Back the bid

LONDON–The English capital is going all out in its bid to host the Olympics in 2012. "Back the Bid" is the slogan that the British are using to generate popular support for the campaign.

There are "Back the Bid" posters lining the walls of the underground subway tunnels as the city tries to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that it’s ready to return the Summer Games here after the 1908 and 1948 editions.

Only five cities remain in contention for the right to host the Olympics after Beijing’s turn in 2008. They are Paris, New York, Madrid, Moscow and London. Four other bidders–Leipzig, Istanbul, Havana and Rio de Janeiro–failed to make it to the final round.

The IOC will announce its selection in July next year during a session in Singapore.

The scuttlebutt is the choice will either be Paris or London. Government support, public opinion, infrastructure, sports venues, the provision for an Olympic Village, environmental condition and impact, accommodations and security are among the issues being raised by the IOC Evaluation Committee to determine which city is best suited to host the 2012 Games.

England’s showing in Athens appears to have fortified London’s bid. The British contingent of 271 athletes brought back nine gold, nine silver and 12 bronze medals for a total haul of 30, two more than the Sydney harvest four years ago.

Lord Sebastian Coe, a two-time Olympic track gold medalist in the 1,500-meter distance and chairman of London’s bid committee, described the British performance as glittering.

"Outside of the Greeks, there is no doubt Britain has supplied the most passionate and vocal fans in the entire Games," said Coe. "When the broadcasters are picking out supporters to give their pieces color, it’s the British fans and their Union Jacks who appear. I think the IOC recognize that which is why we leave Athens with our bid in very good shape. Success is what we need most of all and the Olympics has caught the imagination at home in such a way that of course, it can only help the bid."

Coe, 47, became a Conservative Member of Parliament for Falmouth in 1992. He lost his seat five years later but was picked to serve as Tory leader William Hague’s right-hand man.

Columnist Richard Williams of the Guardian echoed Coe’s sentiments. "The hidden benefit of an acceptable level of British success is the glow it casts on London’s bid to host the 2012 Games," wrote Williams. "Just under a fortnight ago, one would not have given much for its chances. Now, there may just be sufficient enthusiasm to give the project a following wind."

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The IOC’s determined crackdown on doping has resulted in slower, lower, and weaker records in the so-called "power" track disciplines in Athens.

In the women’s discus, the gold medal effort of 67.02 meters was the lowest since 1988. The gold medal mark of 82.91 meters in the men’s hammer was lower than the 84.8 mark in 1988. In the women’s long jump, Russian Tatyana Lebedeva captured the gold with a leap of 7.07 meters–much less than the first place marks in 1988 (7.4), 1992 (7.14) and 1996 (7.12).

"Slower, cleaner, better–things are looking up at last," noted the Observer.

Doping tests claimed victims in athletics, weightlifting, rowing, boxing, baseball, cycling and canoeing during the recent Olympics.

"We can never totally eliminate drugs but there has to be a continuing reduction," said IOC president Jacques Rogge of Belgium. "You cannot rule out criminality from normal society, it’s human nature, but we have an obligation to do the maximum we can. I believe our control is increasing."

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The five black marks in Athens were:

• Disgraced Olympic shot putter Irina Korzhanenko’s refusal to return the gold medal after testing positive for drugs (the Russian was dealt a two-year suspension for drug use in 1999 and now faces a lifetime ban).

• Former Catholic priest Cornelius Horan’s bizarre assault on marathon front-runner Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil with about three miles left in the race (de Lima lost the lead and settled for the bronze).

• The IOC’s inability to strip American Paul Hamm of the gymnastics all-round gold medal despite a glaring judgment error that robbed South Korean Yang Tae Young of the title.

• Britain’s Sarah Price suffering gashes on her legs because of an ill-placed underwater camera during the 100-meter backstroke semifinal warmups (she wound up last).

• The unjustified booing of Greek fans delaying the start of the 200-meter men’s finals in support of local hero Kostas Kederis who withdrew after missing a drug test (he was the Sydney Olympic gold medalist in the event).

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On the KLM flight to London via Amsterdam, I came across several Filipino contract workers heading for Equatorial Guinea or E. G. The workers said they were recruited by an American company to lay pipelines in the oil-rich west African nation.

E. G. was recently in the news after authorities aborted a coup attempt to seize control of the government. Former British prime minister Lady Margaret Thatcher’s son Sir Mark was accused of involvement in the plot. E. G. police arrested 14 suspected foreign mercenaries who were supposed to undertake the mission.

The Filipino workers said oil refineries are now running in E. G., a Cameroon neighbor, and they’re lucky to be hired for short-term contracts of up to three months. There’s not much to do in the capital town of Malabo, they continued, except watch sports on cable TV when not working in the rigs.

E. G.’s lush natural resources are the reason why there is so much interest among capitalists to take control of the country.