NEWS: London To Host The 2012 Olympics!

Originally posted by Otts
I'm happy for London, they obviously had a very good organization.

To the Paris people, job well done, they should definitely get them in 2016 or 2020.

Yeah, both they and London were overdue.

Though I really thought it should go to Paris. I'm not suprised it didn't go to NY at all, but London?

Anyone know the history of awarding the games of peace to countries at war? I'm curious if this is a "fresh approach" to the Olympics or what.

[edit on 6-7-2005 by RANT]

RANT - I don't really mind the Games going to London that much. I think that one way or the other, some politicians were going to gloat about what it meant for their policies. So Tony Blair can gloat all he wants, I'm happy for the PEOPLE of London and Britain.

Just like I wish the PEOPLE of France and Paris had gotten the chance to host the Games. I'm sure their turn will come.

XyZer - There's a strong anti-French stance from some posters at ATS... it dates back, give or take, to France's opposition to the war in Iraq.

I'm lucky I'm French Canadian. If I were French, I doubt I'd be posting here.

They have just said that London beat Paris by 4 points,

I think all the countrys involved did really well,



LONDON GAMES WILL INSPIRE

In the final stage of voting, the two cities went head-to-head after Moscow, New York and Madrid dropped out. London won by 54 votes to 50.

TEARS OF JOY FOR LONDON

[edit on 6-7-2005 by asala]

I wonder if Finland gave their two votes to London. If that is the case and Chirac hadn't opened his arrogant mouth, the vote might have been 52 - 52. I guess this means the french will just be even ruder to Brits from now on.

this is great
this should create new jobs in London

congrats london, haha chirac

lets see, the fifth round was decided 54-50, and 2 finns have votes. Do you think the coment on finnish food hurt chirac


I didn't want in in NYC, in fact most people didn't. What a week in london, live 8 and now this

cheers !

Originally posted by XyZeR
i seriously don't know what the French ever did to piss of you guys so much, could anyone inform me about that ?

Although the French have been known to P the Brits off over the years and totally forget what we did for them during WWII, lately most of the hatred between us has been due to a certain Mr Chirac (idiot).....

Just two days ago Mr Chirac decided it would be clever to announce that the only thing Britain has give to Europe is CJD (mad cow disease!) and that British cuisine is rubbish!

Now do you understand the feelings between the British and French?

Mic

nice to have the olympics somewhere near, and congrats to the brits

Originally posted by paperclip
Hopefully by the year 2012, such petty things like ultra-nationalist and overly patriotic bickering will be eradicated, people will stop bashing entire nations because of one politician who is not much liked at home either and we will all be able to properly enjoy the games.

so true...the amount of almost rassistic nonsense on this board is really sick. no matter if it's the "average" member, council members or even .. you know who.

"the french are all a-*****"

"the EU, the french, all whiners..blabla"

etc. etc. etc.

almost every day i read on this board, it's always the same, and a good reason to stay away from this nonsense...all the hate towards a whole nation, with all the millions of citizens that did not choose to be born there, and obviously do not even support every thing their politicians say.... fantastic job of denying ignorance.....

well thats what chirac gets for insulting british food

france doesnt have good luck against anyone do they?

Ever since the French people voted no in their referendum on the EU constitution Chirac has been trying to divert attention from his own unpopularity by spoiling for a fight with Blair. It's been really obvious, it's petty, and it's backfired atleast twice now. First at the EU budget talks where he tried to isolate the UK and now with this.

I'm a European and I like the French. They haven't held the Olympics since 1924 and I'm sure they are disappointed about this.

Britain last held the Olympics in 1948. There is an important point to make about that. We were asked by the IOC to step up and help out by holding that Olympics at a time after the second world war when we were very poor and our people were still on rationing. Still we stood up with very little notice or planning because we understood the importance of the Games. .

So I'm very pleased we got this and we have enough time to plan it and do a good job .

I hope Chirac drops this anglophobic act now so he can deal with the important issues at the G8 summit which should go beyond a battle of egos and take care of business for Africa and Climate Change.

[edit on 6-7-2005 by John bull 1]

First off, congrats to London. They deserve this.

Second, it's pathetic how so many people are using this to attack France. So who cares what Chirac says, that's on him. But to insult an entire country and say things like "they don't seem to have good luck against anybody?" (which is 100% false, if you pay attention to anything). How low can someone go?

They disagreed with us. Get over it, disagreement is a part of life.

I'm inclined to agree with sweatmonicaIdo on one point. We should not allow ourselves to get too caught up associating the olympics with these politicians. Chances are none of them will be in office when the 2012 Olympics take place anyways. We have to remember, they do what's best for them, just like JB1 pointed out, not what's best for everyone. Politicians' actions definitely never match the "Olympic Spirit".

Now, I'm a New Yorker, and I'm really not surprised at all that my city didn't win. Our bumbling city politicians led by our Mayor decided that having the Olympics was secondary in importance to having a stadium on the already congested West Side of Manhattan. Mayor Doofus didn't realize that many residents of Manhattan weren't interested in adding 50,000 cars to their Sunday evening drive, so his stadium (and the Olympic plan he latched it to) were defeated. They had to hastily draw up a new plan in Queens and submit it, in a highly unorthodox move by IOC standards.

New York's Olympic plan was saddled with greedy politicians and businessmen and was very weak on the spirit of the Athletic part of the games.

Just look at the comments from the bid committees. London's people were all excited that millions of kids would participate in sports etc. NY's bid people were busy talking about what goodies they'd get to keep afterwards. Those people were a horrible representation of New York City.

Congratulations to London, a city that actually wanted the Olympic Games. I'm sure they'll be spectacular.

[edit on 7-6-2005 by Djarums]

Although I am a Francophile, and love France, its food and its people, it is fantastic news for the United Kingdom. I am a Londoner but ex-pat and living in the South. Weymouth and Portland just along the coast are going to host the sailing. The only problem is the lack of good roads down there!

People forget that London hosted in 1908 and then in 1948, the latter when no-one else could/would do so after the war.

Commisserations to Madrid, NYC, Moscow as well.

Originally posted by MickeyDee

Just two days ago Mr Chirac decided it would be clever to announce that the only thing Britain has give to Europe is CJD (mad cow disease!) and that British cuisine is rubbish!

Well MickeyDee, it is true that British cuisine is dull, no denying that, if it hadn’t been for those Asian curries to flavor things up; but for Chirac to openly criticize like that in an international forum is very unbecoming of a statesman. But probably this shows true French attitude to the UK & USA, probably this sort of thing is very common in France.


Great it is LONDON and not PARIS!!
Atlest people don’t have to go to Paris and face condescending stares from the French!

Originally posted by IAF101
But probably this shows true French attitude to the UK & USA, probably this sort of thing is very common in France.

George W. Bush can't pronounce two sentences without tripping over his words. Probably that sort of thing is very common in America.

How do you like that kind of generalization?

Originally posted by Otts
George W. Bush can't pronounce two sentences without tripping over his words. Probably that sort of thing is very common in America.

How do you like that kind of generalization?

Bush's inability is personal, it is not filled with contempt to anybody but Chirac's comments show personality, a personality that has made him the President of France, so yeah i would say that we can safely generalize that thats what the French feel.
Also Chirac is bald, so is everybody in France bald? Thats the kind of genralization you wish to make and infer from my post?

Originally posted by Otts

Originally posted by IAF101
But probably this shows true French attitude to the UK & USA, probably this sort of thing is very common in France.

George W. Bush can't pronounce two sentences without tripping over his words. Probably that sort of thing is very common in America.

How do you like that kind of generalization?

however his generalization is 100% correct, the French make is very easy to hate them, despite going there several times, Ive never met *anyone* who was nice and every other country Ive been too, its the exact opposite.

I think you get my meaning. Inferring from a leader's statements that most of his countrymen and countrywomen think like him - especially when those statements were uttered in privacy - is exaggerated, to say the least... and gratuitous when you don't know that country's political context.

London is a nice place in certain parts but its quite built up already it did not need the olympics, the money could have been used for improving poorer areas. People will agree to pay all these extra taxes because its sport, but if you worked out how much extra you would have to pay for all this would you want it? Yes its a really nice idea but like todays government does the public get a saying, I would like it if they could have an option questionair on your tax forms to chose where your money goes.
So how much will the people pay out of their taxes, will local areas pay the most? Will everybody have to have an ID card by then to get in?
Its great yes but worrying also.

I remember another of Tony Blair's pet projects, the Millenium Dome. Final cost was over £750Million, courtesy of the taxpayer.
I'm sure that there must be a few people already wringing their hands with glee and ordering the new Bentley and Aston Martin catalogues at the prospect of all that public money for the 2012 Olympics.

Lets also not forget that all the urban renewal projects for East London, better transport links etc, were all contingent on a successful bid. That smacks a bit of blackmail. Why should much needed work hinge on somebody's prestige project?
I can see nothing but grief and spiralling costs ahead as work gets under way.