Americans start looking toward Rio as Pan Am Games wind down

Canada has spent about $2.5 billion Canadian ($2 billion) to organize the Pan Am Games – the most expensive in history – and has several Olympic-style venues in place.

We reported briefly on a potential Toronto bid earlier this month, with the Pan American Games serving as a sort of “trial run” for how well the city handled a major sporting event.

America’s win set up a rematch of the 2011 Pan-American finals which the U.S. won 4-2.

“We have to sit down right after these games and prepare every bit of analysis – on the finances, on the benefits to the city, on the amount of publicity it will give us”, Tory said in the AP story.

A number of factors have encouraged a change in thought, including the success of the Pan American Games here as well as the IOC’s Agenda 2020 reform process, which allows hosts more flexibility in drawing up a bid which best suits local demands.

Alan Ashley isn’t really paying out notice to the medal table at the Pan Am Video games, but the American will be riveted to it at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The Games did leave Toronto well-stocked with athletic facilities and stadiums, though, infrastructure that would make an Olympic bid much more realistic.

Five cities have already said they will bid: Boston; Budapest, Hungary; Hamburg, Germany; Paris; Rome. “I think our connection with numerous sports is a little higher than it was going into London”.

Thye Bezerra and a friend were visiting a Toronto woman in her home the morning of July 16 when the woman went to sleep, police said.

The fear is that once the immediate glow of the Pan American Games has died down, it is possible momentum could subside and an opposition movement could build, with some believing a Calgary bid for the 2026 Winter edition would be a more realistic choice.

Bal Gosal, minister of state for sport, said Ottawa would “look at the economic situation, the feasibility of the Games, what does it do for the country, then we can make a decision”.

That’s a big bonus for the city, Greenham says.

Kidd said the IOC will also want proof that Canadians want the Olympics. “I go back to all the sacrifices that my family and I have made to get to this point”.

The woman will not be publicly identified but Beaven-Desjardins said she is neither a Pan Am volunteer nor an athlete.

Others said the city can’t lose sight of practical concerns. The Parapan Am Games end in mid-August. China experienced 38 gold and was next all round.

The Pan Am Games, that will saw permit commissions exceed 1000000, has shaken chat of another struggle.