Madrid, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo have all submitted their bids to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
Chicago is the odds on favourite to win and its bid is likely to be boosted by the support of Windy City native Barack Obama, the new US President.
Beating off competition from fellow US cities Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco, the US$43.9m (£33m) proposal includes plans for five new permanent venues and 11 temporary ones. Funding will come from the private sector, but the government will finance infrastructure costs.
Madrid calls itself the ‘safest choice’, with all infrastructure in place and 77 per cent of its sports venues either built or already under construction.
The US$42m (£28.6m) bid, to be funded by the government, will be divided into two areas – the Eastern Zone and the River Zone. Madrid lost out to London in the bids for the 2012 Games.
Tokyo’s 410bn yen (£5.43bn) bid includes plans to build a new 100,000-seat stadium and 23 of its 34 planned venues are already standing.
Yasuhiro Nakamori, Deputy Director General of Tokyo 2016, said: “The Tokyo 2016 Games plan places 95 per cent of competition venues within an 8km radius and 70 per cent of venues within 10 minutes of the Olympic Village. This allows the world’s finest athletes to focus on what really matters: being at their absolute peak for the world’s greatest event.”
According to the BBC, the most expensive bid is Rio de Janeiro’s, which is split into US$2.8bn (£1.92bn) for operating and US$14.5bn (£9.90bn) for construction and security.
“Our candidature file meets all of the International Olympic Committee’s requirements. Rio is a unique stage and the Rio 2016 Games will be an unforgettable event. We want to take the Olympic spirit to the millions of young people of Brazil and South America. We want to spread the passion for Rio, the passion for sport around the world. As a result, through our slogan we invite everyone to live this passion,” said Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of the Rio bid committee.
The International Olympic Committee will select the host nation for the 2016 Games in Copenhagen on 2 October.
