Which city do you hope will be awarded the 2016 Olympics when the International Olympic Committee votes on Oct 2?

If the choice hadn't already been made, I would suggest Berlin. Why? It should be obvious!

techall: I guess I meant for the fans ;-)

Next friday,the games 2016 will be decided by 108 IOC members,if all of them vote.

They could vote anyway,as they are all former athletes in past Olympic games or sport officials for nations.

They will probably vote,for host nation ,that benefits the athletes/sports the most.

Every national vote, may have around 0.9 percent of votes.

Some nations have more than 0.9 percent of vote,they may be a big factor.

Next Friday,will be thank god its friday ,for some lucky olympic 2016 city.

Rio does sound good because they've never hosted it before in their area.

<b>omg! the olympics HAS to be in tokyo!!! tokyo 2016!!!</b>

womanforwomen- I am sport fan,I like all sport events.

I have always liked reading about hosting issues and debates, for all these games.

Sports is positive,for me.

Keeps me positive and in sportmanship frame of mind .

Yeah,May be money making ventures for some people.

Sports,it involves many good positive sportmanship values .

There is an excitement in knowing the hosts for 2016. Just watch for the celebrations/excitements,when host is decided on Oct 2nd in Copenhagen.

The biggest sport medal for any nation, is the Olympic host chance opportunity.

In just 6 more exciting days,everything can change for host nation ,via its responsiblity as host.

@Mz: It was a monumental failure. Japan build trophy stadiums in places that will never use them again. The local governments are stuck with maintenance bills. The finals stadium in Yokohama, at the present rate of rental usage will not pay for itself for 300 years.

Everyone said the soccer World Cup wouldn't work in Japan - it was a great success

rajakumar, why are you so worried about this olympics? Its just another money making venture of some people.

Last 6 days only ,for 4 countries in competitions to be Olympic host 2016.

Tokyo has the money in the bank and the bullet train system already in place. The question is, will Hatoyama make the trip to Copenhagen? If not, I think Oprah and Michelle will persuade the IOC in Chicago's favor.

Pumpychan at 10:16 PM JST - 24th September “Tokyo is a city that honours mainly the right to smoke a cigarette any damn time one pleases, rapid construction of architecturally horrid (interesting) buildings, cars (buses, trains) and trucks in earshot of any location, and enormous (beautiful) palace grounds which no one can use nor enter, protected by police with no visible function. There is not a quiet and truly clean park one can go (until Inokashira). Oh, and now helicopters rumble 14 hours per day overhead.”

Forgive my interjections, I couldn’t help myself. As for what you have to say I agree & have to say isn’t it just great! (Not a question). Actually from all that you wrote it would seem that Tokyo would be the perfect place for the Olympics, a crass over hyped sporting event designed to make as much money as possible for few people at the centre while numbing the brains of the sofa jocks that will sit & watch anything so long as some smart PR company calls it a sport.

The Olympics is a drain on any country and it is also very corrupt. I hope that it goes any where other than here in Japan. I hope Korea gets it! Maybe all that brown will be replaced with some live plants for a while at least.

Tokyo 2016!!!

I'm good with either Tokyo or Chicago because I can arrange to stay with friends and family either place.

Tokyo is a city that honors mainly the right to smoke cigarette any damn time one pleases, rapid construction of architecturally horrid buildings, cars and trucks in earshot of any location, and enormous palace grounds which no one can use nor enter, protected by police with no visible function. There is not a quiet and truly clean park one can go (until Inokashira). Oh, and now helicopters rumble 14 hours per day overhead.

There is no justification for awarding this unenlightened and environmentally sick city the Olympics.

Global economic needs a boost, USA 2016 will be good for boosting confidence in USA people and chain reaction for rest of world.

Rio can host in 2020 ,after the needed boost of global economic confidence via USA 2016.

south america has never hosted a Games...therefore Rio will get it.

I am strongly opposing Tokyo for various reasons. Rio would get a much needed boost from this.

Hope it will be Rio.

rajakumar: how will it help the global economy?

Only last 9 days, GO USA,Go 2016 Olympics USA. It will help global economy,if games in USA.

It will also help global economy,if Olympics 2016 in Japan.

Rio so we don't have to hear Ishihara's voice.

If Tokyo gets it, we'll be hearing about it for the next 20 years. I, personally, don't want Tokyo to get it because of Gov. Ishihara being such a rabid racist and bigot. If they get rid of him in the next election, then maybe I'd pull for Tokyo. Until then, no way on God's green earth. Furthermore, the disruption of the Tsukiji Market, too, and its planned relocation form a place its been in for decades, is another travesty.

I, persoanlly, believe ti si high time a South American City be a host, and I've been to Rio. good place, and hosting an Olympics wuld do so much for Brazil and the citizens of Rio.

The Olympic Games are just a forum for big companies to flaunt their name and a springboard for athletes to turn pro (if they aren't already pro). It's a disgusting spectacle with too much nationalism and very little sportsmanship. If it weren't for urine tests I bet everyone but the figure skaters would be on steroids. No, I take that back; the figure skaters would use drugs too.

Hold it any where you want, IOC. I promise I'll unplug my TV for the duration.

BurakuminDes, Obama stands no chance of re-election. His single-term Presidency will be regarded as one of the all-time worst.

amithinjapan, just delete the cookie and you can vote as many times as you want from the same computer.

Any city besides Tokyo please.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but Tokyo is not rated a chance in this race (recently lengthening to 5/1, with Rio firming to 11/4 and Chicago a dead-set special now at 8/11 - William Hill). Tokyo could possibly run it well, though, as Japan did for the even bigger sporting event : World Cup Korea/Japan 2002.

Chicago 2016 : Obama's Olympics, to cap off his 8 years in the Oval Office.

smartacus: "It's good to see Tokyo leading, which proves that those readers who have been bad-mouthing Tokyo's bid are in the minority."

A clear example of reverse bias, and a not-too-in-depth working of how a few votes on JT actually reflect world opinion. What's more, did you know you can vote on ANY computer without being logged in? True, once you do you cannot vote on that computer again, but let's say you have three computers in your house, and several at work....

My point is to assume that because of the number of votes for ANY country on JT after a couple of days means that country will win and others lose is rather premature.

Chicago gets my vote because I really want to see how “Homeland security” handles all those dangerous foreigners. Far more fun than the Olympics.

I have millions of great memories from Yoyogi Park and thausends of families, young peeps, couples wouldn't have this great space offered in the center of Tokyo anymore if the Olympics are to happen here. Ishihara is a boring maggot who can just reconfigure the map of Tokyo for his own fame.

Rio is the best choice, for many reasons.

Rio Rio Rio

i have a selfish reason for wanting it in tokyo. i'd like to see the olympics once in my lifetime & this would probably give me my best shot

The 2016 SHOULD go to Rio because a South American city has never hosted one.

However, because Obama is the world's president Chicago get the nod. If it doesn't, global liberals will be lining up to call the IOC leadership racists. Imagine how much money the crooked Chitown politician will be able to skim off the Olympics.

I hope it goes to Rio, since Brazil has never hosted the games.

Hahahaha !!!! smartacus I heard it was another rich area not odaiba area. well all the planning and dreaming will not amount to squat. Because it is going to Rio. Rio will be the winner !!!! Please don't cry !!!! People are more friendly in rio.

smartucus

your dreaming !!!! Nothing so compact will run that smooth. You are truly in dreamland.

@Brainiac:

That was my point. Smartacus inferred that there would be very little effect on the Tokyo transport system, but if all the visitors are staying in central Tokyo hotels (as well as those in Yokohama), there would be a significant effect on normal transportation.

techall

Actually, you don't need (or want) hotels in the vicinity of the Olympic venues themselves. Very few candidates cities do. I was fortunate to be at the superbly-run Sydney Olympics and all the major hotels were at least 20-30 minutes away from the main stadium by train, bus or limo.

In Tokyo's case, I think that getting to Odaiba from the main hotel areas such as Roppongi, Shinjuku, Shinagawa, Ginza, etc, will take not much longer than 20-30 minutes. It would be nice if JR could run some non-stop services from Shinjuku, Tokyo, Ueno, Shibuya and Shinagawa but I'm not sure if they have the tracks for it.

@smartacus:

The Olympics will be concentrated in the Odaiba area. There will be very little effect on transport systems in the rest of the city

Number of western style hotels in Odaiba = 2

memyselfl

OK, I'll play along and respond.

First, I use Tokyo's subways and I drive but what's the point? The Olympics will be concentrated in the Odaiba area. There will be very little effect on transport systems in the rest of the city, except for trains that will run 24 hours a day (and with greater frequency during the two weeks).

Next: The trains will not be packed with foreigners and also, please drop the xenophobic rubbish that "Japanese do not like foreigners." The thousands of foreigners married to Japanese, the thousands of long-term residents and the thousands of tourists who enjoy their visit here prove otherwise. Just because a few foreign readers on this site whine every so often, doesn't make it so.

Next: There will be no garbage on the streets or at train stations unless it is put there by visitors.

Next: No one will be standing in line for bottled water or cheeseburgers. Where did you get that fantasy from? Nor will there by lines for the restroom. There will be plenty of such facilities.

Fortunately, those with views such as yourself will have no say in whether or not Tokyo wins the Olympics. Anyway, each candidate city has its vocal opposition group. But as I said before, I hope we get it, and I support the bid, but if not, party on Rio.

smartacus- Are you joking ? Tokyo wants to design a " Compact Olympics. " Do you use Tokyo Subways or JR East to go to work ? Have you driven a automobile through Tokyo before ?

Tokyo cannot handle it!!! August is prime time for--All-- Japanese citizens to take vacation in the same month. Do you know how packed the trains will be with foreigners that Japanese people do not like and Japanese citizens from all over Japan to view the festivites. It would be a nightmare. Do you live in Tokyo ? Do you know how much garbage will be on the streets and train stations.

Do you want to stand in line for an hour for bottled water/ or a cheeseburger ? 2 hour line to go to the restroom. Do you think you can bring your own lunch and pet bottle beverage. Probably security reasons you can't bring anything (food/drink) inside the Olympics. Outrageous prices for everything !!!

Think about it before you say anything.

It's good to see Tokyo leading, which proves that those readers who have been bad-mouthing Tokyo's bid are in the minority. I also hope Tokyo wins it. As a resident, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance, it would give the economy a much-needed boost and it'll be fun.

My next choice would be Rio, where I am sure they will turn on a great party atmosphere.