IOC Inspections for 2008 Olympic Games

The IOC conducted in February and March final inspections of all five cities still in the running to host the 2008 Olympic Games. The inspection committee had good things to say about all the bids, even Istanbul, which was mentioned as the weakest candidate when the field was cut to five. 

The order of inspection was Beijing, Osaka, Toronto, Istanbul and Paris. 

Beijing  was inspected in late February and took the usual criticism for human rights and environmental issues. Beijing painted the grass green around the city and sent its citizens on a city-wide cleanup campaign. Environmentalists within China were critical. "The leaves fall in autumn. Are they going to stick paper leaves on when they fall?" said the leader of the group Friends of Nature. 

Beijing has the facilities, which have been used for the 1990 Asian Games, several China National Games and China's National University Games. Beijing will host the 2001 World University Games in August of this year.

However letter campaigns have begun again in an attempt to bring China's human rights record to bear on the decision. 

Osaka, Japan was visited in the first week of March. IOC inspectors were very impressed by the quality of the sports facilities that exist today in Osaka. Osaka will host the East Asian games this next Month, May 19-26.

Osaka is proposing that the games village, Olympic Stadium and Press center be located on three man-made islands.  The biggest question from the IOC was transportation between these proposed facilities.

Toronto, Canada hosted the IOC group the second week of March. Other than having several members of the IOC inspection group stuck in an elevator the Toronto visit went well also. Toronto is selling its bid "by athletes, for athletes."

Toronto has strong government backing from city, provincial and federal government sources.

Istanbul, Turkey also has strong governmental support. The Turkish parliament in 1992 passed a law guaranteeing full financial support of the nation were ever to host an Olympic Games, the only nation to have such a law.

Issues surrounding transportation and pollution were the biggest concerns stated by the touring members.

Paris, France was the final stop on the tour. Paris is another impressive bid according to the inspectors, with athlete involvement, support for the Paralympic events and urban renewal projects among the strong points. 

French President Jacques Chirac pledged support for the games. The French is said to have promised they would cover any debts incurred by Olympic organizers.

One possible difficulty for Paris. The proximity of the 2004 games in Athens, a notion minimized by commission head Verbruggen. "I think IOC members will make a decision based on the quality of each candidacy," he said.

Special Olympics

The Special Olympic World Winter Games held in Anchorage, Alaska March 3-10 were an all-around success. Some 69 countries and 2500 athletes competed in  cross country skiing, alpine skiing, speed skating, figure skating, floor hockey, snowshoeing and snowboarding.    

The Special Olympics Flame of Hope was toured around Alaska for the Law Enforcement Torch Run and brought into Sullivan Arena for the Opening Ceremonies aboard the sled of four-time Iditarod Sled Race Champion Susan Butcher.

The Pointer sisters thrilled the crowd with their music and stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bart Conner were on hand as usual.

Special Olympics International provided vision, dental, hearing and medical health screenings to all athletes who wanted them for free. Over 200 doctors and health professionals volunteered their time.

During the games a report, The Health Status and Needs of Individuals with Mental Retardation, (link to full report, PDF file) was presented to the US Congress by several members of the Special Olympics community. The report titled describes the policy and program gaps in health care and physical fitness for this population and makes recommendations to improve access to and the quality of health care for people with mental retardation.

Winter European Youth Olympic Days

Young Russian athletes topped the medals table at the European Youth Olympic Days in Vuokatti, Finland. 1200 athletes from 48 European countries participated in alpine and cross-country skiing, biathlon, ice hockey, ski jumping, snowboarding and speed skating. 

The 2003 winter games will be in Bled, Slovakia 

African Games Future bids

Algeria will host the 2007 African Games. Congo Brazzaville, Cameroon and Burkina Faso have all submitted bids for the 2011 edition of the games but so far none of the bids have met the stated requirements for bid cities.

South East Asian Games

The SEA Games Federation is planning ahead. Having already named host cities all the way to the year 2013. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is scheduled to host this years games November 3-11.   

Future hosts have been named as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2003.  Philippines 2005, Singapore 2007, Thailand 2009, Indonesia 2011and Brunei 2013.

Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have not hosted the Games before and would be given the chance to host if they are prepared any time before the 2013 Games.

New web links 

2001 Games of the Small Countries of Europe

Anniversaries

Thirty Years

Hapoel Games Tel Aviv, Israel, April 29 - May 5, 1971