Olympic 2016 bidders make presentations before IOC (News Feature)

By Andreas Schirmer Jun 16, 2009, 13:20 GMT

   Lausanne, Switzerland - Almost all members of the International Olympic Committee will be on hand on Wednesday to get a first-hand look away from the spotlight at the 2016 Olympic bids.

US President Barack Obama will not come to Lausanne's Olympic Museum to lobby on behalf of Chicago, nor will Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo send any influential personalities.

Instead, the 94 expected IOC members (from a total 107) will see the four cities' bid committees make presentations less than four months before the host is elected on October 2 in Copenhagen.

The briefings in Lausanne come in the wake of an Olympic reform in which IOC members are prohibited from visiting bidding cities. The changes were made in the wake of the Salt Lake City bribes for votes scandal.

The bidding cities will lobby on Thursday as well, but IOC vice-president Thomas Bach of Germany is convinced that the meetings will do more for the bidders than the IOC members.

'The candidates will draw more out of that, how they must continue working on their presentations,' said Bach.

The presentations in Copenhagen with politicians, celebrities and top athletes will be the final factor for the IOC vote.

The report of the IOC evaluation committee, which recently visited the four bidders, will also be a key element in the decision-making process. The report is expected to be published in early September.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said he expects a close race between the four cities which were picked by the IOC last year, with Doha, Prague and Baku falling by the wayside.

In Lausanne, each bidder will try to make an impression before the IOC members with its unique advantages.

Chicago will highlight private funding, which could, however, be a handicap in the current global economic climate.

Madrid will cite low costs due to existing venues from previous bids, Tokyo is set to highlight a compact bid and Rio wants to bring the Olympics to new territories.

'Olympic Games can't be staged in rich countries alone,' said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula, whose country will host the 2014 football World Cup.

The 2016 bids come after two days of IOC executive board meetings which were due to be concluded later Tuesday. The IOC bosses dealt with various issues including the inclusion of new sports such as golf for 2016.