2016 Olympic Games hopefuls eye IOC shortlist

By Karolos Grohmann
ATHENS (Reuters) - Seven cities bidding for the 2016 Olympics will hear on Wednesday whether they have made an International Olympic Committee shortlist, allowing them to enter a final round of bidding ahead of next year's decision.

The IOC's Executive Board will pick an unspecified number of cities for the shortlist, before candidates submit detailed files and allow IOC evaluators to inspect their bids ahead of the decision in October 2009.

Olympic hopefuls Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Doha look set to make the cut.
Czech capital Prague and Azerbaijan's Baku are seen as the outsiders in the race.

"The selection will be based on a detailed assessment by an IOC working group of each applicant city's ability to organize successful Games in 2016," the IOC has said.

Chicago is banking on a solid and well-backed bid and the fact that by 2016 it will have been 20 years since a U.S. city hosted the Games. Atlanta staged them in 1996.

Tokyo, which hosted the Games in 1964, is eager to present its revamped image and says its bid will not be hampered by another Asian capital staging this year's Games.

Madrid bid for the 2012 Games, losing out to Paris and eventual winners London, and the Spaniards want to capitalize on their momentum and what was seen in 2005 as a very good but unlucky proposal.

Rio, which will host matches during the 2014 soccer World Cup in Brazil, also staged last year's successful Pan-American Games, a considerable boost for their own Olympic chances.

Doha also hosted successful Asian Games in 2006 but many believe the step up to become a serious contender in this race is still too big for Qatar's capital with a population of about 500,000.

Prague officials have publicly said a bid for the 2020 or 2024 Games was more realistic while Baku is also seen as a premature bid with most of the basic infrastructure needed for the Games not yet in place.
(Editing by Justin Palmer)