IOC President on 2016 Competition

Ask a politician running for office his or her priorities and you'll get an insightful answer like this: "I'm for education and against crime."  The folks who run the International Olympic Committee are equally adept at giving non-answer answers.  Nonetheless, any time IOC President Jacques Rogge comments on the 2016 race it's worth posting.  The excellent Olympic newsletter Around the Rings (www.aroundtherings.com) had an exclusive interview in Berlin last week where they asked President Rogge to share his impressions of Rio, Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago.  Here's his response:

"Every one appeals according to its own qualities. But definitely the pitch of Rio is to say we can organize very good Games but the Games never came to South America. For me, most important is I am reassured that they could organize a very good bid. Chicago are saying ‘we represent the bid of America and you can trust America… it’s going to be very good Games’. The bid with obviously most of the money today is Tokyo, so moneywise there is no question mark. It is technically the most compact bid. And Madrid, you have the certainty that nothing is virtual and everything has been built. You have four different bids and my conclusion is, the good thing for the IOC, the IOC will be the winner. Take any bid and it will be able to have very good Games."