Toronto’s Mayor Mel Lastman, TO-2008 chief operating officer Bob Richardson and Olympian Marnie McBean are in Europe promoting Toronto’s Olympic bid.
On the first day of the tour, Lastman told a group of mostly Canadian journalists at the Canadian High Commission, that “Toronto is a very clean city. Toronto is a very safe city. Toronto is a very green city”.
He added that Toronto is the “most culturally diverse city in the world”.
Earlier Lastman had lunch with a number of British sports officials, including the chief executive of the British Olympic Association.
Although he said he wouldn’t criticize the competing bids, Lastman did admit that Toronto might have a problem competing with Paris. He said, “if you ask the spouses (of IOC members), they’d say Paris. If it’s a political decision, they’d say Beijing. But if it’s the althletes, if you ask them where they’d want them, they’ll say Toronto”.
Lastman, McBean and Richardson hit about a dozen media outlets in London Thursday, including a key TV interview on the BBC’s Worldwide Television Service, broadcast in 165 countries with a viewership of 200 million people.
Peter Jones, deputy head of sports for BBC Worldwide TV, said, “I thought they put their case forward very well. It was very well put, very well argued and they’ve got a very good case”.
McBean said, “they asked some tough questions but we had answers for everything”.
But Peters said Beijing still has to be considered the favourite.
The trio was then off to Geneva, Switzerland to meet International Olympic Committee officials and more media. Richardson said the group expects to have at least a brief meeting with IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch.
