With 50 days to go before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selects the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games each of the bid cities are letting the IOC know in various ways why it should be elected the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
Ten of the leading newspapers in the UK have published an advertisement declaring their support for London’s 2012 bid. The ad is made up of ten separate images spelling out the letters and numbers “LONDON 2012”, and each newspaper commissioned one of the photographs in the collage.
Some of London’s most recognizable landmarks are featured in the image, including Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Canary Wharf, The New Wembley Arch, the British Airways London Eye, the Tower Bridge, the Thames, Wimbledon, and Nelson’s Column.
The joint project includes contributions from every national newspaper group that provides sports coverage.
With 50 days to go New York 2012 debuted a giant countdown clock and banner in Union Square. More than 25 Olympians and Paralympians from 12 Games joined NYC2012 Director of Sport Wendy Hilliard to unveil the countdown installation at Union Square that marks down to the hundredth of a second until the IOC votes in Singapore.
The countdown clock and banner in Union Square augments daily NYC2012 displays in Times Square, the installation of one hundred NYC2012 flags in city parks throughout the five boroughs, and the massive ad campaign that continues to blanket the entire city.
With 50 days to go Madrid 2012 launched a new design of its Web site www.madrid2012.es. A record was broken last April, when the Web site received 219,237 visitors, indicating an increase of five per cent compared to the previous month.
Madrid 2012 says its newsletter has been the most popular document, with 1,180 downloads.
The original sections will remain the same but with the new design their images will be more modern. New flash animations and tools will make it possible for the user to become more familiar with Madrid’s 2012 Olympic bid.
The site will now stress the importance of the volunteering program. More than 32,000 volunteers have joined the bid through its Web site.
With 50 days to go the Paris 2012 bid is very quiet. But the Telegraph reports that in the past week the Paris bid has had emissaries in the Far East, central Europe, Australia and the Americas lobbying IOC members.
One European IOC member is quoted as saying, “every week or 10 days I get a call from Paris. They talk about the Olympics and what is happening. It is just keeping in touch but very effective”.
Another IOC member said, “Paris is behaving like a government seeking re-election. It knows the opposition wins when the government makes a mistake”.
Paris will use the French Open tennis at Roland Garros later this month to promote its bid, says the newspaper. A parade down the Champs Elysees will be held just a day before the IOC evaluation commission report is issued on the bid cities.
With 50 days to go Moscow 2012 partnered with a leading television network for a celebration of its bid Sunday called the Sport Planet Festival. There was a virtual reality tour of the city’s Olympic River Concept where the five main venue clusters are located along the Moscow River.
Other attractions included competitions between professional athletes, opportunities for the public to meet Russian and foreign sports stars, inter-regional tournaments and various sports demonstrations.
