lot of the space around the venues has been repurposed, I don't think given the bidding climate that London would necessarily need a new Olympic Park to host again. As far as plans go, I would assume a future London Olympics could easily use London ExCEL as the MPC/IBC, shift tennis to Queen's Club (wasn't this the original venue for tennis in the 2012 bid?), use the covered centre court and No. 1 court at Wimbledon for indoor sports like volleyball and basketball, and use Olympia and or Alexandra Palace for the sports that were held at London ExCEL. The biggest need IMO would be where to put the Olympic Village. It's feasible but London already has a lot of the 'troublesome" venues such as the velodrome, slalom canoe course, and the athletics stadium. IMO that would give London an edge over any regional bid from the north. On the other hand, I see that the expanded Alexandra Stadium in Birmingham that will be used for the CWGs is seeking to become the headquarters for UK Athletics after the CWGs conclude. The same article also discussed West Ham United's desire to purchase the London Olympic Stadium if it is renovated to become a football-only stadium. If that goes through, then London's chances take a huge hit unless the reconfigured stadium could somehow be fitted with a platform track. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1080988/birmingham-targets-taking-athletics-off-london-as-72-million-alexander-stadium-redevelopment-plan-for-2022-commonwealth-games-unveiled

I saw today where Calgary was forced to give up the 2021 Luge Championships to Whistler because WinSport could not guarantee the needed upgrades which probably would've gone through if the bid at least survived a referendum. One of my colleagues who's from the Calgary area predicts the WinSport sliding track will be demolished within the next two years with the Whistler track becoming Canada's main track for training and international events Given how specialized the sliding events are, does it even make sense for a country to have more than one sliding track?

I think it depends. I do think you could possibly see country-wide bids for the WOGs from smaller countries such as Switzerland and Austria or farming out the more sport-specific venues like Stockholm has done with the sliding events and what Calgary was prepared to do by holding ski jumping in Whistler. I posted a while back that if the IOC ever really wanted to go to Africa for a SOGs the only way it would work budget wise and venue wise would be for a country-wide bid from along the likes of South Africa or Morocco. All that said, if a compact bid presents itself as economically viable (or a dictatorship decides to splurge on the Olympics) then I think the IOC would choose those options over a regional bid. It's the main reason I see Salt Lake City as a very heavy favorite to host the WOGs in 2030.

I realize the circumstances between the events that led to Denver's withdrawal do not entirely apply to Stockholm. My point is what if Stockholm is awarded the WOGs and the No Olympics crowd rears their heads again with the same arguments they have used before (mostly focusing on the budget) but take it a step further and start targeting some of these newly elected officials for going along with the bid in the first place. Public support drops then those officials are faced with a choice, continue with a project that grows unpopular with the voters or tell the IOC no thank and give it up. Sure it'd be a stain between Sweden and the IOC but elections have shown that politicians that push forward projects that are not popular with the public at large have recently been pounded at the ballot box, but as I said before, this is all hypothetical.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1079909/anoc-world-beach-games-to-be-relocated-from-san-diego San Diego relinquishes hosting rights after they couldn't come up the funds for the event, despite having significantly reduced the size of the games. Looks like they will go back to Asia, probably to somewhere in China, maybe Dubai. I'd wager it will be in China. They will have no problem overspending and putting on a show. Same for Dubai.

Good points but in terms of the reforms that have been put into place (Agenda 2020 or the New Norm) is there has yet to be an Olympics that successfully stays within its budget using the aforementioned reforms and until that happens those No Olympics groups are going to continue to keep traction. So it's really a catch-22. The IOC says they've reformed but there needs to be an actual Olympics that has taken place that shows this. Los Angeles appears to fit this the best with Paris a close second. If the IOC selects Stockholm for 2026 then I think they have a good foundation in place. I'd add Pyeongchang to the list over reckless over spending as well (the sliding track has been mothballed, three ice arenas and the alpine course face demolition by the end of the year if no one comes forward to foot the bill for running them). Tokyo's budget has ballooned and while they've made some cost cutting moves they hav not gone far enough and I attribute this to the influence that respective sporting federations still hold (remember when the UCI demanded Rio demolish the newly built Barre Velodrome that had just been built for the Pan Ams?) The UCI was in an uproar when Tokyo changed to the new velodrome outside of Tokyo rather than build a completely new one yet Tokyo bucked to the demands of FIVB when they decided to go ahead and build the Ariake Arena when the Yokohama Arena would have done just fine. So in addition to the IOC's reforms, a host city really needs to come forward and flat out tell the respective sports federations NO when it comes to building expensive venues that do not have a defined purpose after the Olympics. Case in point and this is purely hypothetical, Los Angeles only has one permanent venue to build, the slalom canoe course. I don't know how much use the course would get post-Olympics so could the organizing committee tell the ICF no and insist on using an existing whitewater course already built in the U.S.

Christophe Dubi said hosting the Olympics in Calgary would cost nothing (it's not the first time he's had speaking gaffes and if the IOC was smart they'd keep him as far from a microphone as possible). While the targeted approach makes some sense, I still think if the IOC wants Australia (and I think they do as the media market is simply too large not to go back to) they are aiming at the wrong city. A Brisbane bid would be far too costly with too many unused venues (Brisbane does not need another 600,000+ stadium). I've said it before that Melbourne is their best most cost-effective option. Yes I am aware of the weather issue, but if the IOC is willing to bend the bidding rules they can bend the time frame for a few weeks. This Australia not Qatar. Australia has the media market to make it work.

Bach is still living in fantasy land. The IOC is breathing a sigh of relief at the 2026 race, at least for now. I could still see Stockholm going with a referendum given the tepid support at best there. And Milan is not the cost-savings effective model it's claimed to be. There was a good reason Turin was in the original plans. Turin had the ice hockey arenas and the speed skating oval while Milan has none of those. Sure they will get built but will they see regular use or will they whither away as white elephants as the Pyeongchang arenas have? That's more likely. Interesting that the IOC practically has avoided anything associated with Pyeongchang's legacy (the sliding track has been mothballed, one ice hockey arena and the speed skating oval ace demolition) and no one may ever know what Rio's true costs were.

55% is fairly tepid support (wasn't Oslo's similar?) There was a no Olympics faction in Stockholm as well. They were saying Calgary would be a better option. How long before that group becomes active again? There's a lot to like about the Stockholm bid for the IOC, but playing the what if card here, what if Stockholm is awarded the games and a referendum gets called and Stockholm suffers the same fate as Denver did in 1976? Does the IOC then figure we gives the 2026 WOGs to Milan (while I think their support is higher than Stockholm's I highly doubt it is as high as 85%)

I know the topic comes up from time to time about a SOGs in the Middle East. One of my students chose to do for her end of semester project a SOGs bid a UAE 2032 bid with Dubai and Abu Dhabi. She came up with a proposal including venue plans, infrastructure improvements, and a theme and logo. She had to present it before a panel who acted as IOC members. I've included the venue plan below. She proposed hosting the Olympics in October (always problematic) with largely existing and planned venues. The centerpiece of the bid was the proposed Dubai Olympic City which would be built near the site of the current Hamdan Sports Complex. This was also the site of the proposed Olympic Village while the MPC and IBC would be located at the Dubai 2020 Expo site. Other transportation improvements included two additional lines in the Dubai Metro, the often discussed and delayed Abu Dhabi Metro, and a bullet train connecting Dubai with Abu Dhabi. I've included the venue plan below. She borrowed heavily from the Los Angeles and Paris bid plans. Ceremonies – Opening Mohammed Bin Rashid Stadium - Dubai Olympic City 70,000 Ceremonies – Closing Zayed Sports City Stadium 60,000 Archery Zayed Sports City - soccer fields 6,000 Athletics Zayed Sports City Stadium 60,000 Athletics – marathon Madinat Jumeirah Varies Badminton Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Hall - Dubai Olympic City 7,000 Basketball Dubai Arena 18,000 Basketball 3x3 Dubai Tennis Stadium 5,000 Beach volleyball Jumeirah Beach 10,000 Boxing Al Maktoum Stadium (temporary roof) 15,000 Canoeing – slalom Al Ain Whitewater Park 10,000 Canoeing – sprint Dubai Creek 20,000 Cricket Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium 21,000 Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium 20,000 Cycling – BMX BMX Dubai - Dubai Olympic City 5,000 Cycling - mountain Fujairah 3,000 Cycling – road Dubai City Walk Varies Cycling – track Dubai Velodrome - Dubai Olympic City 10,000 Diving Dubai Olympic City Aquatic Centre (temporary, pool to be relocated to American University of Sharjah) 15,000 Equestrian Emirates Equestrian Centre 20,000 Fencing Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre 6,000 Field hockey Dubai Sports Club Stadium 12,000/5,000 Golf The Els Club Dubai Sports City 20,000 Gymnastics – artistic Yas Arena 18,000 Gymnastics – rhythmic Yas Arena 18,000 Gymnastics – trampoline Yas Arena 18,000 Judo Mubadala Arena 5,000 Modern pentathlon Al Ahli Sports Club 10,000/5,000 Rowing Dubai Creek 20,000 Rugby Dubai Sevens Stadium 50,000 Sailing Dubai International Marine Club 5,000 Shooting Al Ahli Sports Club 4,000 Skateboarding X-Dubai Skate Park Kite Beach 5,000 Soccer Mohammad Bin Rashid Stadium - Dubai Olympic City 70,000 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium 45,000 Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium 22,000 Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex 30,000 Bahrain National Stadium 45,000 Khalifa International Stadium 48,000 Sport climbing Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre 6,000 Surfing Dubai Sunset Beach 5,000 Swimming Dubai Olympic City Aquatic Centre 15,000 Swimming – marathon Yas Marina 5,000 Synchronized swimming Dubai Olympic City Aquatic Centre 15,000 Table tennis Dubai World Trade Centre 6,000 Taekwondo Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre 6,000 Team handball Yas Arena 18,000 Dubai World Trade Centre Arena 10,000 Tennis Zayed Sports City Tennis Stadium 10,000 Triathlon Yas Marina 5,000 Volleyball Hamdan Sports Centre 15,000 Water polo Dubai Sports City Aquatic Centre (permanent) 4,000 Weightlifting Dubai World Trade Centre 6,000 Wrestling Mudabala Arena 5,000