By: Maggie Barclay
As the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, draws closer, excitement and anticipation builds for the international event that highlights honor, respect and camaraderie.
Behind the beautiful cities and bustling towns that host the Summer Olympic games, almost ten years of work goes into making sure that the games run smoothly and seamlessly. Applying to be a host city for the Olympics is a competitive process. Countries have to place bids to take part in this process. The bidding procedure lasts for two years and is split into two phases: Applicant Phase and Candidature Phase.
During the Applicant Phase, each country has to fill out a questionnaire made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). After it is completed, a small group of Olympic representatives reviews it and then sends a detailed report to the Executive Board of the IOC. The IOC then decides which countries can move on to the second phase of the bidding process.
During the Candidature Phase, each country has to fill out an even more detailed questionnaire and include a blueprint of the city with additions for the Olympic Games, such as the Olympic Village, transportation, security and marketing information. After reviewing the information for each location, a team of Olympic officials, called the IOC Evaluation Commission, visits each city and tests their emergency procedures. After that, the candidate cities, or the countries applying to become a host city, must give several presentations to the IOC.
On election day, the candidate cities give a final presentation to the IOC. After, the members of the IOC cast their votes and a city is chosen. The chosen city then signs a Host City contract with the IOC to seal the deal.
In preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the IOC is currently in the process of administering 21 tests in Rio for their evaluation. In a recent interview, Carlos Nuzman, President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, said, “As we move at high speed from the planning to the execution phase of the project, we are dedicated to delivering on our vision for the Games. In a project of this magnitude, some obstacles will always exist, but with the help of our partners at the IOC and the three levels of government, we will overcome them. Our joint commitment to deliver excellent Games with memorable celebrations is stronger now than ever.”
After the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 2018 Winter Olympics will be hosted by Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the Summer Olympics in 2020 will take place in Tokyo, Japan.
Currently, the IOC is in the Candidature Phase for the 2022 Winter Olympics. There are only two cities that made it to this phase: Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beijing, China. On Tuesday January 6th, the candidate cities submitted the second questionnaire to the IOC. In February, the IOC Evaluation Commission began visiting and evaluating the candidate cities. Looking forward, the United States Olympic Committee has decided that Boston, Massachusetts will represent the United States as their bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. International competition for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games includes Rome, Berlin, Budapest, Istanbul, Doha and Dubai. The winning host city for the 2024 Games will be chosen during the summer of 2017.
Comments