Madrid, London, Paris, New York and Moscow are currently battling for the right to host the Olympic Games in 2012. Starting today and up until the announcement of the results on 9 July, Al-Ahram Weekly will offer periodic updates on the latest news of the five bidding cities, as provided by the candidates themselves About New York THERE are some things to know about New York, according to the bid committee. The creation of three new multi-use facilities and 10 additional world-class venues will make New York City a global destination for Olympic sports. If honoured as the 2012 host city, New York will immediately partner with international federations to harness the city's marketing, media, and financial resources to serve Olympic sports. Olympic projects -- including the Olympic Village, Olympic Stadium and Williamsburg Waterfront Park -- will make sports the centre of vibrant new neighborhoods, and the catalyst for revitalising the city's underused waterfront. The Games will spur the largest environmental transformation in New York history, creating more than 300 hectares of new or enhanced parkland, transforming polluted lakes and waterways into recreational centres, and leaving a legacy of new sustainable buildings and communities. New York will mobilise its humanitarian, diplomatic, cultural, and corporate communities to support the Olympic movement's ideal of peace and development through sport. An Olympic legacy foundation will be established after the Games to support and sustain New York's Olympic legacies, maintaining facilities, funding elite international training programmes, and supporting youth sports programmes. New York City started celebrating the 100-day countdown to the Olympic host city decision in Singapore on 6 July by decorating 100 parks in the city's five boroughs and by launching a daily countdown on major signs in Times Square. Starting at 7am on Monday, to coincide with the projected time of the IOC decision on July 6, three of the most prominent video screens in Times Square, will salute New York's Olympic bid and begin the daily countdown to the IOC decision in Singapore. Among the parks where NYC2012 flags will be flown are Manhattan's Central Park, the proposed site for the triathlon competition during a New York Games, Brooklyn's Prospect Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park, Queens' Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the proposed site for Olympic Park and six sports in 2012, Staten Island's LaTourette Park, the proposed venue for equestrian events, and, of course, the Bronx's Yankee Stadium, the proposed future home for Olympic Baseball. "New York's Olympic effort was born more than 10 years ago, and we are now entering the final 100 days," said Deputy Mayor and NYC2012 founder Daniel Doctoroff. "Throughout each stage of the bidding process, New York has displayed its energy and passion for the Olympic Games, and every sector has rallied behind our Olympic dream -- including 400 nationality organisations, more than 1,800 Olympians and Paralympians from 50 countries, and New York's sports, business, cultural and academic communities. Now, with only 100 days to go, our whole city begins the countdown of days, hours, and minutes, to the realisation of our Olympic dream." More in Madrid MADRID has announced that the 2012 delegation will be made up of 16 people who will present the city's case to the IOC. Although the identity of the members of this select group will be made public at a later date, it is known that the group's members have increased. The 117th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will take place entirely in the Raffles Ballroom of the Swissotel Stamford Hotel, which can host up to 3,000 people. All the five cities will have at their disposal a nearby room to prepare their presentations. The organising committee has decided that the Spanish candidacy will host the Fullerton room. Fullerton was a famed English general. Madrid 2012 will have 100 rooms in the Swissotel Stamford Hotel, booked by the IOC, but it has also booked some more with the help of the Spanish Embassy in Singapore at the nearby Raffles Hotel, the most exclusive hotel in the city. Paris backing WITH now less than 100 days to the IOC's decisive vote, La Rochelle, the sailing Olympic Village has embraced the occasion to emphasise its commitment for the Paris 2012 bid. Since 28 March and until 6 July, the two towers at the opening of the old port will be illuminated in the colours of "L'Amour des Jeux" with a luminous "countdown" clock. Images of the bid have also been projected on a wall of water between the two towers. Four other cities are also associated with the Paris 2012 dossier; Lens, Lyon, Marseille and Nantes will host football events if Paris is chosen. Free day THOUSANDS of Londoners have enjoyed a day of free access to sport thanks to a new London 2012 initiative. More than 100 venues in the capital signed up to Celebrate Sport with London 2012, offering the public free access to facilities, coaching and equipment. Youngsters who signed up for an introduction to sailing in London's Docklands enjoyed an exclusive training session from a very special coach -- Olympic sailing gold medallist Sarah Webb. Webb, who was part of the three-strong crew which struck gold in Athens, spent the morning at the Royal Victoria Dock Sailing Centre in east London before visiting a number of other venues across the capital. Meanwhile, children in Romford were given the chance to try football and Kwik-Cricket thanks to the Sikh Community Care Project (SCCP), which also provided activities for young mums during the day. "Our sports project has been pivotal in empowering and enabling our community to access new opportunities in participation, education and training," Jasbir Sanger, SCCP manager, said. "The SCCP sees the importance of sport in creating healthy lifestyles and improving the well-being of all members of our community, and fully backs the bid to stage the Games in 2012." London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe welcomed the initiative and thanked the partners who opened their doors for the day. "This is a fantastic scheme that will encourage adults and young people to get off the sofa and get fit," said the double Olympic champion. "This to me is what a London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games is all about -- encouraging more people to take part in sport. "This is why we are working hard to bring the Games to London in 2012 and to deliver a world-class event in a world-class city. I am grateful to all those organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors of sport for their support in making this day happen." In writing THE GROUP of young Russians that set out on an expedition to the south coast of Antarctica on 11 March are claiming a new world record after emblazoning across the coast Moscow's hope to host the Olympics. The group, whose members are aged 13 -- 20, wrote "PEACE. MOSCOW 2012" across the Antarctic snow in rolls of red fabric 500 metres wide on 16 March. A claim for a world's first for the size of a message written at the pole is being made to the Guinness Book of Records. The team set out for their two-day march to the coast on 11 March and spent four days there before heading back on 17 March. "It's worth every step of the way if we have helped Moscow in its bid for the 2012 Games," one of the group members on the expedition said.
