In less than 24 hours the IOC makes its decision on who will host the 2008 Summer Games. At their final news conferences, all five bid cities tried to portray themselves as being worthy to host the Games.
Paris promised a telegenic Olympics in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower; Toronto is an athlete’s bid with sporting venues along its waterfront. Osaka and Istanbul say they’re still in the running despite doubts expressed by Olympic inspectors.
Paris is relying on its natural charm and beauty to capture IOC votes. It has shrugged off suggestions that Beijing was gaining ground. Paris 2008 director-general Noel de Saint Pulgent said, “we don’t mind if we are the favourites or not. We’re serene because we did what we had to do”.
Asked whether Toronto’s campaign would have been helped by personal visits from IOC members, bid leader John Bitove said, “everyone’s been to Paris and a lot of people have been to Beijing. That fact that we are Canadian means that we have to work harder”.
A journalist from China in Toronto to check out the competition, said that Beijing is concerned about the technical aspect of Toronto’s bid.
And an article in China’s People’s Daily that talks about Beijing’s “toughest challenge from Toronto and Paris”, says that “Toronto has oozed confidence to win the most coveted sporting prize as they turned on their charm and used every occasion to promote its athlete-oriented bid”.
The newspaper also said that Paris also exuded confidence to take the win-or-lose race, stressing that it is a city which can live up to the commitments.
Meanwhile members of the “Support Tour for Osaka’s Bid” will take part in a pep rally Thursday evening in Moscow to be attended by more than 300 people including members of the tour, local supporters in Moscow, members of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Kansai Economic Federation and others.
There will also be a “Hear our passion! 2008 Olympics Host City Decision Pep Rally” on Friday at 10:00 p.m. in Osaka where live coverage of the host city decision announcement is planned to be broadcast.
In Moscow, Japanese officials tried in vain to attract attention to their campaign claims that Osaka would provide a sporting paradise and a worry-free Games. Mayor Takafumi Isomura said, “because of the policy not to visit, I wonder whether IOC members truly understand the strengths of Osaka”.
Istanbul is still hoping to pull off a win. Istanbul’s bid director-general Yalcin Aksoy said, “have you ever seen an athlete entering a competition with the attitude that he’s going to lose? That’s not sport. We’re hear to compete and I’m optimistic”.
Aksoy’s words were drowned out by the crush of journalists around smiling Beijing bid officials and by Canadian athletes united in a loud chorus of “Toronto, Toronto” at the IOC conference center.
Most of the attention has been focused on Beijing, and Thursday’s news conference was one of the last hurdles for Chinese officials keen to avoid any mistakes that could turn IOC sentiment against them. The reponses to tricky questions were delivered in fluent English by relaxed officials who never came close to losing their cool. They complimented reporters on their questions and smiled almost constantly.
And who will be the winner? In less than 24 hours we’ll all know.
