Bidding for the Games -- Rome Mayor Inspects Beijing Venues; Question Marks for India 2020

Rome Mayor Inspects Beijing Olympic Venues

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno gets a look at venues for the 2008 Olympics during a visit to Beijing.

"The Olympics of 2008 Beijing have been a great event, which have left a better city. Infrastructure in places that people can use for 50 years and a net decrease in pollution. Even Rome wants to achieve the same result, but will do so at a lower cost," said Alemanno.

Alemanno said that he would like to see the Olympic Stadium and nearby venues built for the 1960 Games undergo a renovation, suggesting Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava as suitable candidate. Calatrava is the architect for the Sports City development at Tor Vergata on the east edge of Rome.

Rome is the only city so far to win the backing of its NOC to apply to bid for the 2020 Olympics, a process that will start in mid-2011.

Alemanno is leading the delegation from Rome to this week’s summit of the World Union of Olympic Cities being held in Beijing, an event drawing other bid cities, such as the 2018 Winter Games.

The mayor says he is still waiting for a decision from Gianni Letta, a mover and shaker in Italian sport and politics, as to whether he will lead the bid. Alemanno says Letta has told him he’ll let him know upon his return to Rome.

Kalmadi Eases Away From India 2020 Commitment

The man behind Delhi 2010 seems to be thinking twice about India 2020.

Organizing committee chief Suresh Kalmadi appeared to waver for the first time Tuesday in his insistence on an Olympic-sized follow-up to the ongoing Commonwealth Games.

"Well I have a dream [of getting Olympics to India], but I don't know when," he told assembled media during his daily press briefing.

"I will decide after the Commonwealth Games. Let's see when we can get Olympics. We have to speak to the Government after the Games."

Also Tuesday, LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe suggested India may not be ready for the next step.

"I am sure they will want to look at that," he said during an observation visit to Delhi, "but I'm not sure that it should be quite yet."

Coe for the most part praised these CWG, even the controversial athletes’ village and the Games legacy, long a chief cause of concern for organizers.

"People who live here say that journeys that used to take an hour and a half are now taking 20 minutes," Coe told The Guardian.

"The structural legacy is quite profound if you see the way the city has developed in the last five years."

These comments come less than two weeks after Kalmadi’s assurance on the eve of Delhi 2010 that a successful CWG would significantly bolster his country’s shot at the Summer Games, a sentiment IOC president Jacques Rogge later echoed.

"It’s more complicated organization," Rogge told Times of India TV after the Oct. 3 opening ceremony, "but I think if the Commonwealth Games are a success, which I believe they would be, it's a very good foundation stone to think about the possible conduct of the traditional Games."

Rogge also said India must better its sporting performance ahead of a bid, calling for "more gold medals from the second most populous country in the world."

India sits third in the medal tally in Delhi but has two more golds than second-place England, results good enough for the country’s best-ever CWG.

Many had viewed the competition as a stepping stone to the subcontinent’s first Olympic Games.

Kalmadi, also president of the Indian Olympic Association, has for years touted India 2020 after losing the 2014 Asian Games to South Korea.

Indian media reported in early August that the IOA actually decided last year to push for 2020, a bid that seems less and less likely by the day.

Kalmadi and his country’s government have long been at odds about when, and if, India will vie for the Games.

Annecy Secures Airport Partnership

Annecy 2018 has the support of regional airports, a logistical necessity should France’s efforts to host the Winter Olympics for a fourth time bear fruit.

Aéroports de Lyon signed a partnership agreement Tuesday, pledging to promote the bid among its passengers in the run-up to next summer’s IOC vote and to serve as a gateway to the Alps during a potential Games.

"Having a French international airport close to the proposed venues for the Olympic events is a key asset for our bid," Annecy 2018 CEO Edgar Grospiron said in a statement.

Lyon-Saint Exupéry international airport is 80 minutes away from the French lakeside resort. Together with Lyon-Bron business airport, Aéroports de Lyon annually serves eight million passengers and more than 120 destinations.

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.