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The Games are awarded to the world's most populous country for first time in a politically charged vote.
©Washington Post
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 14, 2001
MOSCOW -- The International Olympic Committee decided to send the world's largest sporting event to its most populous nation for the first time, awarding the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing on Friday in a politically charged vote that IOC members say will help bring social change and openness to China.
Despite the protests of human rights activists, the IOC selected Beijing by a substantial majority in the second round of a secret ballot. Beijing won 56 of the votes of 105 IOC members, with Toronto earning 22, Paris 18 and Istanbul 9. Osaka, Japan, was eliminated on the first ballot.
When the result was announced by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch in a hotel conference hall here, members of the Beijing contingent burst from their seats, their elation pouring forth in piercing screams, wild sobs and tight embraces.
"I'm very excited," said Wang Wei, the secretary general of Beijing's bid committee. "We've been working very hard, and now our efforts have paid off. We thought we did an excellent job. With the Games coming to Beijing, the world is going to have a better understanding of our country and our people."
Officials representing Toronto's bid -- which some IOC members said was better technically than Beijing's -- sagged with disappointment and later accused the IOC of politicizing a vote that they said should have been about sports.
"For the IOC, it's good to have included 1.3-billion people in China with this decision," said German IOC member Thomas Bach. "This shows the universality of the Olympic Games, but it's also a challenge for the IOC members. We all knew the implications going in. I hope this vote contributes to improving the human rights situation."
Beijing also bid for the 2000 Olympics, losing by just two votes to Sydney in 1993. Opponents of the bid, which included some U.S. lawmakers and various international politicians, argued that sending the Olympics to China would glorify China's communist government. Dozens of anti-China protesters assembled with banners outside the IOC hotel Friday morning. About a dozen were detained by Russian police in riot gear.
Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., a longtime critic of Beijing who had urged the House of Representatives to pass a resolution opposing China's bid, denounced the selection.
"This decision will allow the Chinese police state to bask in the glory of the Olympic Games despite having one of the most abominable human rights records in the world," Lantos said. "China lacks political, religious and press freedoms, and it is an absolute outrage that the IOC has decided to reward China's deteriorating human rights record by giving Beijing the honor of hosting the Olympics."
The Bush administration decided this month to remain neutral on the selection despite appeals from members of Congress to oppose the bids on human rights grounds. Friday, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice called the selection "an IOC decision."
"American athletes are going to go there and they're going to compete and hopefully compete very well and bring home lots of gold medals," Rice said. "As to human rights in China . . . the president has made very clear that human rights will be on the agenda."
Toronto officials had hoped their supreme preparation -- nearly 75 percent of the required venues have already been built -- would be sufficient to upset Beijing, which has 40 percent of the venues built. Toronto, which brought a large group of Olympians here to promote its bid, consulted with athletes at every stage of the process and based its plan on athletes' recommendations.
"There is no question in my mind that it was a political vote," said Chantal Benoit, a member of Toronto's bid delegation. "It's sad that sport has not been recognized as the focus of these Olympic Games."
Beijing's success provided some satisfaction for the eight U.S. cities -- including a group from Tampa -- that hope to be selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee to bid for the 2012 Games. The IOC historically has avoided placing successive Games in the same part of the world, meaning a Toronto victory Friday would have been bad news for the U.S. hopefuls. Toronto officials, however, say they may try again for 2012 Olympics. Toronto bid team member Paul Henderson said no U.S. city would pose a threat.
"The United States is not going to get (the Games) in 2012, because Toronto is going to beat them," Henderson said. "If we had to go against New York City or Dallas, we could beat them easy. The cold air comes from Canada, and the hot air, from the United States."
U.S. IOC member Bob Ctvrtlik, one of the 15 athletes recently added to the organization, said he understood the bitterness and sadness that accompanied Toronto's loss. He admitted feeling consternation over the tone of discussions surrounding the election.
"It seemed to turn into a Beijing or anti-Beijing vote," he said. "That really didn't seem fair to the other countries."
Beijing was considered the favorite of Samaranch, who steps down as IOC president on Monday after 21 years and apparently believed sending the Olympics to China would strengthen his legacy.
Each bid city had an hour in front of the IOC body to make its case Friday, and never had such presentations been more significant. For the first time, IOC members had been banned from visiting the bid cities because of rule changes enacted in response to the Salt Lake City bribery scandal of 1999. Most members were familiar with the bids only through the dry and lengthy documentation provided by the IOC's evaluation commission, which had rated the bids of Beijing, Toronto and Paris excellent. The bids of Istanbul and Osaka were adjudged to have deficiencies.
The staid conference hall in which the presentations took place was occasionally transformed into a thumping theater with dancing, singing and live music as bid officials tried to sell their cities.
Toronto sent Native American dancers in full costume high-stepping down the aisles, beating on drums and clanging cymbals. Paris bid leaders brought out French soccer star Zinedane Zidane and a string of high-powered politicians, backing up their testimonials with footage of the city's most famous and romantic spots captured in sun-splashed splendor.
China's presentation was more understated, as bid officials and politicians took turns pleading with the IOC membership, urging the body to contribute to China's development by awarding Beijing the Games. Li Lanqing, the vice premier of China's state council, pledged that the government "would honor each commitment it had made" to the IOC regarding the Olympics.
"The IOC voted for a technically excellent bid," said Jacques Rogge, an IOC member from Belgium who hopes to succeed Samaranch. "The IOC chose, for added value, to go to a (country) with nearly one quarter of mankind and a country that never had the Olympics before. Toronto had no flaws. Paris had no flaws. Their handicap was being in countries that had organized Games several times."
Added Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper, "It was a resounding victory for China and the Chinese people."