cfm Jeremie

Indeed, from the three bid books we have seen, it seems Athens is the less compact. But then, compactness is not everything (I mean the Athens 2004 Olympics were not more compact and they were successful).

I have to say that I was dubious about the Bird Net. But as it's getting near completion it's growing on me (both from the outside and from the inside - the panels will definitely help fpr shadows). Can't wait to see it all dressed up with the look of the Games.

They would use some of the 2004 venues but most of them are way too large for the YOG. The 2004 Olympic Stadium would be use for the opening ceremony but track & field would be stage in a 10,000-seater stadium under construction (Moscow is planning to do the same: opening in the Olympic Stadium but the events in a mcuh smaller stadium). What I like about Athens plan is the OV on the sea shore (quite close to Marathon). Other than that I am not that excited about Athens proposal. I would much more like to see Debrecen or Singapore hosting.

To be fair, BOCOG has always been very specific about Volunteer applicants needing to understand basic Chinese...

Wait a minute, you mean you can read! The only thing you would have to read then is the YOG Candidate Cities manual that states: the IOC will cover the travel and accommodation costs for all delegations + Olympic Family (not the case at the Olympics) no new venues should be built by a city for hosting the YOG (so there should be no white elephant) there won't be broadcasting rights, the olympic right holders being provided YOG highlights That's for the principles. Now, we shall soon see whether the IOC membership will follow these principles or not. If the IOC choses to go to Debrecen or Singapore then the YOG can be something different than just another olympic mega-event and will be a real opportunity to spread the Olympic Movement to smaller countries/cities. If the IOC goes with Athens, Torino or Moscow then I fear the YOG will rapidly become another mega event that only a few cities in the world can host.

Actually, Baron, if you had made the tiny effort of doing some research before doing your usual moaning/bashing/complaining, you would have learned that the IOC is very unlikely to make any money out of the YOG. It will actually pay for a lot of expenses that are usually in charge of OCOG (athletes travel to the host city + OV stay will be covered by the IOC). For me it's more an effort of Rogge creating a tangible legagcy.

Here it is Moscow YOG 2010 bid book I guess now that Debrecen has opened the way we shall see more.

Thanks for the link Rob. I have actually been very eager to read about Debrecen bid.

According to Olympic protocol, French comes before English (as happened in Atlanta, Sydney and Salt Lake). So all the annoucement should be made in French first followed by English. But the nations should parade in the English alphabetical order.

Your continuous bashing of everything that's not Sydney is getting annoying... What happened to BOCOG would have happened to any other OCOG. Never before in the history of the Olympics have the national market for tickets being so wide! I don't know many systems in the world that could handle 8 million requests at once. BOCOG back-up plan is actually probably the fairest option giving every one the same chance to try to get a ticket. You do have balls talking about Beijing ticketing disaster where we will indeed most likely see one of the highest attendance ever. BTW, you seemed to forget that Sydney also had its own ticket disaster (although it was more a poor PR issue -as acknowledged in the Official Report- since at the end of the day, the Sydney Games took place in front of a full capacity crowd at almost every venue) when the Australian public realised a few months ahead of the Games that a large chunk of tickets were reserved for partners...

I agree that, from what we have heard so far, Debrecen seems to have a quite different but exciting plan (very compact and green: everything within walking or biking distance). Hope we'll get to see their bid book. It would be very fitting to have the first YOG in a country not part of the traditional hosts (I am thinking Athens, Torino and Moscow).

Well, that's the problem with these Ceremonies nutts ...

After the head of the Malaysian Olympic Committee publicly announced it was very reluctantly supporting KL bid, I doubt KL will be shortlisted... On the other hand, I cannot see how Singapore could miss the shortlist.

For the venue capacity, you can consult the IOC Questionnaire which states the minimum capacity. That's were I got the 10,000 figure for track & fields. Your post also confirms that the floating platform does not seem suitable for track & field.

Clearly, Singapore hosting the first YOG would be a great symbol. But I wouldn't count Moscow and Athens out.

Do you know whether the platform is large enough to host a track (from the pictures I have seen, it seems too small but it's difficult to tell)?

And media, Olympic Family officials....

Yea, because boycot will help improving relation between Taiwan and China... It will only ruin the opportunity for some Taiwanese athletes to take part in what could be the greatest competition in their carreer and for what result? And you criticize China for politicising the issue? Talk about hypocrisy... If some athletes do not want to take part, let it be their choice. Taiwan politicians have always worked against their NOC in this whole stupid story. They are as much to blame as Chinese politicians: it takes two people to dance. Besides, as many have said here already, Taiwan could always agree about the request about the flag. If Taiwanese really wanted to display some national flags during the torch relay, they could probably have done so anyway.

Maybe they can temporarly increase the capacity from 6,000 to 10,000...

The requirement for the number of seats for the YOG track and fields stadium is 10,000 minimum. I suspect Singapore should have no problem finding a 10,000-seater athletics stadium (on the other hand, I cannot see how Marina Bay Staidum could host track&fields).

My understanding of the whole story is that the blame lies mainly on some Taiwan politicians who went against the wishes of the Chinese Taipe NOC which was ready to welcome the torch. Another example of politics being more important than people / athletes.

According to the IOC website, 10 cities have participated to the YOG 2010 Candidate Cities seminar in Lausanne. Belgrade has withdrawn its candidature and will focus on 2014 instead. 2010 YOG Candidate Cities in Lausanne

I can assure you that at the present stage, the IOC is much more pleased with Vancouver preparation than they were with Torino at about the same time (not surprising considering that VANOC is the first Winter Games OCOG getting full benefit from the OGKT programme).

I am only talking about the bid phase. I suspect the host city will create a logo. I suspect the idea is to save money. Creating a brand can be expensive (unless it's chosen by public contest a la Madrid).

The IOC has actually instructed the YOG candidate cities not to create a specific logo.