At 11.00am today (Friday, 16 January) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, Barbara Cassani (Head of the London 2012 bid team) and Ken Livingstone (Mayor of London) officially launched their bid document to end a wait of 64 years for the UK to host the Olympic Games.
Other cities set to bid for the right to host the summer Games in 2012 are Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
Today sees both London and Paris enter the bidding race in earnest by officially launching their campaigns having sent their documentation through to the International Olympic Committee.
“There may be a long way to go before the IOC announces the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games, but it is a great honour for the Millennium Stadium to be included as part of the London bid,” said Millennium Stadium chairman, David Pickering.
“The Millennium Stadium, built at the heart of one of Europe’s fastest growing capital cities, has been the home to international sport for almost 125 years.
“The Cardiff Arms Park site on which the stadium was erected has witnessed the 1999 Rugby World Cup final, the 1958 Commonwealth Games, the FA Cup final, World Championship boxing, international soccer, rugby league, and cricket, world class speedway and even greyhound racing.
“There is little or nothing that this great stadium cannot provide a home for in the sporting world and to be part of a successful bid to bring the Olympic Games to the UK would be fantastic.”
KEY DATES ON THE ROAD TO 2012
January 16, 2004: Cities send details of their bids to the IOC
Mid May: IOC decide which cities to accept as candidates.
August 13, 2004: Athens Olympic Games begins.
November 15, 2004: Cities submit complete bids.
Feb-March, 2005: IOC evaluation commission inspect cities.
May, 2005: Report of the evaluation commission.
July 6, 2005: Host city chosen in Singapore.
