2016 Olympics Bid City Capsules

Capsules of International Olympic Committee Evaluation Reports published Wednesday on cities bidding to host the 2016 Olympics.

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Chicago

The IOC said Chicago's proposed financing presents a risk. The city set a $750 million (?527 million) cap on guarantees to cover a shortfall in the organizing budget.

Overall, the budget is "ambitious but achievable.'' Chicago must generate $1.83 billion (?1.29 billion) in revenue from sponsors.

The bid placed a "heavy financial reliance'' on the organizing committee to deliver infrastructure and temporary venues.

However, Chicago demonstrated "thorough planning and a full understanding of the complexity'' of its venue plan, including temporary arenas in public parks.

Chicago proposes to use 15 existing venues plus one already planned; construct six permanent venues - including the Olympic Stadium and swimming arena - that would later be scaled down; and nine temporary venues.

Relying on temporary and scaled down venues "increases the element of risk'' in delivering the games.

The IOC questioned the ability of Chicago's public transport links and traffic control plans, especially around McCormick Place.

While the Olympic site was compact, it relied on a "significant increase'' in the capacity and use of public transport, including doubled peak-time demand on the Metra Rail System. This could be a "major challenge.''

On security, the IOC welcomed the federal government taking "full financial and operational responsibility.'' But it called for a clearer description of how the city and organizing committee would share roles and responsibilities to ensure the committee was not overburdened trying to deliver infrastructure.

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Madrid

Madrid enjoys the strongest public backing in IOC polls, with 84.9 percent of residents supporting the bid and only 2.8 percent strongly opposed.

But the bid team suffered from showing the IOC it did not fully understand the roles and responsibilities of delivering a complex, multi-sports event.

The confused management structure "could result in organizational and financial challenges,'' the IOC said.

National, regional and city governments have provided "strong'' financial support and would cover any potential shortfall in the organizing budget.

Madrid's concept is "highly compact'' and efficient with 23 of 33 venues in place and two more venues already being built.

It could face "significant'' challenges to create the Olympic Stadium and the venue for rowing, flat water canoeing and open water swimming.

All but two competition venues can be accessed by public transport within 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of the city center. Shooting is just outside the zone and sailing is 361 kilometers (224 miles) away in Valencia with a separate athletes' village.

Madrid is praised for its buildings legacy. The city would own the athletes' village and the media village would later be used for social housing.

The IOC questioned whether Spanish anti-doping laws complied with the World Anti-Doping Agency code. The issue was "important'' to resolve.

Madrid suffered in comparison with its three rivals for providing documents and presentations that "varied in quality.''

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Rio de Janeiro

Rio has "strong'' public support in IOC polling, with 84.5 percent of residents in favor of the bid and only 4 percent strongly opposed.

City, state and federal governments have guaranteed to finance the infrastructure costs and cover any potential shortfall in the organizing budget.

Rio's venue plan would fit with ongoing urban regeneration, especially the city's waterways and key development zones, as part of a $240 billion (?169 billion) federal program.

The IOC said a Rio Olympics would accelerate delivery but also need "careful management and monitoring'' of projects.

Brazil's hosting of football's World Cup in 2014 will "accelerate infrastructure delivery'' in Rio. However, hosting the world's two biggest sports events within two years presents a "challenge'' to marketing and communications strategies.

Rio has accommodation issues with a shortage of hotel rooms. It plans to use four villages and six cruise ships to house people.

This project, plus a planned 20,000 room media village in Barra district, would require "particular attention'' in planning and delivery phases.

With public safety and crime levels a concern, Rio is praised for achieving positive results from engaging communities in social and sports programs.

Rio's geography of mountains and coastline could impact on travel distances for some athletes.

Effective transport operations - including dedicated Olympic road lanes and new infrastructure - would be "critical.''

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Tokyo

Praise and criticism for Tokyo follow consistent themes: finance is secure but public support is relatively low.

The city government has financially guaranteed the games and set aside a $3.7 billion (?2.6 billion) reserve fund.

National and city governments have guaranteed to finance infrastructure and cover any potential shortfall in the organizing budget.

Tokyo has the lowest public backing in IOC polls, with 55.5 percent of residents supporting the bid and 7.8 percent strongly opposed.

The bid aims to build on the legacy of Tokyo's successful hosting of the 1964 Summer Games in a "socially, environmentally and economically sustainable'' project.

The IOC praised the bid for minimizing athletes travel times with a "very efficient'' venue plan. All but the shooting would take place within 8 kilometers (5 miles) of the city center. But there was a "lack of clarity'' on claims that most venues are ready. Some "listed as existing would in fact need to be built.''

Tokyo also faces challenges to control traffic around the athletes' village and Olympic Stadium, and there's concern about the size of land area available to build the Olympic Village.

How the Ashes were won

The dramatic twists of the 2009 Ashes series would make the plot of the Usual Suspects look as complex as a Chuck Norris film.

The five-Test series ebbed and flowed, swinging one way then the other as England avenged their abject 5-0 drubbing in 2006/07 with their second successive 2-1 home series win.

Statistically, Australia may wonder how they lost. Eight centuries to England's two, six batsmen averaging over 40, compared with two for England. Three bowlers taking 20 wickets or more, Stuart Broad topping England's chart with 18.

Captain Ricky Ponting suggested after Sunday's dramatic finale at The Oval that England had won the "big moments". So what were the key ones over the last seven memorable weeks?

THE GREAT ESCAPE IN CARDIFF

First Test, Cardiff - England drew with Australia

At 1800 BST on the final day, after 344 pain-staking, crease-shuffling minutes, Paul Collingwood's 245-ball, 74-run vigil ended when he meekly guided Peter Siddle to Mike Hussey at gully.

At 1802 BST, Monty Panesar - a number 11 with an average half his batting position - joined James Anderson with Australia primed to celebrate their sixth successive Ashes Test victory.

But for 69 hair-pulling, jaw-aching deliveries, the last-wicket pair fended off everything the tourists launched at them.

Every defensive prod was celebrated as if the crowd were watching a full-length Shane Williams try at the Millennium Stadium, with Ricky Ponting's patience wearing increasingly thin.

The Australia captain became apoplectic with rage over England's apparent time-consuming tactics, with acting 12th man Bilal Shafayat and physiotherapist Steve McCaig both despatched to the middle.

However, it all became too much for the umpires and Anderson, who promptly sent Shafayat back to the pavilion.

But despite the increasing tension, Panesar's bat, as broad as the River Taff, grew wider the more frustrated the tourists became, while Anderson's defence remained obstinate through 53 deliveries.

"We got away with it, we know that, and we must come back and play better," said England captain Andrew Strauss.

And didn't they just...

FIRED-UP FREDDIE'S FIVE-FOR AT LORD'S

Second Test, Lord's - England beat Australia by 115 runs

Whoever writes Andrew Flintoff's scripts should retire now, forever content with their role in etching the all-rounder's name into the annals of English cricket history at the game's spiritual's home.

After announcing he would retire from Test cricket because of a chronic knee injury after the Ashes, Freddie's awesome second-innings bowling spell ensured England's blushes were spared after setting Australia a record 522 for victory.

Although his 5-92 was only his third five-wicket haul in Test cricket, it was undoubtedly his most important, piqued when he dismissed Brad Haddin in the second over of the final morning at Lord's.

The wicketkeeper shared a 185-run sixth-wicket stand with Michael Clarke, the type of partnership which was on its way to germinating from a seed of doubt into a full-blown privet hedge of horror.

But with Haddin on 80, Flintoff induced a thick outside edge to the hands of Paul Collingwood at second slip, and the game was up for Australia.

Flintoff's reaction was priceless - he just stood there, as if looking for wife Rachael deep in the recesses of the Mound Stand, before being mobbed by his jubilant team-mates.

He went one better an hour later, clean bowling Nathan Hauritz before descending on one knee, arms spread, like a stadium rock star as England ended their 75-year wait for a win at Lord's.

SIZZLING ONIONS GRILLS AUSTRALIA

Third Test, Edgbaston - England drew with Australia

After watching rain pelt down for hours on the sodden Edgbaston outfield, England's bowlers were flogged to all parts as Australia's openers made hay when the sun finally shone in Birmingham.

Without Kevin Pietersen, ruled out following surgery on his right Achilles' tendon, England looked as flat as the Edgbaston wicket.

But it's amazing what a scattering of low-lying clouds and humidity can do to a semi-shiny Dukes ball.

With Australia resuming on 126-1, Graham Onions altered the complexion of the match with the first two deliveries of day two.

Up went umpire Aleem Dar's right index finger when the Durham fast bowler trapped Shane Watson dead in front for 62, before bowling Mike Hussey - inexplicably shouldering arms to a delivery hurtling into his off stump for a golden duck.

Suddenly the ball was swinging like a Benny Goodman number, and James Anderson cleaned up the tourists with an inspired 5-80, while Onions collected 4-58.

The momentum was back in England's favour, but a 185-run second-innings stand between Michael Clarke and Marcus North for Australia snuffed out any hopes of a sneaky victory.

FRIDAY MOURNING IN LEEDS

Fourth Test, Headingley - Australia beat England by innings and 80 runs

When Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat on an overcast Friday morning in Leeds, Ricky Ponting did not seem overly perturbed.

With a four-pronged pace attack - the metronomic Stuart Clark returning at the expense of off-spinner Nathan Hauritz - Australia had an Andrew Flintoff-less England by the jugular when Strauss was trapped plumb in front by Ben Hilfenhaus with the very first delivery.

The crooked finger of umpire Billy Bowden remained motionless, like Australian mouths, but the reprieve was brief as the England captain was back in the pavilion 14 minutes later after a brilliant one-handed catch by Marcus North at third slip.

The rot began to set in as Peter Siddle and Clark ran amok, decimating England's middle and lower order with a brilliant exhibition of good old-fashioned Headingley swing bowling.

The hosts were 72-6 at lunch, the misery ending early in the afternoon session when Graham Onions was caught at short leg for Siddle's fifth wicket as the hosts were dismissed for 102, their lowest total for 100 years in Ashes Tests at Headingley.

The humiliation was complete when Mitchell Johnson cleaned up poor old Onions less than two days later for one of England's most emphatic defeats against the tourists on home soil.

BROAD TAKES CENTRE STAGE WITH ENGLAND HOT TO TROTT

Fifth Test, The Oval - England beat Australia by 197 runs

Amid the media clamour to reinstate 39-year-old Mark Ramprakash and persuade Marcus Trescothick to come out of retirement, England's selectors opted for consistency and chose Jonathan Trott to replace the struggling Ravi Bopara.

With Australia in the ascendency at 73 without loss replying to England's 332 in the series decider, the fate of the fragile, six-inch urn turned on a destructive spell of fast bowling from Stuart Broad on a parched Oval wicket.

The 23-year-old reduced Australia to 111-7, the apogee of his 5-37 an unplayable outswinging delivery to rearrange Brad Haddin's furniture to seal his second successive five-wicket Test haul, and the third of his career.

With Australia 172 runs short of England's first-innings total, Trott became an instant hero with a debut century to take the game beyond the tourists, setting Ricky Ponting's men an impossible winning target of 546.

England supporters started to sweat as Ponting and the hitherto vulnerable Mike Hussey compiled a 127-run partnership with steely determination.

But Flintoff - relatively muted on his finale - conjured one final trick from his sunhat, uprooting Ponting's off stump with a direct hit from mid-on as the Australia captain fatally hesitated scampering for an ill-judged single.

As the match - and series - drew to its now inevitable denouement, Graeme Swann ended Australia's misery when he had centurion Hussey caught by Alastair Cook off bat-pad, sparking pandemonium in SE11.

IPL Records

Indian Premier League not only changed the way cricket is played, but it also changed the record books to a greater extent. In IPL 2008, Shaun Marsh topped the batting charts with 616 runs at a whopping average of 68.44. Gautam Gambhir topped the half centuries charts with a total of 5 half centuries to his name. Shaun Marsh, Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum, Sanath Jaysuriya, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds are the cricketers who can boast of scoring centuries in the inaugural edition. Sohail Tanveer took the most number of wickets and has also a 5 wicket haul to his name. L Balaji, Makhaya Ntini and Amit Mishra were the bowlers who took hat-tricks. And how can one forget that match of India vs England which witnessed 6 sixes from Yuvraj Singh’s bat in a single over of Stuart Broad.

In the second edition of IPL, which took place in South Africa, Matthew Hayden was the top scorer with 572 runs in his kitty; whereas R P Singh was the leading wicket taker with 23 wickets. Adam Gilchrist topped the number of sixes list with 29 sixes. This year only 2 centuries were hit, one by AB De Villiers and the other by Manish Pandey. With this Manish Pandey became the first Indian to score a century in the IPL. Adam Gilchrist had most number of dismissals to his name. This year three hattricks were taken. The bowlers who did this were Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh. Yuvraj Singh has the credit of taking two hat-tricks.