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The winner for 2012 Olympics is...
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-06 14:23 New York declared it would win before the day's proceedings even started and
were congratulating themselves later on their presentation which focused on the
vibrancy, ethnic diversity and never-give-up attitude of the citizens of the
'city that never sleeps'.
Former First Lady, Senator Hillary Clinton told a news conference after the
U.S. presentation: "We have a great sense of pride and relief about how well
this went today."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to the September 11 attack in the
presentation and said: "New Yorkers asked ourselves 'can we recover', 'will we
rebuild'?
Cherie Blair (L),
British soccer player David Beckham (C) and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair arrive at the Singapore Science Centre July 5, 2005. They are in
Singapore to support London's Olympic host city bid.
[Reuters] | "Without hesitation New Yorkers stood
up and said yes. This spirit will be given to your Games. New Yorkers never give
up, not now, not ever."
Moscow, regarded as outsiders, inserted a surprise element into its
presentation with a video clip of President Vladimir Putin speaking publicly in
English for the first time as he exhorted IOC members to vote for the city which
bridges European and Asian cultures.
"This is a time when our country, having come through deep economic
transformations, has ever-increasing possibilities," he said.
New York bid chief and deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff had issued a bullish
statement just before the meeting which read: "New York's bid is perfectly
positioned to win the 2012 Games. This evening New York's Olympic dream will
become reality."
But pre-meeting gossip in the luxury hotels of the Raffles City complex where
the vote takes place suggested Paris remained marginal favorites, ahead of
London, Madrid, New York and Moscow.
Doctoroff apart, it was almost impossible to find anyone prepared to stick
his or her neck out and confidently declare a winner.
The evaluation commission, which reports just before the vote, rated Paris
and London's bid as of "very high quality" with Madrid and New York assessed as
of "high quality" a month ago.
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