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Your top 5 Olympics that never were


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Ok - just had this thought and decided to float this thread.

We've had threads before about "Which previous Olympics would you have most liked to have attended" so what about "Which failed Olympic Games bid would you have most liked to have attended, had it come to fruition?"

For me:

-Melbourne 1996. Call it hometown bias, but this would have been an amazing, compact Olympics with great energy. Sure, it would have meant no Sydney 2000, but it would have been a fantastic follow up to Barcelona and provided a very dignified and majestic Centennial Olympic Games - in a previous host city (and where better than the city with the largest Greek diaspora?).

-Paris 1992. If this had happened, I dare say it would have been as iconic, if not more, than Barcelona's effort. A truly brash, European affair in the French capital. Imagine all that early 90s French fashion going about too. Would have been marvellous.

-Athens 1996. For obvious reasons. I really want to know if they could have actually pulled it off.

-Detroit 1968. Not too hard to imagine - the Olympics in middle America. I think it would have been an iconic Olympic Games, at the height of a highly political period in American history. Even more so the following decline of Detroit would have made these Games a bit like Sarajevo in retrospect. Perhaps it would have pushed Detroit over the edge like Montreal? Or maybe it would have been its saving grace?

-Istanbul 2020. ;) (See Athens 1996)

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Detroit 1968? How come? The 60s axe has been one of the most interesting in Olympic history: Rome-Tokyo-Mexico City. Detroit could have done it back in 1932 or 1984 when there was only a bidder, and still not so appealing.

Actually I wonder how Buenos Aires'56 could have been.

I agree with Athens'96.

Cape Town 2004, New York 2012 and Istanbul 2020 are also a total enigma for me.

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Yeah, as much as I'm glad Oz got the 1956 hosting, Buenos Aires '56 would have ben an intriguing host.

Alexandria 1920 - we would have got that damned continent ticked off early!

Ostersund 1994 - I think it could well have matched Lillehammer. Of course I'm biased.

Edited by Sir Rols
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Detroit 1968? How come? The 60s axe has been one of the most interesting in Olympic history: Rome-Tokyo-Mexico City. Detroit could have done it back in 1932 or 1984 when there was only a bidder, and still not so appealing.

For the reasons I've already stated - but also because it was an American city it would have reshaped Olympic history in a big way (possibly no LA84 (but maybe LA96?), and maybe Moscow 76 as the IOC wouldn't have had to go to MTL as a tie-breaker).

Back then Detroit would have made sense.

mainstadium.jpg

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Brisbane 1992- Hometown plus probably won't host the games until the later half of the century maybe not even then!

Melbourne 1996- Australian games, probably would have hosted very well.

Athens 1996- Like runningrings, to see if they could pull it off. Also to see how they would celebrate 100 years.

Paris 2012- No hatred to London, but would love to have seen Paris host the games.

Cape Town 2004- Just to see how Africa would go with there first games.

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Yeah, as much as I'm glad Oz got the 1956 hosting, Buenos Aires '56 would have ben an intriguing host.

Alexandria 1920 - we would have got that damned continent ticked off early!

Ostersund 1994 - I think it could well have matched Lillehammer. Of course I'm biased.

Yeah, as much as I'm glad Oz got the 1956 hosting, Buenos Aires '56 would have ben an intriguing host.

Alexandria 1920 - we would have got that damned continent ticked off early!

Ostersund 1994 - I think it could well have matched Lillehammer. Of course I'm biased.

BA56 makes me instantly think we could have really ended up with something like Melbourne 1972 or Sydney 1988.

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For the reasons I've already stated - but also because it was an American city it would have reshaped Olympic history in a big way (possibly no LA84 (but maybe LA96?), and maybe Moscow 76 as the IOC wouldn't have had to go to MTL as a tie-breaker).

Back then Detroit would have made sense.

mainstadium.jpg

Still Rome, Tokyo and Mexico City represented the glorious past of three great civilisations hosting the biggest event in their own capitals. Then, why not Detroit'56? After all, Melbourne and Detroit are both just middle cities.

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Rome 2004

Paris 2012

Salzburg 2014

Chicago 2016

Istanbul 2020

Alexandria 1920 - we would have got that damned continent ticked off early!

By now, it would've been time for another damn Games there. And this time, in Sub-Saharan Africa! :-P

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For the reasons I've already stated - but also because it was an American city it would have reshaped Olympic history in a big way (possibly no LA84 (but maybe LA96?), and maybe Moscow 76 as the IOC wouldn't have had to go to MTL as a tie-breaker).

Back then Detroit would have made sense.

mainstadium.jpg

1968 - yes Detroit, America right on top of the world...but this was a year of massive social unrest, massive riots?

1984 - Teheran...cause it would have been funny! Also the Shar may not have fallen.

1996 - Athens, like it was supposed to be.

2000 - Beijing, opening up China sooner could've prevented GFC...Sydney would've got 2004.

2012 - New York, just to get America out of the way

Edited by Alexjc
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1968 - yes Detroit, America right on top of the world...but this was a year of massive social unrest, massive riots?

Thats why I included it. The Black Power salute would have been even more iconic in Detroit.

1984 - Teheran...cause it would have been funny!

You know what though, I think that they probably would have done quite a reasonable job... in an authoritarian kind of way. Would have been an interesting Games.

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I imagine Corona Park/Flushing Meadows would look a bit different today.

That said - I've always imagined that the 1932 Olympics would have made sense in NYC. Not hard to picture some gigantic art deco stadium in Queens hosting the Olympics during the depression, and NYC's construction boom.

The 84 Olympics make sense in LA - the flamboyance and decadence of the decade suits California.

Anyone else think that the Nanjing Olympic Stadium (built 2002) gives you an impression of what the a Beijing 2000 Stadium may have looked like? It looks like a Chinese Stadium Australia.

xin_04070213074280826771.jpg

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Alternate Time Line 1

  • Barcelona 1936
  • Los Angeles 1948
  • Mexico City 1956
  • Tokyo 1960
  • Vienna 1964
  • Detroit 1968
  • Madrid 1972
  • Moscow 1976
  • Melbourne 1980
  • Seoul 1984
  • Montreal 1988
  • Paris 1992
  • Athens 1996
  • Beijing 2000
  • Cape Town 2004
  • New York City 2008 (just for that 9/11 shocker a few weeks later)
  • London 2012
  • Tokyo 2016
  • Istanbul 2020

General wants:

  • Detroit 1968
  • Paris 1992
  • Melbourne 1996
  • Athens 1996
  • Manchester 2000
  • Berlin 2000
  • Rome 2004
  • Cape Town 2004
  • Toronto 2008
  • NYC 2012
  • Moscow 2012
  • Chicago 2016
  • Madrid 2020
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Sorry I did not follow the five rule. I just had so many.

Below is a model of Detroit '68 stadium, I think it shows how truly massive it would have been (and characteristically motor city/post war America as the base is a massive parking garage). I think a modern stadium like this would hold so many ceremonial opportunities...Baron would go crazy with the opportunities.

DOlympicStadProposal63.jpg

434.jpg

Some of the stadiums had very whimsical designs:

main-stadium.jpg

That was the Velodrome

Finally, compare that with Portlands '68 domestic bid:

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I agree about Melbourne. It would have been a fitting tribute to the Centennial when Athens could not host due to our huge Greek population, as well as multicultural society. Not to mention, venues proposed to have been built would have made the city look far different to what it is today. The Melbourne Exhibition Centre being in the site of what is now Melbourne Museum is an example.

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I agree about Melbourne. It would have been a fitting tribute to the Centennial when Athens could not host due to our huge Greek population, as well as multicultural society. Not to mention, venues proposed to have been built would have made the city look far different to what it is today. The Melbourne Exhibition Centre being in the site of what is now Melbourne Museum is an example.

I thought it was the other way around? Due to losing 1996 didn't the new Museum project get moved from the Exhibition/Convention Centre site to Fitzroy?

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What I meant was that had Melbourne won 1996, The Melbourne Museum would have been elsewhere and the Exhibition Centre would have been right next to the Royal Exhibition Building. This is just one example of how Melbourne would look different if it had hosted the 1996 Games.


1968 - yes Detroit, America right on top of the world...but this was a year of massive social unrest, massive riots?

1984 - Teheran...cause it would have been funny! Also the Shar may not have fallen.

1996 - Athens, like it was supposed to be.

2000 - Beijing, opening up China sooner could've prevented GFC...Sydney would've got 2004.

2012 - New York, just to get America out of the way

Wrong. Melbourne would have bid again for 2004, as a last minute ditch effort. Even if Sydney proposed a plan which included venues built since the 2000 bid, Melbourne was always the choice to bid one last time.

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LA 1976

Tokyo 1992 (Some may have been rumoured about the flawed bid that never got to send to the IOC)

Athens 1996

San Juan 2004 (Really?! What about Hurricane Jeanne that same year?)

Tokyo 2016 (Fallen in love with the city in the same level as a female anime character, but ended up in the flops!)

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Surprised no one has mentioned the one Olympics that truly needed to change. 2014. Salzburg or Pyeongchang would have put a lot of the current issues to rest.

Toronto 1996 is probably the top of my list, especially since I feel 1976 should have gone elsewhere.

Berlin 2000 would have also been very interesting.

Paris 2012 for obvious reasons.

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