The countdown is on for those cities waiting to hear which one will host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
International Olympic Committee officials will decide July 6 in Singapore.
There is no doubt it has been the Olympic race of the century with many of the world’s top cities vying for the right to host the Summer Games.
Competing are New York, Paris, London, Moscow and Madrid.
Currently Paris, the French capital, appears to be out front. It has been the favourite since the race began close to two years ago.
The city last hosted an Olympics in 1924. It tried for both the 1992 and 2008 Games but lost out both times.
Paris campaigners say their bid’s main strength is that up to 90 per cent of the infrastructure, stadiums, public transport and buildings is already in place. The city’s assets are a good public transport network, cultural and tourist attractions, and sufficient accommodation.
Earlier this month the IOC released its evaluation commission report on all the contenders. In the 123-page document it said Paris offered "excellent accommodation" and a high capacity and quality transportation system.
It also stated that Paris had taken into account the IOC’s framework for controlling the cost and size of the Olympics.
Recently five major French trade unions also lent their support to the bid. No doubt welcome news to the IOC after strikes and street protests against government policies in March crippled public transport – raising fears a repeat could happen if Paris hosted the 2012 Games. Unions were protesting government-backed plans to roll back France's 35-hour work week.
IOC voting does take into consideration more than just the criteria investigated by evaluation commissions. IOC members will also consider geopolitical and other issues not covered by the report.
Paris, for example, may have to deal with the fallout from France’s rejection of the proposed European Union constitution. The "no" vote could have an impact on the 34 IOC members from EU countries.
And Madrid has its own set of political issues to deal with. Recently a bomb exploded outside the stadium that would host the Spanish city’s opening and closing ceremony. The Basque separatist group ETA warned officials about the blast before the bomb went off.
At the time Madrid Mayor and bid leader Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon told a daily Spanish paper that, "No decision of the IOC, of the United Nations or of the European Union can be influenced by terrorists acts."
The Spanish capital beat Seville in the race to be Spain's bidder. Madrid's only previous attempt at an Olympic bid was for the 1972 Games.
Madrid is basing its campaign on being one of the few major European capitals yet to stage an Olympic Games.
Spain was the venue of one of the most successful Olympics of recent times in 1992 when Barcelona won widespread praise for its organization and handling of the Games.
The Madrid region has a good transport network and plentiful hotel accommodation. Olympic inspectors who visited the Spanish capital in February said they were impressed by overwhelming public enthusiasm for the Games, with polls showing backing at around 90 per cent.
The Madrid bid is considered to be fourth in the race for the Games. Behind it lies Moscow, considered by many to be an outsider. In the IOC review of bids the commission was impressed by the bid quality and people's enthusiasm after visiting the venues and proposed sites in March.
However, the commission went on to say that the bid had a: "lack of detailed planning in the candidature file and background information made it difficult for the Commission to evaluate the project."
Moscow hosted the 1980 Games – the first to be staged by a country with a communist government. But, the event was overshadowed by a U.S.-led boycott after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. IOC Chief Jacques Rogge has praised the sporting superpower's staging of the Games and described the bid as "very serious."
The Moscow bid is one of the most compact in Olympic history with all main venue clusters arranged along the Moscow River. All would be within 5 to 10 kilometres of each other. And for the first time all Olympic and Paralympic athletes would be located in a single, centrally located Olympic Village. More than 100 European and World Championships have been held at the venues since 1980 and 65 per cent of the venues already exist.
Moscow’s budget is also attractively small.
New York’s bid has suffered some serious set backs as organizers have struggled to find a main stadium for the Games. It looks like the U.S. city may be on the right track now with an announcement recently on stadium options.
Backers have made a case for a resilient city recovering from the September 11 attacks but the IOC has said emotions will not play a part in the decision.
One of New York's main selling points is that no venue would be more than 32 km from the Olympic Village.
The United States last hosted a Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. It also hosted the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Trust and passion were twin elements of the New York bid cited by the head of the IOC evaluation commission at the end of their inspection.
Recently both U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and big hitter Muhammad Ali have joined the ranks of those supporting the bid. Most observers have New York’s bid in third place.
Generally considered second in the race is London. The planned site for the Games would regenerate an area of east London. Sports would be staged at famous London landmarks including Wimbledon, Wembley and Horse Guards Parade.
A recent poll found that support for London's bid is running high, with 79 per cent of Londoners wanting the Games to come to London for the first time since 1948. The city also hosted the Olympics in 1908.
Britain has struggled with its image in world sport after being forced to pull out of staging the 2005 world athletics championships because of problems building a stadium in London. The successful Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 helped to repair the damage.
IOC Inspectors examining the city's bid said they had been very impressed by the British government's support and the heavy involvement of the country's successful Olympians.
They also praised the bid for the "significant sports and environmental legacies" involved in its plans for regenerating the city’s rundown East Side.
Officials are expecting 1 billion people in 200 countries to watch the results on TV.
