Although Hamburg received the most points from the German Olympic Committee’s evaluation team last week in its bid to become the German candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, Hamburg organizing committee chairman Horst Meyer, while pleased with the selection said, “our chances are looking better but we have not won yet”.
Dieter Graf Landsberg-Velen, head of the evaluation team said, “this was qualification and the five candidates have comfortably made the final”.
And Klaus Steinbach, the German Olympic Committee president said the German bidding cities’ strengths and weaknesses did not leave out anybody. “Every candidate can still make it”, he said.
Reuters reports that Hamburg has the most expensive bid with organization costs estimated at about $2 billion and offers a compact Games with 90 per cent of the events taking place within a range of about six miles.
Leipzig with the second most points was a surprise and received excellent marks. It’s seen as the perfect venue for the 2012 Games. An opinion poll conducted earlier this year showed that Leipzig had 92.4 per cent of support from the region’s population while Hamburg’s support was at 84.6 per cent.
Frankfurt was third. It’s the headquarters of the German Olympic Committee and several major sports federations. According to its bid, the main arena and the Olympic Village would be near the town centre, with two-thirds of the events taking place within walking distance.
Duesseldorf was second to last. The city can offer great infrastructure and idyllic landscapes.
The other four candidates were furious when Duesseldorf’s bid ordered a study from management consultants that said it had the best chance of being picked to become the German candidate.
As for Duesseldorf despite having low marks its still in the running because, according to Reuters, many of the sports officials who will vote next month are from that region. But only 73.6 per cent of the population support the bid.
And Stuttgart, who was last, demonstrated that it could stage a major sports festive when it hosted the world athletics championships in 1993. It would also have to invest less than its rivals in infrastructure.
Each of the 32 federations making up the NOK will have three votes; there are 25 individual NOK votes and 16 honorary ones, making a total of 137 votes. An absolute majority is required and if there isn’t one the weakest candidate will be dropped and there will be a new vote.
IOC president Jacques Rogge described Germany’s chances as “fundamentally good” and pointed out that the country had a stable political system, a strong economy and a proven ability to organize big events.
