Potential Olympic cities jockeying for position

Associated Press

BERLIN -- Less than three months before the vote, the five cities vying for the 2012 Summer Games are getting a chance to make their pitches to a big Olympic audience.

Paris, London, New York, Madrid and Moscow sent high-level delegations to a conference in Berlin, where they will present their bids to Olympic sports federation leaders.

With more than 30 International Olympic Committee members expected to attend, the meeting offers the last major showcase for the bid cities before the session in Singapore at which the host city will be selected July 6.

"It's the largest gathering of IOC members and leaders of international federations that there will be between now and Singapore," New York bid leader Dan Doctoroff said. "It's a very important milestone and test."

Each city has been allotted 10 minutes to make a presentation Sunday to the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, which covers 28 sports. Many of the federation presidents also are IOC members eligible to vote in Singapore.

"It's a shop window," London bid chairman Sebastian Coe said. "The only two questions worth asking in this whole process are: why and how? If you can answer both of those in an international setting, then I think you're in good shape."

The bid cities appeared before the European Olympic Committees in Dubrovnik, Croatia, late last year, and the Oceania Olympic Committees in Brisbane, Australia, earlier this month. In coming weeks, they'll take their campaigns to African Olympic meetings in Ghana and another European gathering in Albania.

But the Berlin conference offers the biggest stage. Besides giving presentations, the bid cities can set up exhibit stands at SportAccord, an industry summit held in conjunction with IOC executive board meetings.

The bid delegates are staying in Berlin for several days, plenty of time for lobbying in the hallways and making personal connections that might swing votes in Singapore.

"It's very important to meet all the people directly," Paris bid chief Philippe Baudillon said. "It's not only a 10-minute presentation, it's a chance to share our vision and show that we want to be real partners with the IOC."

For the first time, the mayors of all five cities will be at the same 2012 meeting: Michael Bloomberg (New York), Ken Livingstone (London), Bertrand Delanoe (Paris), Yuri Luzhkov (Moscow) and Alberto Ruiz Gallardon (Madrid). Paris also is sending French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour.

Campaigning was in full swing Saturday as bid officials, city leaders and Olympic delegates mingled in the hotel lobby. While Delanoe introduced himself to IOC members, London chief executive Keith Mills hustled past and Doctoroff huddled in a corner with two NBC executives.

The IOC evaluation commission completed its inspection tour of the five cities last month and is compiling a report assessing their technical plans. The report, which won't rank the cities, will be released June 6.

There's been plenty of speculation about how the cities stack up.

"The honest truth is that nobody knows," Coe said. "The people I speak to regularly basically tell me it's too close to call.

"This is a competition, and like all good competitions, will go absolutely to the wire. This is not a time to blink."

Paris, making its third bid in 20 years, has been considered the front-runner from the outset and remains the bookmakers' favorite. Unlike rivals London and New York, Paris has an Olympic stadium in place -- the Stade de France, which hosted the 1998 World Cup soccer final and 2003 world track & field championships.

"There is a fantastic atmosphere in the bid," Baudillon said. "We want these games. We are completely on track."

London's bid has picked up steam under the leadership of Coe, a two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters. Madrid announced that Queen Sofia and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will go to Singapore for the vote.

While Moscow is viewed as the long shot, bid chairman Valery Shantsev insists the Russian capital is on an equal footing with the others.

Doctoroff says New York has good momentum. Crucial to the Big Apple's chances is the proposed new $2.2 billion stadium on Manhattan's West Side. The project has faced opposition from community and civic groups and the owners of Madison Square Garden, but has cleared several hurdles in recent weeks.