Recession Weighs Heavily as Hopeful Hosts Convene in Denver

Olympic planners and hopeful representatives of prospective future host cities are in Denver this week for a conference on international sporting events. The downturn in the economy is a major focus of the meetings, especially for London, where the recession's timing has been unfortunate for the city's 2012 preparations.

The recession forms the backdrop to the SportAccord convention and International Olympic Committee executive board meetings in Denver, the biggest gathering of international sports officials in the United States since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

More than 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the conference, which will feature key public presentations Wednesday by the four candidates for the 2016 Olympics -- Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. With six months to go before the Oct. 2 vote in Copenhagen, the cities are trying to position themselves as the most financially secure to cope with the downturn.

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Despite the pressures, London organizers remain confident they will come within the overall 9.325 billion pound ($13.6 billion) budget for venues, infrastructure and regeneration. The figure is more than double the original estimate.

Source:
Recession forms backdrop of Olympic conference
Sports Illustrated
March 23, 2009