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Was Paris losing the 2012 Olympics bid the biggest upset for a Candidate City in Olympics History?


USAOlympicsFan

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The 2012 Olympics bid was a memorable one no doubt and was especially a close one between Paris and London although Paris held the edge over London and was the favorite and it was strongly believe that Paris would win however in the final round London won by a mere Four point surprising a lot of peoples (including some in it own country). It was a huge loss for Paris as it was widely expected they would win.

So was the 2012 Sumer Olympics Bid the biggest upset of a candidate city who was widely expected to win?

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Don't know if my answer matters...But I'll still answer that one.

And it is that, in the end, it doesnt matter much at all. Yes the shock was huge when it happened (probably comparable to that of an earthquake), but I'm not sure anyone has the right to be disappointed when he / she made so many mistakes. I know some blurry political involvement interfered with the race as well (once again, I'm NOT targeting the British team here), but it's better to start with having nothing to blame yourself with. That can even give you a final advantage. Carefully choosing the people would have helped, people with a broader international awareness, interest for and knowledge of the world. Not franco-french old (and younger) zombies who think going to Corsica is like going abroad. If the most important quality a bid needs to have could be summed up in a word, it is sexy. London was sexy, Paris just wasn't. Looking back at things, one needs to be blind not to see it. And I'm not just talking about Lord Coe here, I'm talking about the whole bid.

I know some of my most chauvinistic compatriots won't share this view and argue that Paris was the best and got robbed. I respect their views. I just don't share them, simply because I don't think it's true.

And in the end as I said, it does't matter much. Being more of a sports fan than a true olympic fan, I spent 2 days when I was 20 in London last year, with a friend and I think I got more fun there than I ever would have in Paris (English guys...cough*cough* :) ).

Past is past! And nothing happens without a reason. Period.

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No. Melbourne won Summer 1956 over Buenos Aires by ONE vote. So that is the BIGGEST upset in Olympic bidding history.

Ah yes and the sluggish preparation in the lead up to the games. Had we swapped with Rome and gotten the 1960 edition, perhaps that might have done us some good. We'd seen what the Italians done and within 4 years gotten our own venues up to scratch, maybe even the MCG look more modern as opposed to just developing the Olympic Stand.

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More seriously, I'd agree with Darcy that Melbourne's win in 1956 was not the biggest upset- if anything, the upset was that the final vote was so close after three earlier voting rounds with Melbourne leads of 5 or 6 votes.


(And even that could hardly be called an upset, given that both the cities eliminated in round 3 were American)

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The biggest upset was Innsbruck winning....errr, hosting Winter 1976. :lol: They were never even in the running until Denver pulled out. So Innsbruck 1976 is the BIGGEST UPSET in Olympic city awards....bar NONE!

- Atlanta over Athens in 1990 (for 1996)

- Paris 1992 being outmaneuvered by the Catalan forces.

- and then Melbourne 1956

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In case it wasn't clear from my words (but I think it was...), I'm joining yall in saying no, Paris 2012 wasn't the biggest upset. For the reasons that were mentioned.

I do not know if there's a defeat that can really be labeled as "the biggest upset", I believe every defeat is painful, no matter what the final margin is. Ask those who got less than 10 votes in the final round if their disappointment wasn't great...

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No. They had a brief period when they had some momentum but nobody expected them to win.

I totally agree. Madrid 2020 was never a huge favorite TBW. So I don't see how it could be an upset at all. Their "high" was really bcuz of their "show" at the Sportsccord, which was obviously blown way outta proportion. Even Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper said that their performance could get them in the race now. But just how much in remained to be seen.

And I really don't get how anyone here can say that they were beaten by a nation that "really messed up". That's just plain hyperbole any way you look at.

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No. Great grand-pappy wanted to revive the Olympic Games for the Paris 1900 Exposition. His colleagues outvoted him in starting it in Athens 1896. If the Athenian businessman Georges Averoff had not fronted the cost of building the Panathinaikos stadium and a few other things, Athens 1896 would never have happened. So 1900 was always reserved for Paris.

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