Guatemala Report: Close Race for 2014 Say IOC Members, London Leaders Divert to Acapulco

IOC President Jacques Rogge cuts the ribbon at the dedication of a street for Olympic sports in Guatemala Monday. (ATR)Rogge, IOC Members Predict Close Race

Members of the IOC, including President Jacques Rogge, tell Around the Rings they believe the race is too close to predict, two days before the vote.

“There is simply not a big gap between the three cities”, said Rogge on Monday.

Only two of more than a dozen members who spoke to ATR in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel professed to have a choice for their first round of voting.

Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba, elected only last year to the IOC, will be making her first vote for an Olympic host city.

From a country without a winter sports heritage, like dozens of other members, her comments may indicate that many swing votes are up for grabs.

She says she wants to meet with representatives of the 2014 bids before she makes up her mind. Hoevertsz says the final presentations of the three cities will also be a factor in her decision.

Peter Tallberg of Finland, who has voted many times in his IOC career for a host city, says he cannot predict how this race will be decided, which he says may the closest contest ever.

Several members say they do not believe a first round victory is possible.

IOC Voting Numbers for the 2014 Vote

New figures from the IOC show that only 97 of the 111 current IOC members will be eligible to cast first round votes for the 2014 host city.

For a first-round victory, assuming no other First-time IOC voter Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba. (ATR)members drop out of the July 4 vote, 49 votes will be needed.

Eight members are excluded from the first vote because they are from countries bidding for the Games. Members will be eligible to vote in the second round if the bid from their country is eliminated.

The IOC President votes only in case of a tie.

Then there are five more members who have been excused from the Session, which lowers the eligible first-round voters to 97.

The five excused members include: Prince Nawaf Faisal Fahd Adulaziz from Saudi Arabia, Barbara Kendall of New Zealand, Princess Nora of Liechtenstein, Randir Singh of India and Pernilla Wiberg from Sweden.

London 2012 Chair Goes to Acapulco

Reports from the organizers of the next three Olympic Games wrapped up two days of IOC Executive Board meetings in Guatemala, but missing from the program were London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe and COO Paul Deighton.

Both spent the day in Acapulco, unintentionally.

Electrical storms forced their plane to land at the Mexico resort Sunday night.

Jackie Brock-Doyle, LOCOG communications director, stood in to update EB members on London Olympic preparations.

Despite last week's car bomb threats in London and Glasgow, Brock-Doyle told Around the Rings that security for the Games was not discussed. The presentation was a straightforward update on all aspects of Games preparations, she said.

Coe and Deighton are due in Guatemala on Monday.

VANOC CEO John Furlong and his colleagues also had a problematic ride to Guatemala, their flight from Vancouver forced to land in Oklahoma due to weather. A change of aircraft also meant Furlong’s suitcase went missing, leaving him with a mismatched wardrobe for his report to the EB.

On the scene coverage of the Guatemala IOC meetings continues throughout the week at www.aroundtherings.com.