OLYMPICS IOC cuts list to five sites vying to host 2012 event

Paris is the front runner along with New York, London, Madrid and Moscow.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The competition for the 2012 Summer Games was cut Tuesday from nine cities to five: New York, Paris, London, Madrid and Moscow.
The International Olympic Committee's policy-making executive board cut Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Havana and Leipzig, Germany, following the recommendations of an internal report that said those cities didn't measure up.
The IOC will pick the winner at an all-delegates session in Singapore on July 6, 2005.
Paris emerged as the front-runner, ranking first overall in the various so-called technical measures, including security and transport capabilities, that formed the basis of the report.
But Philippe Baudillon, the Paris 2012 chief executive officer, said, "Nobody is first," adding, "It's a great a victory for the IOC. Five major countries. Five major cities. They will have l'embarras du choix," which roughly translates to "embarrassment of choices."
Long campaign begins
Tuesday's action sets the stage for a 14-month campaign in which politics and perception can play roles as important as the number of hotel rooms a city can offer.
The IOC is dominated by Europeans, and the vote for the 2012 Games will be bracketed by two editions of the Games, both in Europe -- the Summer Games in Athens in 2004, the Winter Games in Turin, Italy, in 2006.
Yet there is a perception, expressed by some influential IOC members, that the 2012 Games are Europe's due -- after the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
The United States has played host to the Games four times over the last 20 years -- Winter Games in Lake Placid in 1980 and Salt Lake City in 2002, and Summer Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996. That's more than any other nation in recent years.
Seeks first Games
New York has never played host to the Games. But the New York bid is running into ill will linked to the U.S.-led war on Iraq and difficulties in obtaining visas to enter the United States.
Certain to be a factor is lingering anti-American sentiment in the IOC. It surfaces repeatedly, as it did Tuesday in the technical report.
No mention was made of the success of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Instead, the report said, "Recent Olympic Summer Games experience in the United States, particularly the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, was also noted."
Within the IOC, those Games are still "noted" for technology, transport and security shortcomings.
New York ranked fourth in Tuesday's report, behind Paris, Madrid and London. But the grades were close and the report stressed that the IOC evaluation resulted in a "high level of confidence" that New York, Paris London and Madrid had "the capability" to host the Games.
Moscow's capabilities, it said, were "less certain."
Another technical evaluation of the candidates will be done next May.