The five cities, London, Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow, bidding for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games had an opportunity to pitch their bids to the international media at a press briefing Sunday.
London was the only city whose bid representatives included the country’s Prime Minister and the city’s Mayor.
Tony Blair spoke to the media through a pre-recorded video message saying, “if I was enthusiastic before I came to Athens about London hosting the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012, I am even more enthusiastic now”.
Tessa Jowell, the Cabinet Minister responsible for the bid, said a successful Olympic bid would counteract the “epidemic of obesity” among adults that is now spreading among children and the fact that seven out of 10 young people in Britain give up sport when they leave school.
Lord Coe, head of London 2012, was asked what effect the recent BBC Panorama program would have on London’s bid and answered, “absolutely no effect at all. These are issues you are raising which I don’t recognize”.
London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone said that already 17 billion pounds worth of investment was in place to improve London’s transport.
Paris 2012 said it has developed a concept that is contained but certainly not constrained. “We intend to create an incredible cosmopolitan Games. We will stage Beach Volleyball, triathlon and the Road ace Cycling underneath the Eiffel Tower. We would also start the Marathon there”.
As to why Paris needs the Games Philippe Baudillon, head of Paris 2012 said, “we propose to adopt Olympic values in our society and only the Olympic Games can achieve that ambition”.
Peter Ueberroth, Chairman of the United State Olympic Committee Board of Directors, said at the press briefing that “New York offers something more than money and media. It is an Olympic Village each day, since the city brings together people from all over the world and melts them into a single global family”.
On New York City’s plan for the Games, Daniel Doctoroff, founder of NYC2012 and Deputy Mayor of New York said, “the result of our planning is what we call the Olympic “X” because it locates every venue along two intersecting transportation routes. At the centre of the “X” will be the Olympic Village which will be in a stunning waterfront community, that will become one of the city’s first fully sustainable neighbourhoods after the Olympic Games”.
He added that about 60 per cent of the venues are in place and another 20 per cent or so will require substantial modification but already exist.
Moscow 2012 talked about its funding. Vyatcheslav Fetisov, head of the Federal Agency of Physical Sport and Culture, said that one hundred per cent of the federal and municipal governments and 89 per cent of the public support Moscow’s bid.
Alexander Kozlovsky, Vice President of Russia’s Olympic Committee, said that all events will take place inside the city for the first time in Olympic history.
Because of technical difficulties there was no sound during Moscow’s video presentation.
The President of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Jose Maria Echevarria, said the Spanish Olympic Committee will be one hundred years in 2012 “and it would be very important to celebrate this special date”. He added that Madrid has a lot of experience hosting international sporting events and has staged seven international sports competitions in the last three years.
Madrid’s Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon talked about Madrid’s plans for the Games. “Our plans would allow athletes to walk to the Olympic Stadium in a few minutes, since they are connected through the Green Zone. This shows our commitment to the environment, and to future generations”.
