Blimey, never saw that one coming.

Wish I'd had a few quid on the result, odds were stacked so much behind Paris it was not really worth betting on the French bid.

Dread to think how "pomp and circumstance" the news is going to be here tonight. Riots and trouble at the G8 and in Stirling/Edinburgh will be relegated for Seb Coe's winners speech I fear!

Fish and Chips V Snails,
Good ol' Lincolnshire Sausages V Horse meat
Reserved British politeness V Snobby ignorant French
Turi V French Army

Where's the shock?

Mmm, we should merge this one and the one in the sports thread.

Congrats, you blokes, I'm glad to see you've pissed off the Frenchies again!

Phew....glad Rome was not among the competitors.....
Anyway, I'm happy the Olympic Games 2012 will be held in Europe and specifically in London. I ADORE London. I...er...apart form snails, actually adore Paris as well....

I got very exited.then i realised its 6 years away

How nice for London. I am not a follower of the Olympics, but would like to go just to see London. Why was France predicted to win this event???

Now all our UK friends can go and take pictures and/or be on the news.


TIS

Congrats!

And by the way, snails are delicious!

As a Britisher, I wish it had gone to NYC or Moscow.

Ever been to London? Crowded, suffocated by traffic, plagued with pollution and congestion. And that's just Sunday afternoons. And bear in mind that our new state-of-the-art stadium isn't actually built yet.

Our hospitals are dilapidated and rife with disease, with 5,000 per year dying (yes, DYING) from infections contracted while in hospital. In our public schools, teachers are regularly threatened with violence by students with impunity. On our streets, law-abiding citizens who defend their homes are beaten to death ... and if they do manage to fend of their attackers, they are open to charges of assault on their own assailant. We are a nation of unhealthy, in-debt, alcoholic theiving violent degenerates. And where is our noble leader? Curing this ills? Or trying to win us a sporting non-event, a glorified schools athletics day. A big winner for commercia concerns and an atheletic elite. How about addressing the ills in our country, guys, before wasting so much energy ... and PUBLIC money ... on your corporate jolly.

Am I the only one with a sense of priorities in the Western World? Jesus.

Hmmm, sorta sounds familiar... What city could I be thinking of? :rolleyes:

The Olympics?! The biggest sporting event in the world? (Besides the World Cup...)

Im sure they'll have a differant point of view,when the event finally gets here

Holy shit! I didn't know you lived in California!

Glad all these terrible problems isn't just an American quality....

Still, I am surprised that London got the Olympics. Either they did one hell of a presentation that smoothed the IOC over Paris, or there was alot of special perks and money given to the IOC under the table(as circumstantial evidence and rumors have been said for years with the 1996 Atlanta Games and 2002 Salt Lake City Games), or hell it could be both, what do I know?

Maybe the IOC just came to the realization that Chirac is an ass. :p

The London 2012 Olympic campaign team estimate the total cost to be £4.9bn ($8.82bn), which means that it will probably be closer to £10bn ($18bn). Only half of this is to be met from tickets, TV deals and sponsors - the rest will come from taxpayers, with an extra burden levied on the people London in the form of increased council tax revenues.

The counterargument is that the city's infrastructure will improve as will sporting facilities. Excuse me, but isn't that what taxes are for anyway? The "benefit to the economy" will be 0.1% GDP ... and the actual recipient of this taxpayer-funded "benefit" will, of course, be the corporations and construction firms involved.

And if it all goes wrong (a la Montreal 1976), the whole thing is underwritten by the taxpayer.