Who Wants the Olympic Games?

Activities in Sochi, Russia have come to an end as the 2014 Winter Olympics becomes history. Next stop: Summer Games of 2016 to be held in sunny Rio de Janiero. Planning and building venues are quickly taking shape while critics are fearful that Rio will not be ready!

Rio de Janeiro, The site of  Summer Games Aug 5-22, 2009

The International Olympic Committee accepts bids far in advance of the events ,and negotiations of competing countries seem to take some interesting, but not necessarily public, twists.Who wants the next event? The Olympic Committee wants to plan ahead!
This will be a first for Rio and talk of “Will they be ready?” is the question on the lips of all interested. This will be the first time a South American city will have hosted the event.

---As for winter-game schedules, here's the bids and deals---

Dragon Valley Ski Resort of PyeongChang, South Korea

The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games of winter multi-sport event is scheduled to take place between 9–25 February 2018. Who wants it?
The elected host city was announced on 6 July 2011 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC),The cities of Annecy, France in the French Alps, Munich, Germany , and Pyeongchang, South Korea, a two-time previous bidder, competed for the hosting rights to the event.     The winner:
                        South Korea
   


 
The Olympic games have been played in a variety of world events since the first games in France.

The first Olympic Winter Games was held in Chamonix, France in 1924. The sign-board reads:

ETATS UNIS    D'AMERIQUE

 Later events were held in a time when nations were tense with threats of war on everyone's minds..

Chancellor Adolf Hitler opens the 1936  IV Olympics in Germany.

The Olympic games were canceled during 

WWII and resumed in 1948.

Oslo, Norway hosted the Winter Games in 1952.

Ski-jumping at Holenkollen above a large of spectators.

Every event has the latest innovation to aid the athletes in safety and performance. German luge competitors tried a new style of air-dynamic headgear.

German luge team tries practice-round headgear in 1976

   How does the host country become The Chosen One?

There has been much controversy over a country chosen for some events.A scandal broke on 10 December 1998, when Swiss IOC member Marc Hodler, head of the coordination committee overseeing the organization of the 2002 games, announced that several members of the IOC had taken bribes.The Department of Justice filed charges against the two: fifteen charges of bribery and fraud. Those under investigation were eventually acquitted of all criminal charges in December 2003 however, as a result of the investigation ten members of the IOC were expelled and another ten were sanctioned.

----- And that’s not all!----

In 2006, a report ordered by the Nagano region's governor said the Japanese city provided millions of dollars in an "illegitimate and excessive level of hospitality" to IOC members, including $4.4 million spent on entertainment alone.

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Russian Olympic planners  were thinking about a tourist attraction for their 2014 Olympics.Two orca whales captured in the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of Russia were planned to be moved and displayed in Sochi during the Olympics, but stayed home  in Moscow after officials of a “Whale and Dolphin” protection organization learned of the plans and protested.

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           So, who really wants to host the Winter games in 2022?

Beijing would host the skating, curling and other indoor events in the city, with the snow events 120 miles away in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou. Tough for fans to catch another event!
Krakow would use the Tatra mountain resort of Zakopane in Poland for the ice events, with the Alpine events 95 miles across the Slovak border in Jasna. ( 95 miles?)

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Oslo has estimated the cost of its games at $5.3 billion. Stockholm has claimed it would spend only $1.5 billion, a figure that seems extremely low. The city and national governments have expressed some doubts about Stockholm's bid plans.
Five cities — Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; and Oslo — have submitted their bid files to the International Olympic Committee to host the 2022 Winter Olympics on Friday, according to an Associated Press report.

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The IOC executive board will decide what cities will advance to the “final phase” in July, and then a host city will be selected on July 31, 2015, in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.

Stockholm pulled out shortly after bidding. Public unease over the price and environmental impact of the

Games caused Swedish officials to turn down the IOC offer. Oslo has estimated the cost of its games at $5.3 billion. Stockholm has claimed it would spend only
$1.5 billion, a figure that seems extremely low. The city and national governments have expressed some doubts about Stockholm's bid plans.Oslo has hesitated on accepting the next Winter Olympics. It all sounds pretty expensive!

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Oslo officials stated that “High and Mighty demands made by members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were setting off ridicule and head-shaking among members of the Norwegian Parliament .
The so-called Lords of the Rings at the IOC have high expectations for how they'd expect to be greeted and treated during a “Winter Olympics in Oslo”. Norwegian politicians quickly seemed keen to lower them .
“Now these people at the IOC really need to be brought back down to earth,” remarked one scoffing Norwegian politician on national radio station NRK1. Apparently, there are many deals quietly discussed during these negotiations.
The process for awarding host city honours became interesting when Salt Lake City had been awarded the right to host the 2002 Games. Soon after the host city had been announced, it was discovered that the

organizers had engaged in an elaborate bribery scheme to curry favor with IOC officials. Gifts and other financial considerations were given to those who would evaluate and vote on Salt Lake City's bid. These gifts included medical treatment for relatives, a college scholarship for one member's son and a land deal in Utah. Even IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch received two rifles valued at $2,000

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When the decision is made, it appears Oslo is not really interested!

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 So, how would a host-country benefit?

Earlier Beijing games were intended to show off China’s spending and organizational power. London’s games were a means of bringing back to life a poor part of the capital to a

Pat Rische

quicker speed . Tokyo hopes the 2020 games will bolster  Japan’s lackluster economy. "It's a feather in the cap of leaders who were responsible for getting the games," said Pat Rishe, professor of economics at Webster University. "Like most host communities, the Russians hoped to increase tourism and expose the world to Russian culture and progress," He went on to say: "It's also the idea that the games will bring development and that the facilities will be used after the games are over. At least that's the feeling."

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 One study says that cities that become hosts experience a 30 percent increase in international trade, as they "show themselves to be open for business with the global community." Sochi games was expected to exceed $50 billion and experts say the money is unlikely to be recovered. In fact," No Olympic Games in history have made it into the black", according to Robert Barney, founding director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies at Western University in London, Ontario.

 So, why would ANY country want to host this expensive undertaking?

Especially with the possibility that the people-in-power of some of these countries won't be around when "their" country is chosen..

Meanwhile, let's enjoy the summer....

Rio de Janerio. Site of Summer Games 2018