Why was London chosen as host city of the XXXth Olympic Games? By Gael

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in London from 27th July to 12th August 2012. London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.

London was elected host city by 54 votes whereas Paris received 50 votes. However, the city wasn't originally favorite to organize these Games. On 18th May 2004, the International Olympic Committee announced the cities accepted as candidates, with, as usual, a weighted-average score for each city. Paris was first with 8.5 points, then Madrid with 8.3 points. London only got 7.6 points and was the third city in terms of score.

But london has advantages over its contestants such as sufficient hotels to host athletes and tourists, an adequate transport system, and sophisticated sports facilities.

London's budget is nearly tree times bigger ($15,79 million) than the other contestants' (Paris budget: $6,21 million).

The 116 IOC members chose London in July 2005, convinced London was best able to organize the Olympic Games. Today, when we see how badly hit France is by the economic crisis, they probably made the right choice in the end...