CANDIDATE TOWNS FOR THE GAMES

Transcription

1 CANDIDATE TOWNS FOR THE GAMES The 31st December 1969 is the closing date for the list of candidate towns for the organisation of the 1976 Games. We thought it a good occasion, especially for our friends who are interested in statistics to draw up a table of towns which canvassed for the honour of celebrating the coming Olympiad, and those which were elected by the International Olympic Committee. One or two salient comments are required here. In their renaissance the Olympic Games are the embodiment of unity: of place and of choice. The first towns which were charged with the responsibility of uniting the youth of the world collected the unanimous or quasi-unanimous vote as they were a kind of symbol: Athens, the return to the original source; Paris, the touching of the cap to Baron de COUBERTIN; Saint-Louis, the New World;, the sports tradition. This last city did, however, run into serious competition as it was only thanks to the sudden and unexpected withdrawal of in 1906 that was chosen by the IOC to organise the Games of the IVth Olympiad. Wrote COUBERTIN: "The curtain descended discreetly on the backcloth of the Tiber and rose again forthwith on that of the Thames". The town of Tiberius had then to wait 52 years and make four bids of candidacy before welcoming the Olympic flame. We know furthermore that the Olympiad could not be celebrated three times, and curiously enough had been elected in 1916 and Tokyo in Other battles apart from the peaceful Games of the stadium were being held in these two metropoles of which both, in years to come, had the opportunity of proving their competence. Finally, the unity of place for all the events in the programme for the Games has rarely been respected. If one wants to bring up the fact that the Equestrian Games were held in Stockholm when the Olympic Games were being stated in Melbourne in 1956, one often forgets that what 669

2 we call the "Nautical Games", that is, yachting, have practically never been held in or near the Olympic town. Let us mention at this point the places furthest away, 250 to 500 km. - in 1936, Kiel; in 1948, Torquay; in 1960, Naples; in 1968, Acapulco. Similarly it has always been very rare that the entire equestrian events and certain shooting competitions remain inside the organising town. Is there in the world a town capable of combining the qualities required in a minimum perimeter? This is surely the argument which will be the criterion for the applicants for Monique BERLIOUX SUMMER GAMES Candidatures Towns Chosen 1896 Athens Athens 1900 Paris Paris Chicago then Saint-Louis 1904 Saint-Louis 1908 Milan ( was first chosen) 1912 Stockholm Stockholm 670

3 1916 Alexandria Cleveland (The Games did not take place). Antwerp 1920 Antwerp Lyon Amsterdam Barcelona 1924 Los Angeles Paris Paris Prague 1928 Amsterdam Amsterdam 1932 Los Angeles Los Angeles Alexandria Barcelona 1936 Cologne Dublin Frankfort/Main Helsingfors Nuremberg 671

4 Alexandria Athens Barcelona Dublin 1940 Helsingfors Lausanne Rio de Janeiro Tokyo Toronto or Helsingfors (although the Games had previously been awarded to Tokyo. They did not take place) Athens Lausanne (The Games did not take place) Amsterdam Athens Chicago Helsinki Lausanne Helsinki Minneapolis Philadelphia Stockholm 672

5 1956 Chicago Los Angeles Melbourne Mexico City Minneapolis Philadelphia San Francisco For the Equestrian Games, the candidates were: Los Angeles Paris Rio de Janeiro Stockholm Melbourne Stockholm 1960 Athens Brussels Lausanne Los Angeles Mexico Minneapolis New York Philadelphia Rio de Janeiro San Francisco Tokyo Chicago 673

6 1964 Brussels Tokyo Vienne Tokyo 1968 Lyon Mexico Mexico 1972 Madrid Munich Munich 1976 Los Angeles Florence (1) Moscoq (1) unconfirmed at the date of publication 674

7 WINTER GAMES Candidatures Towns Chosen 1924 Chamonix Chamonix 1928 Davos Engelberg Saint-Moritz Saint-Moritz 1932 Bear Montain Denver Duluth Lake Placid Minneapolis Yosemite Valley 1 Yosemite Valley 2 Lake-Placid 1936 Garmish-Partenkirchen Garmish-Partenkirchen 675

8 1940 Sapporo Saint-Moritz Saint-Moritz (The Games were first awarded to Sapporo who renounced them. They did not take place) Cortina d'ampezzo Cortina d Ampezzo (The Games did not take place) Saint-Moritz Saint-Moritz Lake Placid 1952 Oslo Cortina d'ampezzo Oslo 1956 Colorado Cortina d'ampezzo Oslo Cortina d Ampezzo 676

9 1960 Garmish- Partenkirchen Innsbruck Karachi Saint-Moritz Squaw Valley Squaw Valley 1964 Calgari Innsbruck Lahti Innsbruck 1968 Calgari Grenoble Lahti Lake Placid Oslo Sapporo Grenoble 1972 Banff Lahti Salt Lake City Sapporo Sapporo 1976 Lahti Grenade Vancouver Denver Sion 677