ABSTRACT
At a ceremony that captures global attention every two years, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) begins with this phrase to announce the winning bid to host the Olympic Games in seven years. Six cities bid for the 1992 Summer Games, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belgrade, Birmingham UK, Brisbane, and Paris. Bids come from cities outside of Western Europe and North America. Bidding for the Winter Games follows a procedure similar to the Summer Games after the scandal of the Salt Lake City bid. The bidding process still gives power to members of the IOC who can vote and influence the vote of others. Bid committees of candidate cities try to influence the voting, sometimes simply through the force of their arguments about hosting a wonderful event, but also through their generosity toward IOC voters. Sometimes, a bid is an attempt to reposition the host country in a new light.
