(idea) by mattbw Fri Oct 06 2000 at 15:25:36
The colloquial name for Toronto's failed bid for the 2008 summer Olympics. Toronto was in competition for the rights against four other cities on the 2008 short list: Istanbul, Osaka, Paris and Beijing.

  1. Istanbul lacked infrastructure; and since the 2004 Olympics are also in Europe (Athens), it seemed an unlikely choice for the IOC.
  2. Osaka had a very strong bid, excellent support, and excellent infrastructure. However, its bid was hampered by Japan's recent games in Nagano.
  3. Paris also was excellent infrastructure, but suffered the same problem as Istanbul: too soon to have another Olympics in Europe.
  4. Beijing, capital of China, was considered the front runner in the race. China, the world's most populous nation, has never hosted an Olympics. It was understood to be the favorite of Juan Antonio Samaranch, and had a certain sympathy over losing the 2000 bid. However, Toronto held several technical advantages over Beijing:
    • Toronto is in an accessible time zone for North American television networks, which foot the lion's share of IOC's fees.
    • Toronto is not as polluted as Beijing
    • Toronto has better infrastructure
    • Beijing has traffic gridlock problems
    • There are many political/human rights problems with China, and performance enhancing drugs are rampant (e.g. Women's swimming)
On the other hand, Toronto's bid was hampered by local opposition. People from Kirkland Lake have attempted to sabotage the 2008 bid because of Toronto's plans to ship garbage to a landfill in the region. Another group, Bread not circuses, was opposed to the Olympics on philosophical grounds.

In the end, of course, Toronto lost big to Beijing. In the second round of voting at IOC session 112, the votes were as follows: 
Beijing   56
Toronto   22
Paris     18
Istanbul  9
Osaka     eliminated
This node was originally written prior to the IOC vote and has been updated to represent its results.
I like it!