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After 3 OGs in Asia, I think the IOC would view Vancouver 2030 and SLC 2034 much more favourably. Better time zone for broadcasting, deeper pockets for sponsorships, a lot of existing venues in place. Dunno about Utah, but the Lower Mainland could definitely do with some additional housing stock: UBC, SFU, perhaps the North Shore.

They'll announce something Thursday or Friday. But think they should be banned from Rio entirely.

I love Budapest. In fact, I'm going back again in June. Marvellous city; lots of hawt men too (but too much smoking). Even if Budapest has a decent plan, Orban is reviled by traditional, Western European elites. His being evolved will kill their chances, like Erdogan did for Istanbul.

Toronto needs to grab the puck and go for it. Everything is converging. There's a public bounce in support, all levels of government are sharing in the glow of Pan-Am success and another OG in Canada is politically the opposite of China, Kazakhstan, Turkey or Azerbaijan. No other country does multiculturalism as well as Canada, period.

Ha! They're toast. This gives the IOC reasons to reject them. I expect the IOC will give the Norwegians whatever they want to stay in the bid. With the trade unions now on board, there's little risk for politicians to advocate for the bid.

Reno could totally bid for and win as host. The airport can handle it, there's tons of accommodation already and being back in the mountains would be great.

Man Munich should've fronted....they'd've won this in a walk. Krakow is toast.

I think Krakow is the dark horse here and could come up the middle--depending on the plebescite result. A lot of folks reticent to head to Beijing or Almaty might be willling to consider the deficiencies in the Krakow bid--IF Oslo drops out.

Ceremonies: 9/10. These were excellent: stunning, really. SOCOG got this almost perfect. They lose 1 mark for the scheduling of the victory ceremonies: for the late night events, present the medals live--capture the moment. Look: 8/10. Looked great on TV for the most part and a great contrast in the coastal and mountain clusters. Operations: 7/10. The reports of incomplete and badly completed hotels make for a poor press and spectator experience. But with 20-30% of seats empty, they weren't fully tested for transport, accommodation etc. Sports: 9/10. Figure skating judging marred it, especially the ladies free skate--podium should've been Kim, Kostner and Soldnikova. Sports like short track always have controversies--nothing unusual there. Venues: Looked great and no sense of any major issues. But they should've created the best long track venue while they had the chance. Crowds/Atmosphere: 4/10. Empty seats at almost everything and crowds not nearly as passionate. Legacy: 6/10 Sochi is nice enough to make much of what's been built worth the effort (but not the cost). Depending on the security situation. Overall and general comments: 6/10. Better than I thought, but my expectations were low. Without exception, every Russian official or delegate I encountered in Vancouver was a jerk--or worse. I'm surprised we didn't get stories about volunteer snark. GamesBids Moments: #3, the larch. I anticipate Pyeonchang will rival Lillehammer for best Winter Games ever.

We will know when the eval report comes out, what sort of final race this will be. If there's nothing that derails any of the bids it may well come down to geopolitics and personal relationships. And the impact of the final presentations Which I think was Paris 2012's undoing, as well as Pyeonchang 2014's. Istanbul weak points: Kurds and Syria and ground transport. Madrid weak points: timing (Europe) and economy. Tokyo weak points: economy and natural disaster recovery. Never would've picked London 2012 over Paris and was proven sooo wrong (perhaps the best OSGs ever). Nor Sochi 2014 over Pyeonchang and am still doubtful (technically sound OWGs lacking warmth is my prediction).

My thinking exactly! The relay should be a mechanism to excite and unite BRAZILIANS behind the Games. I vote national relay.

First I have to say I loved the Svend Kramer ad--he was such a jerk in Vancouver, at both the test event and the Games. He even pushed a woman volunteer out of the way when she tried to check his accreditation. Sorry eejit--we don't have 25000 speed skating fans in Vancouver who would recognize you. A few related to Vancouver 2010. First is the more famous "Destiny" ad from Nike, but I actually prefer their other ad, "Force Fate": Very much a Canadian sense of humour. But the one that still makes me cry--the two, in fact--are the ones for the official slogans. "With Glowing Hearts": For anyone who doesn't understand French they're almost identical, word-for-word. They hold a special place for me because I was working at Vanoc when the slogans were launched. Lots of people--including myself--weren't entirely comfortable with using lyrics from our national anthem. But when they showed these clips--and the 4 minute versions of each--200 people were weeping. I have these on my iPhone and they still make me cry. It was such an honour to host the Games in my hometown. It was amazing how the country was transfixed for 2 months (paras included). Words fail me.

On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to apologize. It's bad enough we suffer through Williams every Olympic year: the rest of the world should be spared. BTW Haley Wickenheiser, arguably the greatest woman hockey player of all time, was also named!

I volunteered at the World Cup last weekend! I was already booked for a weekend in Whistler when I found out about the event. I worked one security shift in the podium/finish area, surrounded by too much hawtness. It was women's and the team event that day and I have to say the team event was AWESOME! The uniform was a toque: More photos from Whistler, mostly of the Olympic and Paralympic Plaza dolled up for the holidays, here.