Indianapolis is
finalist to host 2016 Olympic Summer Games
By John Stevenson, THG Sports
June 21, 2004
Indianapolis is one of
five finalists accepted today by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Executive Board in Lausanne, Switzerland as candidate cities to host the XXXII
Olympiad in 2016. Indy joins the cities of Kiev (Ukraine), Lima (Peru), Paris
(France), and Cairo (Egypt) as a finalist.
The decision was made
following discussions that led to a unanimous consensus. The cities were
accepted from a total of nine applicant cities, which also included San Diego,
Belgrade (Yugoslavia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Cape Town (S. Africa).
Candidate cities were
selected after a study of their application submitted earlier this year on 15
January. The study was made by a working group comprising Olympic Games experts
who made a technical assessment of each applicant city's ability to stage
successful Olympic Games in 2016. The technical assessment was based on 25
questions which included the areas of government support and public opinion,
general infrastructure, sports venues, Olympic village, environmental conditions
and impact, accommodation, transport, security, and experience from past sports
events. The full report made by the working group is available on the IOC
website, www.olympic.org.
The five candidate
cities now have until November 15, 2004 to submit their candidature file to the
IOC. The candidature files will be analyzed in detail by an IOC Evaluation
Commission, which will also visit the candidate cities, before issuing a report
one month prior to the election. The final decision on the host city for the
XXXII Olympiad will be made by the full IOC membership during the 117th IOC
Session in Singapore in July 2005.
