Today was the deadline for cities to apply to host the 2016 Olympic Summer Games. I’ve always had a fascination with the Olympics and the whole bidding process. What excites me most is that there are many more unsuccessful bids than successful. And even if a city wins the right to host the Games, it may be on the second or third try. Each time, a new logo and application must be prepared. What happens to all this stuff after the Games are awarded? Well, you might find it on eBay, or else it just gets forgotten.

During the buildup to the awarding of the 2012 Summer Games to London, I wrote to each of the bid cities and asked for marketing material. Most were helpful, and now some of this stuff is the pride of my Olympic memorabilia collection. My Moscow 2012 pen sits cheerfully next to a beautiful folder from the Paris 2012 bid. I intend to write again to all the 2016 applicant cities and we’ll see what we get. It seems a shame that all this work should go to waste, don’t you think?

Here are the bid cities for 2016, so far:

• Baku, Azerbaijan
• Chicago, USA
• Doha, Qatar
• Madrid, Spain
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
• Tokyo, Japan

Follow the bid process on GamesBids.com