The five candidate cities for the 2012 Olympic Games were Paris, France; New York, USA; Moscow, Russia; London, GREat Britain and Madrid, Spain.
A candidate city needed more than 50% of the votes to be elected. If no city received the required votes, then the city with the lowest number of votes dropped off the slate. Eliminated in the rounds of voting were in order:
Vote 1 - Moscow
Vote 2 - New York
Vote 3 - Madrid
In the final vote between London and Paris, London achieved 54 votes and Paris 50.
The envelope containing the name of the city to host the 2012 Olympic Games was carried to the President of the IOC by 14 year-old sailor, Griselda KHNG (SIN).
Griselda’s most recent success was winning the Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) Optimist Championship in Myanmar, in December 2004, and she also holds the title of Asian Optimist Champion. She will be 21 by the time of the 2012 Olympics, and with sailing a core sport in Singapore, Griselda will no doubt be hoping to represent her nation at those Games.
GREat Britain will host the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition at the new Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA).
In Singapore and present when the IOC decision was announced, the ISAF President Göran Petersson commented, 'Weymouth will host an excellent sailing venue. Weymouth is renowned for its sailing, both the organisation and the conditions.
'Numerous international events have been held there and ISAF has excellent relationships, both with the London 2012 Organising Committee and the national authority, the Royal Yachting Association. We are very happy with the IOC choice of venue and look forward to the next seven years of collaboration.'
The ISAF President went on to say, 'ISAF visited the sailing venues for all five candidate cities and they were all able to provide outstanding venues, conditions and co-operation for the sport.'
HRH The Princess Royal, IOC Member and President of the Royal Yachting Association, officially opened the £7.85 million purpose built Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on Thursday, June 9.
On the day of the opening, the Princess spoke of her joy on the creation of the National Academy: 'It is a real pleasure to see the marvellous facilities here. The centre is now amongst the best in the world. I have attended six Olympic Games as an IOC member and I am confident that the combination of the shoreside facilities and the quality of the waters will provide opportunities for the best Olympic sailing ever here at Weymouth.'
Set up as a 'Sailing Centre of Excellence', the Academy is located within the former Royal Naval Air Station, HMS Osprey, Portland. This site covers approximately seven acres and launches directly into the sheltered water of Portland Harbour. Immediately outside the harbour, excellent sailing can be found in Weymouth Bay. The enclosed harbour will provide one course area offering flat water, with four other course areas planned in the bay in relatively close proximity to the shore.
The Academy’s state of the art facilities include new pontoons, launching ramps and extensive development of onshore facilities. The dedicated strength and conditioning gym is fully tailored to the specific needs of the sport, for able-bodied and disabled sailors alike. The National Sailing Academy will be further improved as the future Olympic sailing venue and benefit from the improved facilities the Games will leave behind, providing a state-of-the-art facility for elite training, competition and local community use. The venue will be available as a training centre prior to the Games.
The London Organising Committee has already confirmed to ISAF that the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition will be preceded by two test events in 2010 and 2011.
Currently, the competition schedule is proposed to run from 28 July to 11 August, with the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on 27 July and Closing Ceremony on 12 August 2012.
The National Sailing Academy in Portland Harbour, situated approximately two and a half hours away from London, Weymouth and the south west of England, has excellent road and rail links to London and the rest of the UK.
Competitors will be accommodated on a cruise liner in the bay, with race officials at local hotels.
A spectator friendly venue, fans will be able to line the shores of Dorset and east Devon to enjoy the sailing events.
The world’s pinnacle youth sailing event, the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship, will be held at same venue in Weymouth in 2006, from 12-21 July.
2012 marks the first time the Olympics has been held in Britain since 1948. IOC President, Jacques ROGGE, had correctly forecast a cliffhanger vote and offered his congratulations to the winners. 'We knew the two bids were very, very close - well done, London. It will be a superb Games and will strengthen the Olympics,' he said.
部分词汇解释 :
candidate n.候选人, 投考者
eliminate vt.排除, 消除 v.除去
achieve vt.完成, 达到
numerous adj.众多的, 许多的, 无数的
venue n.犯罪地点, 审判地, 集合地点, 会议地点, 比赛地点, 管辖地
