A fierce battle to host the 2012 Olympics has already started. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab weighs the chances of the candidates Although the 2012 Olympics are still eight years away, the battle to host the Games is well underway and is expected to be the closest in years. With the five bidding cities -- London, Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow -- handing their final plans to the International Olympic Committee last week, there is no going back. Paris is the favourite to win the hosting rights after coming out on top when the shortlist of bidding cities was whittled down to five in May. The IOC ranked Madrid second. But IOC officials will scrutinise all the plans and visit each city before coming out with a verdict. The cities must be ready for the IOC inspection visits in February and March, and then keep their fingers crossed that things go their way in the final vote in Singapore on 6 July. Each city has its reasons for why they deserve to stage the biggest sporting show on earth. Paris plans to use the Stade de France as its Olympic stadium, having staged the 1998 World Cup final and 2003 World Athletics Championships there. Its other venues include Roland Garros, the Parc des Princes and beach volleyball beneath the Eiffel Tower. Madrid is promising an environmentally friendly Games, while New York is planning to use Yankee Stadium, Flushing Meadows and Madison Square Garden among its venues. And why not a Games in front of the United Nations. Moscow, which received the least flattering assessment from the IOC in May, says it will host a compact Games, with all sports within the city limits and a river plan for transportation. London's busy streets presents a challenge of their own. LONDON Bid leader Sebastian Coe was at London City airport to put the 600-page bid document on a plane to Lausanne. The candidate file, which took 10 months to produce and was printed in both English and French, will be sent out to all 128 IOC candidates. It provides detailed financial costs and answers specific questions from the IOC covering areas like marketing plans and environmental impact. London's plans are based on an Olympic zone around Stratford in the east of the city. Wembley, Wimbledon, Lord's, the Dome and Hyde Park will also be used as venues, with beach volleyball planned for Horse Guards Parade. The IOC report in May questioned London's transport network, the spread of its venues and levels of public support for the bid. But London's bid team are confident their latest plans will stand up to scrutiny. PARIS Paris is seen as the favourite for 2012 after finishing top of the class when the IOC cut the list of cities to five in May. It has a successful 1998 football World Cup and 2003 World Athletics Championships behind it, and most of its key venues are already in place. "Our slogan is 'L'amour des jeux' [love of the Games], which we believe reflects everything we want to put into our bid," said Paris 2012 global media officer Valerie Amant. "It's a reflection of our savoir faire in staging global sports events and indicates that we place the athletes at the heart of our concept and have done our best to meet the needs of the Olympic family. "Our two main venue, clusters in the north and west of the city, are eight and six minutes away from the athletes' village. Eighty per cent of all sports are within 10 minutes of the athletes' village. "That ensures there will be optimum management of security, transport and logistics. It will be a very compact Games, and will leave the centre of Paris free from traffic." NEW YORK New York executive director Jay Kriegel insists the city's bid has taken a significant step forward since it was ranked fourth by the IOC in May. Kriegel's team have made considerable changes to their Olympic village and transport plans which they believe answer concerns raised by the IOC. "There's no question that you need an outstanding technical bid, and we think we've got one," he said. "Our athletes' village is in the centre of the city, right across from the United Nations, which in a sense is different from the recent trend at the Games. "Combined with the compactness of our plans, it means athletes and spectators can get to venues quickly, and we have an unusual concentration of hotel rooms right in the city centre. "The legacy aspect is important to us. We don't have to talk about building a lot of infrastructure, but we can use the Games to do tremendous things environmentally and to create facilities for the future. "This is a city which in many ways reflects the core Olympic values. It brings the world together every day and wherever you are from, you will get the same opportunity." MADRID Madrid 2012 President Feliciano Mayoral believes the city's plans for a compact, environmentally- friendly Games will make it an attractive option for the IOC. The city, which has never hosted the Olympics, promises a "car-free" event, with sports staged in three main zones, and a "tangible legacy" for the city. According to Mayoral, the bid's main strengths are its technical projects, based on the concentration and proximity of the venues and facilities, a transport plan which promotes and encourages public transport, and an environmental plan which states that all the new infrastructures that will be built and the location of venues must observe and respect every international environmental law. MOSCOW Moscow is seen as an outsider but the Russian capital argues that its experience of hosting major sporting events on a regular basis makes it a safe choice. "Our plans for 2012 are based on existing facilities and that obviously cuts our expenses," said Moscow 2012 information manager Ekaterina Militskaya. "And we have good experience of using the Olympic legacy after the Games. Almost all of our facilities from the 1980 Olympics are still being used. "We think our Olympic river plan is the most compact in the history of the Games. The main sports facilities and the athletes and media villages are situated along the Moscow River. Around 60,000 visitors can travel by boat to Olympic venues. "It cuts down travelling times and is also a plus for security planning. The longest trip will be to the sailing centre, which is about 70 minutes away."
