Prague, the capital of the Czech republic, officially joined the
contest for the 2016 summer Olympic Games on Tuesday.
Prague mayor Pavel Bem and head of the Czech Olympic Committee
(COV) Milan Jirasek signed a letter, which will be sent to the
International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"It is a momentous day, without any exaggeration," Jirasek
said.
"When we started discussing the opportunity, we set the
condition that the effort should be beneficial to the Czech
Republic at any moment," he added.
Bem said this was not only the affair of the city, but of all
Czechs.
"The Olympic Games are a tremendous challenge for all of us,"
Bem said.
"It touches upon our national pride and on everything of what we
can be rightly proud," he added.
Organizers also unveiled the logo of the Prague candidature made
by artist Eduard Kauba. It is dominated by the name PRAHA and green
laurel twigs for the winners, created by the numerals of 2016. The
twig is intertwined with ribbons.
According to an economic study, the costs amount to some 490
billion crowns ($1=20.292 Czech crowns).
According to IOC president Jacques Rogge, other bid cities
include Madrid, Tokyo, Chicago along with Doha, Qatar and Baku,
Azerbaijan.
The IOC will select the host city in October 2009 in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2007)