Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
from MacroScope:
Asking a banker about the Olympics
Henrique Meirelles, Brazil's highly rated central bank president, gave unusual insight into current thinking at the International Olympic Committee in a speech in Oxford the other night.
Diverging from his main theme on Brazil's remarkable journey from economic basket case to emerging market superpower, Meirelles said that he had gone to Copenhagen last month as part of Rio de Janeiro's successful bid for the 2016 Olympics. The reason: The IOC asked him to come.
Meirelles said that the IOC knew that Brazil currently had all the conditions needed to host the Games, but wanted to know about how predictable it was that this would carry through over the next seven years. "They wanted to know what is really happening," he said.
Essentially, the IOC wanted to check with the top economic manager that the country's finances will still be shining when the Games are held.
Chicago bid boss says regional voting, IOC-USOC friction costly
A family feud and voters backing the city in their region in the first round led to Chicago’s early exit in last week’s voting to determine the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the head of that city’s bid said.
“Don’t for a moment believe that Chicago finished fourth,” Patrick Ryan told hundreds of executives at a breakfast meeting in downtown Chicago.
from Raw Japan:
Tokyo lights go out
Tokyo's failure to win the 2016 Olympic bid triggered bemused shrugs and a rush for the exits at Tokyo Tower when the result was announced well past midnight on Saturday morning. In truth, no one at the bid party in the Tower seemed to really expect Tokyo to win.
Drummers drummed, cheerleaders rustled pom-poms and a seeming endless string of noisy TV celebrities took turns at the microphone to drum up some Olympic fever among the 400-plus partygoers.
Olympics 2016 decision day: live blog
Join us for our live blog on the day of the decision for the 2016 Olympic Games, with Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo the four candidate cities.
Comments are open, so please give us your views and predictions, and we have a poll running, so give us your vote as well!
Kevin Fylan, Copenhagen
When Owen met Oprah
On the subject of the 2016 Olympics (see a couple of posts below, or click here) this is what happened when Owen Wyatt met Oprah Winfrey late on Wednesday.
She was certainly struck by Owen’s accent…
Will the Obama effect win the 2016 Games for Chicago?
Michelle Obama arrived in Copenhagen on Wednesday to begin a significant lobbying effort for Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, with her husband expected to join her on the day of Friday’s vote.
The presence of the U.S. president and first lady will give a massive boost to Chicago in its efforts to see off Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro in a secret ballot of International Olympic Committee members in the Danish capital on Friday.
from Raw Japan:
Countdown to 2016 Gold
The delegations and heads of state are gathering in Copenhagen with less than one week to go until the International Olympic Committee's decision on which city will host the 2016 Games.
Billions of dollars in investment and national pride are at stake. Oddsmakers are pegging a close race ahead of the Oct. 2 vote, and we are adding a new question to our poll on candidate cities (included below).
from Raw Japan:
The 2016 Gold
Less than a month until the International Olympic Committee's selection of the winning city in the 2016 Olympic bid campaign, and the IOC in a report Wednesday has the candidates in a dead heat.
All bid cities -- Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo -- will make a push before the Oct. 2 decision in Copenhagen, with billions of dollars in investment and national prestige at stake.
