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

When fellow Canadian Jonathan Crowe created a blog in 2004 to cover last-place finishes at the Athens Olympics, I applauded what I thought was a one-off. I have to take my hat off to him, though, for reviving this fascinating project for the Torino games. I’m glad to see that he’s also getting lots of media attention again, bringing the accomplishments of lesser athletes into the public eye, even if just as a curiosity.

The Virgin Islands Winter Olympic Team, 52-year-old luger Anne Abernathy
(image copyright Reuters)

India’s Winter Olympic team may seem small with only four members, and considering the population of the nation, it is indeed tiny, but here is a large list of teams with only one or two members:

• Albania (1 athlete)
• Algeria (2 athletes)
• Azerbaijan (2 athletes)
• Bermuda (1 athlete)
• Costa Rica (1 athlete)
• Cyprus (1 athlete)
• Ethiopia (1 athlete)
• Hong Kong (1 athlete)
• Iran (2 athletes)
• Kenya (1 athlete)
• Kyrgyzstan (1 athlete)
• Luxembourg (1 athlete)
• Madagascar (1 athlete)
• Nepal (1 athlete)
• Portugal (1 athlete)
• San Marino (1 athlete)
• Senegal (1 athlete)
• Taiwan (1 athlete)
• Tajikistan (1 athlete)
• Thailand (1 athlete)
• Venezuela (1 athlete)
• Virgin Islands (1 athlete)

This list starts to make the tiny Indian team look like a potential powerhouse. The best part is that every one of these small teams is rich with the stories of unlikely Olympians, facing all sorts of obstacles to make their way to Torino. Though most are unlikely to win a medal, they have already won by reaching the finest competition in the world for their respective sports.

Unfortunately, Anne Abernathy (pictured above), the oldest competitor in these Olympic games, had to pull out of competition due to a broken wrist. Will “Grandma Luge” be back for the 2010 games in Vancouver?

Shiva Keshavan is one-quarter of India’s Winter Olympics team participating in the games in Torino. Shiva is a luger (lugist?) and this is his third Olympics, but only the first in which he has had other teammates. It must be a bit lonely being the only one on your sport’s national team, but you have to admire his dedication to a sport that requires so much effort to find practice facilities. In his first Olympics, in 1998 in Nagano, he finished 28th of 34 participants. In Salt Lake City, he was 33rd of 48 participants. Shiva finished 25th (of 35 participants) in Torino, not a bad finish, but he boycotted the Opening Ceremonies because he was not appointed as the flagbearer. I’ll have to scold him a bit here, since he was the only choice at the previous two Olympics. Time to give someone else a chance, Shiva! The appointed flagbearer was Alpine skiier Neha Ahuja, the only female member of the team and an interesting story in her own right.

The Indian Winter Olympic Team
(image copyright Reuters)

More from Indian blogger Kamla Bhatt
Results for India at Torino 2006

(image copyright Association of the Mediterranean Games Almeria 2005)

On June 24, the Mediterranean Games will get underway in Almeria, Spain. These games, affiliated with the Olympic Movement, bring together all the nations which surround the Mediterranean, with the notable exception of Israel. Almost 4,000 athletes from 21 countries compete in 24 sports in a regional version of the Olympics.

In this smaller field, nations that have minor success at the Olympic Games can really shine. For example, in the previous Mediterranean Games, held in 2001 in Tunis, Turkey finished third in the overall medal standings, with 61 medals. By contrast, in the Athens Olympic Games, Turkey was ranked 22nd overall, with only 10 medals.

The next Mediterranean Games will be held in 2009 in the town of Pescara in the Italian region of Abruzzo. Not only do these games bring attention to the athletes, but for smaller towns like Almeria and Pescara, they bring much-needed tourism and construction contracts.

Note: As I noted in the comments, Almeria was used as a film location for many of the “spaghetti westerns” in the 1960s, as well as for higher-profile films like “Patton” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” The official web site for the games has a page detailing some of Almeria’s starring roles.