Although several reports have criticized the German Olympic Committee’s controversial selection of Leipzig as its candidtate for the 2012 Olympic Games because of its small size, IOC president Jacques Rogge has told the media that it is no too small to host the Games.
“Large it is not. But too small? No.” Rogge commented about the German bid in a city with less than 500,000 inhabitants.
Rogge illustrated his statement with a comparison to Lillehammer Norway, host of the 1992 Winter Games with a population of only 12,000. He went on to speak about his goal to limit the size and costs of the Olympic Games.
Leipzig will be competing against some of the largest cities in the world including New York, Paris and London.
Meanwhile, Leipzig’s mayor has told the media that Mike de Vries will be selected as the managing director of Leipzig 2012. The announcement is expected at a supervisory board meeting sometime in July.
