Norwegian officials yesterday acknowledged that they “still need to gain public support and government financial backing” for a bid to host the ’22 Winter Games, according to Stephen Wilson of the AP. The city of Oslo on paper would “shape up as the strong favourite among the five cities vying to host” the ‘22 Games. But bid leaders “conceded that they must first win over the politicians and citizens at home.” Oslo Mayor Stian Berger Roesland said that Parliament “won't vote on the financial guarantees until the summer or autumn.” The IOC, which “requires guarantees from bid cities, will select a short list of finalists in July.” Without public and financial support, Oslo's bid “would founder.” The city of Stockholm “pulled out of the 2022 race last month because of concerns over costs” (AP, 2/10). Other cities vying for the '22 Games include Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; and Almaty, Kazakhstan (THE DAILY).
THINK BIG: South Africa Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula yesterday said that the country “will bid" for the ’24 Summer Games. Mbalula said that South Africa also would “bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games,” but added that the Olympics would be “the ultimate prize.” He said, “If the Commonwealth comes first, that’s fine. The biggest fish to catch is 2024.” Mbalula said that President Jacob Zuma had “already indicated that South Africa was ready to host the Games” (BDLIVE.co.za, 2/11). REUTERS’ Mark Gleeson writes it is a “major shift in policy for South Africa who last year said the cost to host an Olympics would be too high.” Cape Town “lost out in the bid for the 2004 Olympics in the first attempt by an African city to host the Games.” Durban was “touted to bid for 2020 but plans were put on ice after the government said it would be too expensive but since last year there have been several signals of a change of heart” (REUTERS, 2/11).
READY AND WAITING: In San Diego, Roger Showley noted boosters of landing the ’24 Summer Games for the city “released a video Friday touting local advantages that should cost a lot less” than the Sochi Games’ $51B price tag. The “three-minute boast-fest was screened on the USS Midway Museum as part of a local celebration of the start of the Winter Games at the Black Sea resort.” The video points out that San Diego “already has 90 percent of the necessary venues, plenty of hotel rooms, a mass transit system with $18 billion in more improvements on the way and, of course, the weather” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/8).
