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LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

TAMPA/ROME, Aug 24: The Olympic spirit is alive and well in the Eternal City as Rome prepares for the 50 year anniversary celebration tomorrow for the 1960 Games and looks excitedly ahead to the new 2020 bid.

The ceremony which will be rich with memories of yesterday and dreams for tomorrow will set the stage for Rome as a “world capital for sport”.

Tomorrow at the Piazza del Campidoglio there will be a ceremony including Gianni Alemanno, mayor of Rome, Alessandro Cochi, delegated for sport by the mayor of Rome, Gianni Petrucci, president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Franco Carraro, head of the committee for the Rome '60 celebrations and IOC member, Mario Pescante, IOC vice-president, e Luca Pancalli, Italian Paralympic Committee president.

The committee is planning many cameo appearances such as Nino Benvenuti who won the gold in boxing for Italy and USA pole vaulting champion Don Bragg. Giancarlo Peris, who carried the torch in the ’60 Games will light a cauldron.

Romolo Marcellini's film-documentary 'La grande Olimpiade' the official film of the XVII Olympics will be shown. The poignant film was also nominated for an Oscar.  These Games were the first televised Games and took the Olympics to a whole new level.

In 1996 American rights holder NBC filmed a documentary the “Wonders of Rome” about the Games that won a Sports Emmy for Program Achievement and an International Film & Video Festival Gold Camera Award for Best Documentary.

In the festivities tomorrow night a plaque will be unveiled near the Arch of Constantine which became famous world wide as barefoot Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila made history as the first black athlete from sub-Saharan Africa winning the marathon. Many athletes were competing and launching their careers at these Games such as Cassius Clay who became Muhammad Ali, sprinter Wilma Rudolph who the Italians nicknames “the black gazelle” and Sofia, who sailed with the Greek sailing team and went on to become the Queen of Spain.

The legacy of the Rome ’60 Games sets a rich tapestry for the 2020 bid a good 60 years later.

1. Rome celebrates 50th anniversary of hosting the 1960 Olympic Games
2. Rome honors 50th anniversary of 1960 Olympics
3. Rome 1960: When the Olympics went modern

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LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

TAMPA/ROME, Aug 24: The Olympic spirit is alive and well in the Eternal City as Rome celebrates the 50 year anniversary celebration [Wednesday] for the 1960 Games and looks excitedly ahead to the new 2020 bid.

The ceremony which will be rich with memories of yesterday and dreams for tomorrow will set the stage for Rome as a “world capital for sport”.

Tomorrow at the Piazza del Campidoglio there will be a ceremony including Gianni Alemanno, mayor of Rome, Alessandro Cochi, delegated for sport by the mayor of Rome, Gianni Petrucci, president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Franco Carraro, head of the committee for the Rome '60 celebrations and IOC member, Mario Pescante, IOC vice-president, e Luca Pancalli, Italian Paralympic Committee president.

The committee is planning many cameo appearances such as Nino Benvenuti who won the gold in boxing for Italy and USA pole vaulting champion Don Bragg. Giancarlo Peris, who carried the torch in the ’60 Games will light a cauldron.

Romolo Marcellini's film-documentary 'La grande Olimpiade' the official film of the XVII Olympics will be shown. The poignant film was also nominated for an Oscar.  These Games were the first televised Games and took the Olympics to a whole new level.

In 1996 American rights holder NBC filmed a documentary the “Wonders of Rome” about the Games that won a Sports Emmy for Program Achievement and an International Film & Video Festival Gold Camera Award for Best Documentary.

In the festivities tomorrow night a plaque will be unveiled near the Arch of Constantine which became famous world wide as barefoot Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila made history as the first black athlete from sub-Saharan Africa winning the marathon. Many athletes were competing and launching their careers at these Games such as Cassius Clay who became Muhammad Ali, sprinter Wilma Rudolph who the Italians nicknames “the black gazelle” and Sofia, who sailed with the Greek sailing team and went on to become the Queen of Spain.

The legacy of the Rome ’60 Games sets a rich tapestry for the 2020 bid a good 60 years later.

1. Rome celebrates 50 year anniversary tomorrow of 1960 Games
2. Rome honors 50th anniversary of 1960 Olympics
3. Rome 1960: When the Olympics went modern

Starting 50 years ago on Wednesday, Rome hosted the first Summer Olympics to be commercially broadcast.

They were the first games with a major doping scandal, as Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen collapsed during his race under the influence of Roniacol and died the same day.

Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia ran barefoot and won a night marathon in front of the Colosseum, starting the age of African dominance in long-distance races.

And they served to introduce the world to an athlete who would become a global superstar—Cassius Clay, the man who would later become Muhammad Ali.

It all began with an Italian teenager named Giancarlo Peris, who won a regional scholastic race that came with the prize of being the final torchbearer at the Rome Games

“I didn’t believe it,” Peris, now 68, said in a phone interview. “It seemed like something too big for me.”

Shaking away nerves, Peris ran the final 350 meters of the torch relay and lighted the cauldron in the Stadio Olimpico on Aug. 25, 1960. The games were on.

Many participants, both foreign and Italian, have been invited to take part in the main anniversary celebration Wednesday in Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio—where Peris, now a retired teacher, will re-light the flame.

When organizers asked Peris to take part, he gave them one condition.

“I told them I’ll do it as long as I don’t have to run,” he joked.

Other events over the next few weeks include a fencing exhibition by the Spanish Steps, a youth soccer tournament at the Stadio dei Marmi and an amateur boxing meet between Italy and the United States in all categories at the Foro Italico.

As David Maraniss documented in his recent book “Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics that Stirred the World,” CBS paid $600,000 to the Rome organizing committee—not the International Olympic Committee—for the rights to televise the games.

The American network sent three on-air reporters to Rome and had Jim McKay as studio host back in New York.

Video tapes were sent back to New York daily on commercial Alitalia flights and if all went according to plan—taking advantage of the time difference between Rome and New York—the network could show footage of morning events in prime time.

McKay recalled having to hold the tapes close to his body to thaw them out from the freezing temperatures of the airplanes’ cargo holds and hastily write his own copy.

Meanwhile, Jensen’s doping case got stuck in a maze of bureaucracy and an autopsy report seven months later said that the cyclist died from heatstroke. Decades later, an Italian doctor involved in the case said they found traces of several substances, including amphetamines.

The IOC created a medical committee in 1961, issued its first list of banned substances in 1967 and started testing athletes a year later.

The Rome Olympics came at a time when the Cold War was in full force, but Italy was rather tranquil—and still rebuilding after the destruction of World War II.

“Rome is the city of history and nice weather. Athletes arriving from all over were excited just at the fact of coming to Rome,” said former boxer Nino Benvenuti, who won the welterweight division in 1960.

“When you’re excited about being somewhere it translates into motivation,” `Benvenuti said in an interview. “I really think that part of the reason the athletes in Rome got the best out of themselves was their psychological state— they were happy to be here.”

Benvenuti beat out Clay for the Val Barker trophy as the games’ best boxer.

“I only realized the importance of that award in the years that followed the games, when Muhammad Ali really became Muhammad Ali and the best boxer in the world,” Benvenuti said.

Benvenuti recalled how startling it was to see Clay in action for the first time.

“He had a different style from everybody else. We were all standing still compared to him,” the 72-year-old Italian said. “He had unbelievable quickness not just with his punches but with his legs, too. He was years ahead of everyone else.

“His style had nothing to do with the basis of boxing as we knew it—left, right, upper cut, hook. That was it, there weren’t many variations. He developed all sorts of things, like those movements where he put his arms down to invite the opponent to attack. We all learned from him. I adapted that style, too, when I turned professional.”

Benvenuti later became the world light middleweight and middleweight champion (twice), but he said those titles pale in comparison to his gold medal.

“When you win the Olympics you’re an Olympic champion for the rest of your life,” Benvenuti said.

Benvenuti has lived in Rome for years and often drives by the site where he competed in 1960, the Palazzo dello Sport arena, now renamed the Palalottomatica after a sponsor.

Both the Palazzo dello Sport and the smaller Palazzetto dello Sport were designed by Pier Luigi Nervi, a master of reinforced concrete, and are architectural gems. By contrast, the 1960 Olympic Village is badly deteriorating under the strain of residential housing.

Another Italian star of the games was 200-meter champion Livio Berruti, who upset a trio of Americans—Les Carney, Stone Johnson and Ray Norton.

The Americans’ reactions still stick in Berruti’s mind.

“They had very smug faces afterward and they wouldn’t talk,” Berruti said. “Before the race, as the host, I wished them all well. Afterward they didn’t behave with that same carefree attitude like the American athletes usually did.”

Like many athletes, Berruti attempted to court Wilma Rudolph, who sprinted to three gold medals for the United States.

“I had a nice feeling with her, because she really expressed a lot of joy and loved life,” the Italian said.

“You could see it in the way she smiled. She offered to exchange warmup suits with me in the Olympic Village and I didn’t know that someone by the name of Cassius Clay was one of the athletes chasing her, and he was very dangerous,” Berruti added with a laugh.

Oscar Robertson, one of the captains of the Unites States’ winning basketball team, also noticed the attention surrounding Rudolph.

“Everybody had a crush on Wilma. (Clay) wasn’t the only one. This was a lovely young lady, but they couldn’t catch her,” Robertson said when his 1960 team was enshrined into the basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Robertson’s 1960 co-captain Jerry West looked back on the games as a tremendous opportunity.

“We were much more nationalistic as a country,” West said. “It was an incredible time for me, someone from a town of 500 who had hardly ever been out of the state of West Virginia except to play basketball, to travel overseas and represent our country as an amateur was truly the highlight of my life.”

West led the Americans with 19 points in a tense win over the Soviet Union before the final-round victories over Italy and Brazil. Besides Robertson and West, the United States team also featured three other future individual Hall of Famers—Jerry Lucas, Walt Bellamy and coach Pete Newell

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about those days,” West added. “The single proudest moment of my life was to (win) a gold medal for the United States in 1960.”

AP Sports Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this report from Springfield, Massachusetts.

1. Rome honors 50th anniversary of 1960 Olympics
2. Rome celebrates 50 year anniversary tomorrow of 1960 Games
3. Rome celebrates 50th anniversary of hosting the 1960 Olympic Games

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Britain’s world champion diver Tom Daley was cleared to compete in the inaugural Youth Olympics on Friday after recovering from a tricep injury.

The 16-year-old, who was a shock winner of the men’s 10m platform event at the world championships in Rome last year, pulled out of the European championships last weekend and his participation in Singapore was in doubt.

“Team GB diving athlete Tom Daley intends to compete in the Youth Olympic Games 3m springboard competition on Sunday,” the British Olympic Association said in a statement.

“Daley, however, will not compete in the 10m platform competition, largely as a precaution as he continues to recover from a tricep injury suffered earlier this month during the European aquatics championships.”

Daley is one of the highest-profile competitors in Singapore, which features athletes aged 14 to 18.

1. Games champ Lysacek skips world defense
2. Kuwaiti athletes cleared for Youth Olympics
3. World champ Janka wins giant slalom gold

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LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

TAMPA, July 28: IOC board member Nawal El Moutawakel has spoken out about her view on the possibilities of the African continent to host the Olympic Games.

Speaking to Reuters in Nairobi during the African Athletics Championships the former champion hurdler offers in reality some wise advice towards the South African plan to submit a bid for the 2020 Games. There might be more strength in a more long term goal.

El Moutawakel told Reuters, "There is a huge amount of work to be done besides political desire, hence the experts' view that any realistic chance for (hosting the) Olympics in Africa is between 2030 and 2040.”

Her words carry a lot of weight as this woman has been the chairperson for two IOC evaluation commissions (London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016) and currently holds the position of chairperson of the coordination commission overseeing the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games. She has also been a member of the IOC executive board since 2008, is the only woman on the board and is viewed as one of the top women officials in world sport.

Excitement about a potential African bid escalated following the successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup but as El Moutawakel noted there is a vast difference in hosting a soccer World Cup versus an Olympics. The World Cup is one sport held in soccer stadia around the nation whereas the Olympics require 26 sports to be contended in a multitude of venues. Transportation, accommodations and security are trickier to manage for the Olympics.

At the FIFA World Cup final, IOC president Jacques Rogge, attended and met with South Africa president Jacob Zuma and they discussed the bid possibilities. Rogge has reiterated that the IOC obviously would welcome a bid from the African continent as they have never hosted the Games.

The president said, “From the start, when South Africa were named as World Cup hosts, we all knew the country would be able to organise the tournament. Now it is up to you as a nation to decide if you want to host this event.”

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee came out with a statement July 13th by chief executive officer of SASCOC, Tubby Reddy, that they intended to formally oversee a bid for the 2020 Games and encouraged potential host cities to state their intention of being involved in the process. 

“For our eyes to be on 2020, we are not weary,” President Zuma said “because we have the facilities.”

South Africa bid Cape Town in 1997 for the 2004 Games that Athens won. Rome, Italy was also in the running against Cape Town for that edition.

Durban is hosting the IOC session next year in July where the decision for the 2018 winter Games host city will be selected and will have the opportunity to introduce the IOC members to the city. Durban appears to be the front runner for an African bid for the mild climate during the potential Games’ time as it is winter in South Africa.

So far Rome is the only city to formally declare that they will join the 2020 bid competition. This makes Rome’s second bid and their plan is already in the works.  The 2020 bid race promises to be exciting if South Africa does enter the ring.

1. President of South Africa Jacob Zuma visits Olympic Park
2. Fourth Russian official quits over Olympic flop (PA SportsTicker)
3. South Africa wastes no time in launching bid to host 2020 Olympics

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LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

TAMPA/ROME, July 14: The 2020 Olympic summer Games bid race is gearing up for a clash of the titans and promising plenty of excitement.

As South Africa officially announces intentions to join the competition arch rival Rome is convening to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Rome 1960 Games. Rome ran against Cape Town in 1997 for the 2004 Olympics which were ultimately awarded to Athens, Greece.

The commemorative ceremony was themed “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” coining the title of the famous Italian 1960’s comedy starring Sofia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.

The ceremony was held in the main honor hall of the Italian National Olympic Committee fueling the flames for the Roma 2020 bid. The South African announcement yesterday of the intent to bid escalated the competition to a new level in the Eternal City.

Mario Pescante, IOC vice president, said: "The South African candidacy exists; now we need to see which city they will choose.

Pescante played a key role in the 2004 Rome candidacy and was the mastermind behind the successful Torino 2006 bid. 

He said, “I believe that this must motivate us even more to reinforce the Rome bid.  The example of South Africa, who managed to organize this last World Cup in spite of the great contradictions that the country is going through, serves as a lesson to understand that without the unity of purpose you can’t win the vote for the Olympics."

The president of the Italian NOC, CONI, Gianni Petrucci added, “The candidacy of South Africa doesn’t scare us. This bid makes the race even more exciting.”

Senator for life, Giulio Andreotti, who served as president of the Rome 1960 Games said, "Not a single Olympiad has cost less than the Rome Games, we didn’t create a superfluous budget. Those Games gave me joy and passion.”

Petrucci also commented on the question of who will lead the bid committee for Roma 2020, “We are waiting with great hope for the confirmation of Gianni Letta, but his answer won’t come today.” 

Gianni Letta is currently serving as undersecretary to the council of ministers for the Italian presidency and wholeheartedly believes in the Rome bid. He concluded the meeting and aptly summarized about the '60 Games legacy, “Those Games changed Italy and the Italians.”

The commemoration ceremony today offered great memories of the 1960 Games and included European Olympic Committees and CONI secretary general, Raffaele Pagnozzi, IOC member Franco Carraro, who was in charge of the celebrations committee for Rome 1960, Gianni Alemanno, Mayor of Rome, Rocco Crimi, undersecretary in charge of Sport, Antonio Marano, vice-director of the Italian state television Rai, e Luca Pancalli, president of the Italian Paralympic committee.

1. Mario Pescante: the South African Candidature motivates Roma 2020
2. South African President Zuma fans Olympic fever for 2020
3. Blatter pledges backing for South African bid to host Olympics

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LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

TAMPA/ROME, July 14: The 2020 Olympic summer Games bid race is gearing up for a clash of the titans and promising plenty of excitement.

As South Africa officially announces intentions to join the competition arch rival Rome is convening to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Rome 1960 Games. Rome ran against Cape Town in 1997 for the 2004 Olympics which were ultimately awarded to Athens, Greece.

The commemorative ceremony was themed “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” coining the title of the famous Italian 1960’s comedy starring Sofia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.

The ceremony was held in the main honor hall of the Italian National Olympic Committee fueling the flames for the Roma 2020 bid. The South African announcement yesterday of the intent to bid escalated the competition to a new level in the Eternal City.

Mario Pescante, IOC vice president, commented, "The South African candidacy exists; now we need to see which city they will choose.

Pescante played a key role in the 2004 Rome candidacy and was the mastermind behind the successful Torino 2006 bid. 

He said, “I believe that this must motivate us even more to reinforce the Rome bid.  The example of South Africa, who managed to organize this last World Cup in spite of the great contradictions that the country is going through, serves as a lesson to understand that without the unity of purpose you can’t win the vote for the Olympics."

The president of the Italian NOC, CONI, Gianni Petrucci added, “The candidacy of South Africa doesn’t scare us. This bid makes the race even more exciting.”

Senator for life, Giulio Andreotti, who served as president of the Rome 1960 Games said, "Not a single Olympiad has cost less than the Rome Games, we didn’t create a superfluous budget. Those Games gave me joy and passion.”

Petrucci also commented on the question of who will lead the bid committee for Roma 2020, “We are waiting with great hope for the confirmation of Gianni Letta, but his answer won’t come today.” 

Gianni Letta is currently serving as undersecretary to the council of ministers for the Italian presidency and wholeheartedly believes in the Rome bid. He concluded the meeting and aptly summarized about the '60 Games legacy, “Those Games changed Italy and the Italians.”

The commemoration ceremony today offered great memories of the 1960 Games and included European Olympic Committees and CONI secretary general, Raffaele Pagnozzi, IOC member Franco Carraro, who was in charge of the celebrations committee for Rome 1960, Gianni Alemanno, Mayor of Rome, Rocco Crimi, undersecretary in charge of Sport, Antonio Marano, vice-director of the Italian state television Rai, e Luca Pancalli, president of the Italian Paralympic committee.

1. Mario Pescante: South African candidacy is motivating Roma 2020
2. South African President Zuma fans Olympic fever for 2020
3. Blatter pledges backing for South African bid to host Olympics

Rogge said Wednesday he will raise the issue when he holds talks with Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg on the weekend of the July 11 World Cup final.

South Africa is the first African country to host the soccer showcase. Based on the success of the tournament, South Africa could try to become the first nation on the continent to stage the Olympics.

“It’s always good news to see that a country like South Africa wants to bid,” Rogge said after a two-day IOC executive board meeting. “Cape Town had a very credible bid in 1997 when they finished third behind Athens and Rome (for the 2004 Games).”

South Africa hasn’t bid for the Olympics since then, focusing instead on securing the World Cup. But the country could now be in line for a shot at the 2020 Games.

“I think it’s absolutely normal that they think about the future after the FIFA World Cup,” Rogge said. “We’re glad they’re thinking about the Olympic Games. I will definitely take this up with him (Zuma) when I meet with him at the World Cup final.”

Preliminary bids must be submitted by the summer of 2011, with the IOC selecting the host city in 2013.

Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg are potential bid cities. Durban will stage the 123rd IOC session in July 2011, where the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics will be announced.

So far, Rome has formally declared its intention to bid for the 2020 Games. Other potentials bids could come from Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Tokyo or Hiroshima, Japan; Istanbul; and Budapest, Hungary.

On other issues, Rogge defended the decision to keep the French bid from Annecy as a finalist in the race for the 2018 Winter Games. On Tuesday, the IOC elevated all three contenders—Annecy, Munich, and Pyeongchang, South Korea— to official bid city status, a year before the final vote on July 6.

While Munich and Pyeongchang were accepted with high marks and no reservations, Annecy was sharply criticized in the IOC report for its spread-out venues and told to review the entire project.

“We’re absolutely sure that, according to the experts’ report, Annecy has all the possibilities to stage good games should they adapt their concept,” Rogge said. “They have the time to do that.”

He noted that the IOC had been critical of London’s “obsolete” public transport system when the city was bidding for the 2012 Olympics.

“London could reassure the IOC in subsequent months that new investments would be made with the support of the government and ultimately London won,” Rogge said. “An applicant city has to pass the first hurdle, and then during almost one year you are able to refine your concept.”

Rogge also expressed continued confidence in London’s preparations for the games despite the heavy government spending cuts in Britain aimed at trimming the country’s massive deficit.

Last month, the Olympic Delivery Authority, the body responsible for building the venues for the games, had its funding cut by $39.5 million. It’s unclear how the new emergency budget announced Tuesday will affect the games.

Leaders of the London organizing committee, LOCOG, gave an update on the situation to the IOC board on Tuesday.

“We have heard reassuring news they have a good grip and good control on the budget,” Rogge said.

The IOC leader also downplayed any concerns about BP’s Olympic sponsorships in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP is a sponsor of the London Games and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“This is something to be decided by LOCOG and the USOC. It’s not the issue of the IOC,” Rogge said. “I would say BP is a very strong company that has been very supportive of the sports movement for a very long time.

“I’m quite sure both LOCOG and USOC have ongoing discussions and relations with them. … There is no problem today between BP and USOC and there is no problem today between BP and LOCOG.”

1. Rogge to discuss possible Olympic bid with Zuma (PA SportsTicker)
2. South African President Zuma fans Olympic fever for 2020
3. President of South Africa Jacob Zuma visits Olympic Park

LAUSANNE, Switzerland(AP)—IOC president Jacques Rogge will discuss the possibility of a South African bid for the Olympics when he meets with the country’s president next month.

Rogge said Wednesday he will raise the issue when he holds talks with Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg on the weekend of the July 11 World Cup final.

South Africa is the first African country to host the soccer showcase. Based on the success of the tournament, South Africa could try to become the first nation on the continent to stage the Olympics.

“It’s always good news to see that a country like South Africa wants to bid,” Rogge said after a two-day IOC executive board meeting. “Cape Town had a very credible bid in 1997 when they finished third behind Athens and Rome (for the 2004 Games).”

South Africa hasn’t bid for the Olympics since then, focusing instead on securing the World Cup. But the country could now be in line for a shot at the 2020 Games.

“I think it’s absolutely normal that they think about the future after the FIFA World Cup,” Rogge said. “We’re glad they’re thinking about the Olympic Games. I will definitely take this up with him (Zuma) when I meet with him at the World Cup final.”

Preliminary bids must be submitted by the summer of 2011, with the IOC selecting the host city in 2013.

Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg are potential bid cities. Durban will stage the 123rd IOC session in July 2011, where the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics will be announced.

So far, Rome has formally declared its intention to bid for the 2020 Games. Other potentials bids could come from Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Tokyo or Hiroshima, Japan; Istanbul; and Budapest, Hungary.

On other issues, Rogge defended the decision to keep the French bid from Annecy as a finalist in the race for the 2018 Winter Games. On Tuesday, the IOC elevated all three contenders - Annecy, Munich, and Pyeongchang, South Korea - to official bid city status, a year before the final vote on July 6.

While Munich and Pyeongchang were accepted with high marks and no reservations, Annecy was sharply criticized in the IOC report for its spread-out venues and told to review the entire project.

“We’re absolutely sure that, according to the experts’ report, Annecy has all the possibilities to stage good games should they adapt their concept,” Rogge said. “They have the time to do that.”

He noted that the IOC had been critical of London’s “obsolete” public transport system when the city was bidding for the 2012 Olympics.

“London could reassure the IOC in subsequent months that new investments would be made with the support of the government and ultimately London won,” Rogge said. “An applicant city has to pass the first hurdle, and then during almost one year you are able to refine your concept.”

Rogge also expressed continued confidence in London’s preparations for the games despite the heavy government spending cuts in Britain aimed at trimming the country’s massive deficit.

Last month, the Olympic Delivery Authority, the body responsible for building the venues for the games, had its funding cut by $39.5 million. It’s unclear how the new emergency budget announced Tuesday will affect the games.

Leaders of the London organizing committee, LOCOG, gave an update on the situation to the IOC board on Tuesday.

“We have heard reassuring news they have a good grip and good control on the budget,” Rogge said.

The IOC leader also downplayed any concerns about BP’s Olympic sponsorships in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP is a sponsor of the London Games and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“This is something to be decided by LOCOG and the USOC. It’s not the issue of the IOC,” Rogge said. “I would say BP is a very strong company that has been very supportive of the sports movement for a very long time.

“I’m quite sure both LOCOG and USOC have ongoing discussions and relations with them. … There is no problem today between BP and USOC and there is no problem today between BP and LOCOG.”

1. Rogge to discuss possible bid with Zuma
2. Rogge has high hopes for inaugural Youth Olympics (PA SportsTicker)
3. President of South Africa Jacob Zuma visits Olympic Park

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SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT / Sports Features Communications

ROME, Jun 01: Since environment sustainability is one of the key elements which come into play in the Olympic bidding process, Rome city officials believe they are already taking one highly significant step forward in pursuit of the 2020 Games.

Mayor Gianni Alemanno has a master plan to transform the city into a green, low-carbon, post-petroleum capital. Alemanno  unveiled his proposals in the presence of United States economist Jeremy Rifkin, who has been advising the European Union on a long-term economic sustainability plan.

Alemanno's project envisages Rome investing around €500m over the next 20 years in new industries and businesses. He believes such a strategy would create thousands of new jobs and make the capital independent energetically.

He added: "It's not just an energy plan, but also an environmental, urban and economic one. It's a complete plan to develop the city."

The project envisages three main areas of transformation: turning the congested historic centre into a greener, pedestrian-friendly space; developing the commercial/industrial "ring" around the capital; and improving the agricultural areas outside the city to reduce its carbon imprint.

Rifkin described the overall strategy as pursuing a "democratization of energy." Rome hosted the Games in 1960 but lost out to Athens in 2004. A decision on 2020 will be taken by the IOC in 2013.

1. 2010 Winter Games to leave lasting environmental, social and economic legacies Adherence to sustainability goals generates early results: report
2. Where are the 2010 Winter Olympics?