New York's Course to 2012 Olympics Takes Uphill Turn

The New York Times > Other Sports > Other Sports: "New York advanced to the final stage of the selection process for the 2012 Summer Olympics yesterday when the executive board of the International Olympic Committee trimmed the nine candidates to a group of five cosmopolitan cities. But Paris emerged as the front-runner in a field that includes three other European capitals: London, Madrid and Moscow. The winning city will be named on July 6, 2005.

Havana, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro and Leipzig, Germany, were deemed not strong enough to stage an event on a world scale. But a sober reality quickly set in. New York was ranked fourth among the five cities — behind all but Moscow — based on an evaluation of 11 technical criteria that included accommodations, infrastructure, security and transportation. Paris was ranked first, followed by Madrid and London."