Olympics 2016 - will it be Chicago, Madrid, Rio or Tokyo?

[The Sad Punk]

oops, my bad.

 

[coolian2]

he was trying to say melbourne =

 

[blueeyedgirl]

I used to live in Melbourne. You can catch the tram to the G.



I don't live there anymore.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

thanks

and eww een.

 

[Axver]

Wow.

Sure, some things could've been expressed much better, but heaven forbid somebody be proud of where they live. Can't see too much wrong with that myself.

As for my own perspective, I don't think Melbourne's quite the sporting capital it's cracked up to be. Sure, it has stadiums coming out of its arse and everybody goes to every Aussie Rules game as long as the Demons aren't playing, but try talking to a Melburnian about any other code of football. Melbourne Storm won the rugby league and half of Melbourne didn't even know they were in the final, or that there was a final going on. Rugby union? Hahaha. I sometimes feel I'm the only person in Melbourne who watches it.

I guess it goes both ways - Melbourne's got a fair bit to brag about, but it doesn't have everything.

Plus, I don't want Melbourne to host the Olympics again. I'd rather see the money spent on things we actually need.

 

[coolian2]

so, onto an interesting subject instead. this will likely be the main stadium on what i've heard:

pretty obvious candidates for expansion would be another tier at the ends.

 

[intedomine]

Man, I'm sorry, and I know we're all biased here, but that really doesn't seem like that impressive a list of accomplishments/evidence for Melbourne being the sporting capital of the world. I have no doubt that it is a terrific sports city with a rich history, but I'm sure that a dozen other cities across the world could boast an equal or even better list than the one you posted above.

Taking into consideration that we aren't necessarily the most populated city in the world, I think we're pretty impressive.

Again, I do think if we were to identify one city that might surpass Melbourne in terms of sporting culture/history, it would be Paris. Paris is servicing a much larger urban population though and is much easier for the broader population of Europe to travel too.

To think that although we remain so far away from the true West, that we have been allowed to host international sporting events for so long and still so frequently, and have an entire code of sport centered around our city, I think it's quite amazing...and of course I'm coming into this with some bias, but I will remain a brick wall until someone suggests someone other than Melbourne. You all keep maligning me.... but you're not challenging me.

Wow.

As for my own perspective, I don't think Melbourne's quite the sporting capital it's cracked up to be. Sure, it has stadiums coming out of its arse and everybody goes to every Aussie Rules game as long as the Demons aren't playing, but try talking to a Melburnian about any other code of football. Melbourne Storm won the rugby league and half of Melbourne didn't even know they were in the final, or that there was a final going on. Rugby union? Hahaha. I sometimes feel I'm the only person in Melbourne who watches it.

Plus, I don't want Melbourne to host the Olympics again. I'd rather see the money spent on things we actually need.

The Aussie Rules obsession down here might be considered to compensate for our "apathy" towards both forms of Rugby. Mind you, that "apathy" is probably overstated. Despite the poor run Melbourne Storm get in the press, they still attract an average regular season attendance of between 10,000 to 15,000. Not a bad turn out to the (comparatively) poorly facilitated Olympic Park, and I think that's just a wee bit short of the NRL average attendance per game.

Rugby Union cops it rather poorly down here, though I think our Melbourne Rebels side attracted an average 3,000 before that sole season of that national league ended a few years back, and that average matched most of the other sides if I can recall correctly.

I'm in no hurry for an Olympics, though I expect we will bid (and probably successfully) sometime in my lifetime. A national World Cup is a higher priority from a sporting point of view, and yeah there is significant urgency to spend some cash on our laughable public transport system, and sort out those depressing hospital waiting lists.

 

[intedomine]

so, onto an interesting subject instead. this will likely be the main stadium on what i've heard:

pretty obvious candidates for expansion would be another tier at the ends.

It would need it. Nice stadium, but 45,000 just doesn't cut it, and I assume an expansion at either end might still struggle to smash it over 75,000. Dunno if the IOC will accept that.

It's interesting that Wiki identifies the Maracana as only hosting the football and the ceremonies, yet states that the Athetics will be staged at Havelange. I wonder why that is? Is the Maracana unsuitable, in terms of it's dimensions, to host Athletics? That would be a shame, and maybe unprecedented in that the main stadium doesn't host the track and field events.

Maracana looks awesome as well, what a stadium! They crammed over 200,000 into it at the 1950 World Cup Final. Extraordinary.

 

[cobl04]

we're the best goddam brick wall you've ever seen. if you want to give up, give up

maybe us australians should try and bid for a winter olympics...

 

[BoMac]

.

Olympic security a challenge, Rio mayor admits

Rio de Janeiro has a tough battle ahead combatting security problems before the 2016 Olympics, the Brazilian city's mayor said Monday.

The challenges facing Mayor Eduardo Paes since winning the Olympic vote earlier this month were underscored by a wave of violence over the weekend that left 14 people dead.

"We never hid our problems during the bid process — we always told people we had problems and we are facing the problems," Paes told the Global Sports Industry Summit in London. "We still have a lot to do, we have a long way to go and what happened this weekend showed that."

The firefight between rival gangs raged Saturday in a city slum about eight kilometres southwest of one of the zones where the Olympics will be held in seven years.

During the gang battle, bullets hit a police helicopter hovering overhead and it crashed in a fireball onto a soccer field, killing two officers and injuring four more.

When Rio was chosen over Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo to host the Olympics in the Oct. 2 vote, its bid was the only one that pointed to security concerns.

"We are being tough with these problems," said Paes. "We are sure by 2016 we will deliver the Games and hopefully in a way that the city will be more peaceful and secure for all our citizens.

"We worry about security for our citizens, for our everyday lives, for the visitors that come on a regular basis. That's our challenge and things are moving forward.… The violence we face in Rio will be much, much better by 2016."

 

[intedomine]

Regardless, Rio will still host a cracking Olympics, and were the best candidate.

 

[thatsnotmypuppy]

It would need it. Nice stadium, but 45,000 just doesn't cut it, and I assume an expansion at either end might still struggle to smash it over 75,000. Dunno if the IOC will accept that.

It's interesting that Wiki identifies the Maracana as only hosting the football and the ceremonies, yet states that the Athetics will be staged at Havelange. I wonder why that is? Is the Maracana unsuitable, in terms of it's dimensions, to host Athletics? That would be a shame, and maybe unprecedented in that the main stadium doesn't host the track and field events.

They did this at the Pan Ams in 2007 - ceremonies and football at Maracana. Apparently the owners of Maracana refused the request for a track to be installed and the Rio city decided a dedicated secondary venue (with actual toilets that work ) was the way to go. The IOC have approved this plan - and for the record the main stadium only has to have a capacity of 65,000 according to the IOC charter.

Bottom line - athletics isn't that big of a deal in Brazil.

Either way the IOC has approved the plan.