Your host for the 2016 Olympic Games is…
Too early to start thinking about 2016, you say? Not for the International Olympic Committee and like organizations from the four nations lucky enough to make the IOC’s shortlist for consideration to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. In October, the IOC will decide in a closed vote which finalist shall host the sporting event of ’16.
Naturally odds to take this competition have been posted at proper bookmakers at least since the process got rolling fully back in 2007; the last round of announcements saw the elimination of three serious dark horses from consideration, with bids from Azerbaijan, Czech Republic and Qatar unsurprisingly falling officially by the wayside in June 2008.
The table has certainly seen some ups and downs since then, but the election of a certain politician to a certain high post has boosted what was considered the third-best bid into the top spot. Bet365’s proposition bet “Who Will Host the Games in 2016?” offers the following odds.
Chicago: 10/11
Rio de Janeiro: 3/1
Tokyo: 10/3
Madrid: 7/1
If this one isn’t tougher than the race for the 2012 bid in which London, Madrid, Paris, New York and Moscow went down to the PR wire with no clear favorite, the 2016 contest has got to be close in excruciating difficulty for the punter. We do know from results released in 2008 by the IOC that:
Tokyo scored highest in the technical evaluation, which rated cities in 11 categories — including infrastructure, venues, transportation, security and finances … The Japanese capital scored an overall average of 8.4, followed by Madrid with 8.2. Chicago was back at 7.0 with Doha[, Qatar], with Rio at 6.5.
Indeed, US Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth had reckoned going in that the Chicago bid would place third in the sub-process; however, he had predicted the American bid would fall behind Japan’s and Qatar’s. Instead, 7-1 Madrid has surprised many experts by even getting to the final four.
The only factor making Rio de Janeiro an attractive bet (and potentially working against Tokyo and Madrid) is geography: While Asia got the Games in Beijing 2008 and London hosts 2012, the summer games have never been held on the South American continent. Surely before too long we’ll see Rio and/or an African burg hosting the Olympiad; given the critique of the last bid, however, it seems this won’t be the year for the Southern Hemisphere.
What’s Chicago got? Why, Barack Obama, of course. The President is being informally employed as go-to guy for the Windy City’s Olympic campaign. Earlier this month, Obama was his likeable self in meeting with an IOC bunch while informing them that “confident you will discover that you’re already in the perfect host city.”
Described Chicago 2016 senior strategic advisor George Hirthler: “I don’t think any past American bid has had the kind of popular, global president and political leader that we have in Barack Obama. It’s kind of like the stars have aligned for us in this regard.”
Word to that; here’s thinking that a McCain victory would have made this contest a lot easier to call.
The Os Man’s advice: Two-thirds of your bankroll for this one goes on Chicago, one-third on Tokyo. Further, the more frequently Obama is involved with IOCers on further stops in the bidding process, the more you’ll want to augment that Chitown bet.
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