Better quality bids this time?

[dronkula]

Just out of interest....

As the competition for 2012 has been so, well, competitive this time, do people think that actually it's meant that all 5 final bidding cities have had to 'up their game' and have all produced better bids than previous years?

Or, look at it another way, if these 5 bids have happened 4 years ago, would 2008 have gone somewhere else or is the Beijing bid still the best one around?

What do people think?  I didn't pay that much attention to the 2008 bids.

[SOlympiadsW]

I am sure these five bids would stack up against the other final bids of 2008 as just as good (I am sure some may be a little better/worse).......but from what I understand is that 2008 was destined for Beijing (just as 2012 seems to be for Paris)....so I guess they would have all lost (at least we know Paris would have lol)....

[Kenadian]

I don't think you can fairly compare bids like that.  Things change.  Four years ago, Beijing, Toronto and Paris didn't have to contend as much with the idea of security and terrorism because 9/11 was still 3 months away (it was still there, but not as paramount).  And the candidates before 1994 didn't have to put as much focus on the environment.  The IOC loved that element of the Lillehammer Games so much that they included it in their requirements.

Generally, the bids get better because they learn from the bids of the past, but a city ultimately has to make due with what they've got available to them as far as venues and resources.  And of course things always change.

[English Kev]

I think it was Juan Samaranch that left a building in Birmingham to be met outside by schoolchildren that grabbed his hands and led him away from the building as music played . The only thing missing was Mary Poppins or Hitler. I nearly vomited and by the look on his face so did he .

I remember the disappointed crowd in Manchester as they watched the result on big video screens . As for the details of the Birmingham and Manchester bids , I don't recall anything .

[baron-pierreIV]

I nearly vomited and by the look on his face so did he .

So you're still holding all that bile in these 4 years?    :laughlong:

[English Kev]

I nearly vomited and by the look on his face so did he .

So you're still holding all that bile in these 4 years?    :laughlong:

Only for over-groomed grown adult men on rollerblades with crystals around their necks in california . Your Austrian governor sorted out your electricity problems yet ?

[baron-pierreIV]

I nearly vomited and by the look on his face so did he .

So you're still holding all that bile in these 4 years?    :laughlong:

Only for over-groomed grown adult men on rollerblades with crystals around their necks in california . Your Austrian governor sorted out your electricity problems yet ?

Far ahead of your German monarchy's hold on your lives.

[its a bid of magic]

I remember both of Manchester's failed bids.  Mr Bob Taylor, did try to keep up our morale, but I think we all knew, that only the Capital of our Country would get awarded an Olympic Games.

Still at least we got the Commonwealth Games as a consolation prize, and more than justified this.

I don't think the competition will ever be this strong again for an Olympic Bid.  5 Major Global Cities, all contesting sports ultimate accolade.  The unique, undeniable honour to host The Olympic Games.

[LuigiVercotti]

The current batch of bidding cities is certainly one of the best ever, and arguably the most proficiently and scrupulously policed and reported. If you go as far back as the 92 race, aside from Barcelona and Paris the other contenders were regional cities with bad to just-good-enough bids. The 96 race was obviously dominated by the Athens versus Atlanta competition, and whilst Melbourne and Toronto were arguably technically superior to Athens, not one of those four bids or the others from Manchester or Belgrade would have found a place in the current batch.

The 2000 race may have seen Sydney as the only city that could have presented a bid along the same standards etc as seen for 2012 (and considering the London 2012 bid has called upon so many ex-SOCOG folk, plus the technical evaluation team from the IOC has SOCOG members on its reporting team, then this supports my hypothesis), with Beijing and Berlin less likely even though they are world class cities (their bids were too weak technically and/or politically). Istanbul and Manchester again couldn't have got a guernsey in a 2012 candidature.

As for 2004 and 2008, the likes of Cape Town, Istanbul, San Juan, Lille, Havana, St Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Rio, Seville, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpar would never have gotten close to getting to the same stage the final five are at now for 2012. Perhaps Rome and Athens would have struggled in, but Beijing and Toronto would easily have lined up for a 2012 race.

So, perhaps we could have seen Sydney, Beijing, Toronto and Rome up against the final five next week, if the merit of previous bids were contextualised within the current race.

[English Kev]

I nearly vomited and by the look on his face so did he .

So you're still holding all that bile in these 4 years?    :laughlong:

Only for over-groomed grown adult men on rollerblades with crystals around their necks in california . Your Austrian governor sorted out your electricity problems yet ?

Far ahead of your German monarchy's hold on your lives.

Bit rich coming from someone that has my language instead of their own ! lol !

[English Kev]

I remember both of Manchester's failed bids.  Mr Bob Taylor, did try to keep up our morale, but I think we all knew, that only the Capital of our Country would get awarded an Olympic Games.

Still at least we got the Commonwealth Games as a consolation prize, and more than justified this.

I don't think the competition will ever be this strong again for an Olympic Bid.  5 Major Global Cities, all contesting sports ultimate accolade.  The unique, undeniable honour to host The Olympic Games.

I never understood why Manchester didn't get the olympics . That city gave birth to the industrial revolution and they held a great mini-olympics in the form of The Commonwealth Games .It is on the doorstep of beautiful countryside too .

The IOC made it clear that they would only contemplate a bid from London and were indeed anxious for one . They couldn't contain their pleasure at receiving a bid from London and expressed how long they had waited for it . I think they could have made their views known before they let Manchester bid twice .

Perhaps it is our own fault for being so London-centric . It seems we've become a one-city country in the eyes of the world .Having said that , our cities are usually ugly monsters and perhaps Manchester was too industrial and  ' grim up north ' . Thankfully we have attractive towns and pretty villages .