India will bid for 2016 Olympics

[Mainad]

I agree that only one 'new frontier' stands a chance of getting onto the shortlist - Tokyo, Rome, Madrid and New York already take four of the the five (all these cities surely will be awarded places even if the European bids have a more difficult chance of ultimate success) and the IOC is unlikely to increase the number of shortlisted cities - it takes all day as it is!

I think that between Rio, Cape Town and Delhi it's difficult to separate, I can see all three of them holding a Summer Olympics soon, but it would be a huge advantage to reach the shortlist for 2016.

Rio is a more likely choice for the 2016 line-up than Delhi.

The only real question mark is if,as expected,Brazil gets the 2014 Fifa World Cup,will the country be able to handle hosting the two biggest sporting events in the world within a space of two years of each other?

I don't expect Delhi to be shortlisted for 2016 but,with a successful CWG in 2010 under its belt,it would stand a much better chance for 2020 as would Cape Town.

I also expect Moscow to throw its hand in again if Sochi fails to land 2014.It could easily fight off one of the other four cities,probably Rio,Rome or Madrid to make the final shortlist. We could easily end up with a 2016 race that would rival 2012 for glamour and excitement.And those who expect it to be a shoo-in for New York could end up being as surprised as supporters of Paris 2012!

[Stu]

I agree that only one 'new frontier' stands a chance of getting onto the shortlist - Tokyo, Rome, Madrid and New York already take four of the the five (all these cities surely will be awarded places even if the European bids have a more difficult chance of ultimate success) and the IOC is unlikely to increase the number of shortlisted cities - it takes all day as it is!

I think that between Rio, Cape Town and Delhi it's difficult to separate, I can see all three of them holding a Summer Olympics soon, but it would be a huge advantage to reach the shortlist for 2016.

Rio is a more likely choice for the 2016 line-up than Delhi.

The only real question mark is if,as expected,Brazil gets the 2014 Fifa World Cup,will the country be able to handle hosting the two biggest sporting events in the world within a space of two years of each other?

I don't expect Delhi to be shortlisted for 2016 but,with a successful CWG in 2010 under its belt,it would stand a much better chance for 2020 as would Cape Town.

I also expect Moscow to throw its hand in again if Sochi fails to land 2014.It could easily fight off one of the other four cities,probably Rio,Rome or Madrid to make the final shortlist. We could easily end up with a 2016 race that would rival 2012 for glamour and excitement.And those who expect it to be a shoo-in for New York could end up being as surprised as supporters of Paris 2012!

One way that the IOC can make life a little easier on themselves would be to award the 2014 Winter Games to Sochi - rewarding a great Olympic nation without risking the main event by eliminating the chances of a Moscow bid.

I think that there is little to choose between Rio, Cape Town and Delhi at the moment - all three are about to host other major tournaments and Brazil, and particularly India have phenomenal economic growth rates lately - India is the new China....but with democracy - this could be a very attractive prospect for the IOC in future host city contests.

[Sir Rols]

Rio is a more likely choice for the 2016 line-up than Delhi.

The only real question mark is if,as expected,Brazil gets the 2014 Fifa World Cup,will the country be able to handle hosting the two biggest sporting events in the world within a space of two years of each other?

Is it really such a hindrance? For a start, one would imagine that with the 2007 Pan-Ams behind it, Rio would have at least a good proportion of the sporting infrastructure needed for an Olympics under its belt. WC 2014 would only strengthen this _ one would think that the FIFA event would mean that Maracana Stadium would have had its refurbishment completed to probably host the final.

A 2014 WC would also mean that there would already be existing sites/structures in existence for the Olympics Media Centre and IBC. If Rio won a 2016 bid, then, and had a lot of the sports-related spending taken care of, the main spending it would then need to do would be of the type that would also be justifiable as "social capital" _ an athlete's village (always a good way to justify a housing or residential area project) and possibly transport (which don't really get added to the strict "games" budget anyway). The way I see it, rather than be a hindrance, the timing could indeed be a fortuitous coming together of events for Brazil _ it's best chance ever, and an Olympic hosting more justifiable than most as being of benefit for the population at large (and that has been the main drawback to any Brazilian Olympic ambitions to date).

And anyway, as Mexico 1968-1970, Munich 1972-Germany 1974, Spain 1982-Barcelona 1992 and USA 1994-Atlanta 1996 showed, World Cup and Olympic hostings have never really negated each other in practice in the past.

India, I don't think, would get the same benefits for a 2016 bid from its 2010 Commonwealth Games _ as I said before, for a start the vote will be in 2009, a year before it could use the CWGs to prove its ability.

[Sir Rols]

I agree that only one 'new frontier' stands a chance of getting onto the shortlist - Tokyo, Rome, Madrid and New York already take four of the the five (all these cities surely will be awarded places even if the European bids have a more difficult chance of ultimate success) and the IOC is unlikely to increase the number of shortlisted cities - it takes all day as it is!

Don't forget a short list of five is not set in stone. It could well go beyond five (with 2012, each round took, what, about 20-30 miuntes? A round or two more isn't going to make the burden too much more cumbersome) or it could go for as little as two (as it did for 2006). The IOC executive board also doesn't have to list its criteria for who makes the short list _ it may well decide not to go further with a "rich" bid or two if it wanted to encourage "new frontiers" _ something the likes of Rogge and Pound have gone on record as being in favour of.

[Sir Rols]

SOme interesting comments from India's spiorts minister:

By N.Ananthanarayanan

NEW DELHI, April 10 Reuters - India need to re-draw sports promotion plans and stamp out doping if they hope to become a serious medal contender at major championships, according to the nation's sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.

India's success at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne showed there was a dire need for a revamp.

``There is something skewed about our achievement,'' he said in an interview. ``Three-quarters of the medals are from a single discipline, shooting.''

``The way in which the whole social sector is skewed in favour of the urban elite, that is responsible for our poor performance.''

India won 22 gold medals in a 50-medal tally spread across seven of the 10 disciplines they entered to finish fourth in the overall medals table.

Sixteen of the gold medals came in shooting, three others were won by their weightlifters.

``We need to look at the entire strategy of building up an adequate number of disciplines to be able to match our performance to our size and population,'' he said.

Billion-strong India has been dubbed a ``one-medal nation'' after managing a solitary medal each in the last three Olympics.

However, with the Indian economy booming, sports officials want to stage major events to rival their neighbour China, who will stage the 2008 Olympics.

New Delhi is the venue for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and is in the race for the 2014 Asian Games and the 2016 Olympics.

Aiyar criticised millions of dollars being poured to raise infrastructure for the 2010 Games.

``It is a very odd system of priorities that spending gargantuan sums of money on stadia in the capital constitute a contribution to sports while the whole of our countryside remains neglected.''

``Younger India constitutes the world's largest resource of youth power; 400 million young boys and girls.

``The net has been spread so narrow that we have only 10,000 talented sportsmen trained by the Sports Authority of India (SAI),'' he said, referring to the government body.

``So long as it is the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games that inspires us rather than a genuine empathy with the vast number of Indian boys and girls, you will just never get any kind of exposure to any kind of sport.''

Aiyar said he planned to initiate a programme to tap talent in rural areas and from urban slums.

He said stringent steps would be taken to root out doping in Indian sports.

``As the government, I would say it is essential to stamp out doping altogether,'' he said.

Indian lifters were involved in doping scandals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and in Melbourne, where two male lifters tested positive for anabolic steroid Stanozolol.

A doping laboratory in Delhi was close to being accredited by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which would add teeth to steps being taken against drug cheats, he said.

``It's a question of ensuring we have adequate testing facilities and are being very disciplinarian.''

Reuters

[Guardian]

Well, if that news piece about India's preparations for the 2010 CG is true, then I don't see an Olympic Games coming to the country anytime soon.

[Rafa]

technically.

cape town rio and delhi..who would scored the highest ?

in 1997 cape town with basically  no facilities shortlisted and rio did not, rio failed to shortlist again for the 2012 games...i doubt if KL didnt shortlist that delhi would shorlist...ah maybe ill just use the same scoring system as the IOC and see what i end up with...except im not that clued up on delhi...