London Joins Race for 2012

London is in the race for the 2012 Summer Olympics, British officials informed the International Olympic Committee on Thursday.

New York and Madrid have already announced they will bid for the Games. Moscow and Paris are expected in the next few weeks to say they’re in as well, and Brazil is due to nominate either Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paolo.

Also in are Havana and Leipzig, Germany. Canada is expected to nominate Toronto if Vancouver does not win the bid for 2010 Winter Games.

The IOC will pick the 2010 site in July, the 2012 city in 2005. Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea, are the other entrants in the 2010 Winter Games race.

Dan Doctoroff, head of the New York bid, said of London’s entry, “We welcome the competition. The more the merrier.”

London, which last played host to the Games in 1948, needs to build an Olympic stadium.

-- Alan Abrahamson