Dick Pound, a Montreal tax lawyer who also happens to be the vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was interviewed in Toronto recently and said that Beijing has much in its favour to win the 2008 Olympic bid.
Pound said Beijing is a capital city, a big city, part of the biggest country in the world and China has never had the Olympic Games.
But China is considered high risk; human rights concerns continue to exist, as does tension with Taiwan. That’s what cost China a chance to stage the 2000 Olympics being held in Sydney.
Also, Pound said the IOC might be reluctant to award a high-risk Games immediately following Athens in 2004, an Olympics which is also considered high risk.
Toronto, on the other hand, would be considered no risk by the IOC. Pound said “I think any member of the IOC would be totally satisfied that Toronto can organize an excellent Games. It then becomes a question of whether there are other cities and countries that haven’t had the Games as often. In macro terms, in geopolitical terms, that’s probably our biggest hurdle. It’s not insurmountable by any means. (But) you’re coming back to a country that has 30 million people for the third time in three decades. That’s a lot of Olympic Games for any country, even the United States”.
