Kenadian

It looks like the Death Star caught in a whisk. Or an onion.

Came across this article (in French) from around the time of the 40th anniversary of the Montreal Olympics: http://www.quartierhochelaga.com/40-ans-jeux-olympiques/ ...and it included this interesting image of an early concept from 1971 for the Olympic Stadium and surrounding area.

Yeah, I think all these things are contributing factors to a much quieter forum. I was much more active before 2010, of course, because I was living in a (once) future Olympic host city and some of the competitions in that decade were heated affairs. Indeed, Olympic bidding from the 1992 Games onward to the 2020 Games was a pretty interesting time. But the next 10+ years look like a repeat of the 1970s and early 1980s.

So with 2024 off to Paris and 2028 heading for Los Angeles, there's basically 8 years before another bid cycle for the Summer Games. There's always something to discuss, but it got me thinking...What's the future for the central topic of GB and the Forums?

Nearly everyone in every Olympic city says "traffic will be terrible!" and then they're proven wrong. Having lived through the Olympics in my backyard (Vancouver in 2010), those 2 weeks were the easiest weeks for driving ever. LOL! Foot traffic, sidewalks, and plazas were very busy though.

It gets lit often. They spark it up for USC football games at the stadium, for example.

Do you think LA will reuse cauldron from the 1932 and 1984 Games?

My first time back to Gamesbids in a long time and I read this. "OMG! WTF?" I say to myself...then check the date stamp. Well played, GB. Well played.

So what's going on with China? Their medal haul doesn't seem to be up to snuff with what it has been for the past few Olympiads. At this stage (Wednesday of the Week 2), they are only one medal ahead of Britain (51-50), who have clearly benefited from London 2012. And they are well behind Team USA. Just a bad year? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/17/worst-olympic-flop-chinese-media-rio-medal-haul

I find this cauldron beautiful and disappointing all at the same time.

The cauldron lighter was attacked during the 2004 marathon. He had been leading. Ended up with the bronze. Kind of a nice vindication.

Yeah...CBC really botched the cultural opening, presenting instead the Games of the XXXI Commercialads.

This has to be the fastest moving parade in history.

Given the number of young, attractive, diverse, and athletic people that were chosen for the Almaty presentation videos, it is pretty clear that they are trying to shake off the unfortunate Borat brand that has been applied to Kazakhstan. Sure, adding SBC to the presentation might attract some entertainment press, a few frat boy giggles, and another question or two from Prince Albert, but I don't think the IOC would have appreciated it.

This was a pretty stinky race. In the end, I was hoping for Almaty, but not wholeheartedly. Part of that was simply because I never felt that Beijing was truly deserving to be the first city to host both sets of games. It is just too soon after Summer 2008 and the city just doesn't strike me as a winter sports destination. I would have preferred Munich or Stockholm (or even Montreal or Helsinki) to have that honour because of the length between hosting, but it is not to be. I must also state that I have no qualms about a Winter Games in China. Just wish it could have been a city other than Beijing.