Some would argue the costs are going through the roof but already six cities have thrown up their hands to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

They are Tokyo, Chicago, Madrid, Rio, Doha and Baku.

IOC President Jacques Rogge would not be surprised if more cities entered the bidding race before the official deadline in September.

Rogge leaves Guatemala shortly to visit Moscow where the Russians spent somewhere between $30 million US and $60m bidding to host the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin has promised to pour $12 billion US into those Games.

And then there’s Beijing spending over $40 billion US on the 2008 Summer Olympics.

At the final media conference at the 119th IOC Session Rogge said he would continue to monitor costs, but argued hosting the Games’ was still well within reach of smaller cities.

He pointed to Barcelona, Athens and Sydney as success stories for much less money.

Rogge said Beijing, Vancouver (2010) and London (2012) were all on track and he believed the announcement of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) was a momentous step forward.

“I am sending a letter to all National Olympic Committees asking which cities would be suitable to host the first one in 2010 but already more than ten cities have shown interest,” he said.

Mike Tancred in Guatemala
AOC