Bookmakers offered odds on the host city choice, with Rio listed as second favorite at +200. Chicago had been the wagering favorite at most books, particularly after President Obama got involved personally in the US bid effort. Chicago was bet as high as a -300 favorite, while Madrid and Tokyo were priced in the +250 range. Some suggest that Tokyo didnt deserve to have such short odds, but was the beneficiary of regional pride from the notoriously enthusiastic betting population of Japan.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, got the better of his US counterpart Barack Obama The Brazilian leader stressed the unfairness that South America had never hosted the games in his speech to the committee;

“It is a time to address this imbalance. It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country.”

The Olympic committee was apparently swayed by this presentation and paid no mind to Rios many downsides. It is without a doubt the most dangerous of the finalist cities, where drug cartels and armed bands of thugs roam without impunity. Well do to Rio citizens are used to removing watches and jewelry before they drive anywhere lest they be targeted by carjacking brigands. Rios murder rate is also one of the highest in the world. Brazilian bid officials have stressed that security will be a priority at the games and it better be lest the Olympics turn into a bloodbath.

Some IOC members suggested that the summary dismissal of Chicagos bid was more of a rebuke of the notoriously corrupt USOC. The last two Olympics held in the US were tainted by crime and corruption. The’96 Atlanta Olympics were disrupted by a terrorist bombing, while the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games were marred by a well known bribery and corruption scandal.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Chris Paul, arguably the best point guard in the NBA, has chosen to return back to the land in which he won his first gold medal; China.

Many of us Americans believe that overseas basketball is a “joke” or some sort of lower level of basketball, however, these are not the beliefs of arguably the best active NBA point guard right now; Chris Paul.

Paul, a developing youngster with a huge career ahead of him, was tremendously moved by his experience in Beijing last summer. In fact, his life was changed, so he has become the NBA’s unofficial ambassador to China.

China is probably the world’s second largest presence when it comes to basketball fans. Yao Ming’s Rockets games typically draw ratings that would shatter any records set by American standards. Paul will be making his mark in the nation by running several basketball mini-camps in Guangzhou, and will also fund the opening of a new outdoor basketball facility there.

CP3 will also be releasing a brand new Chris Paul basketball sneaker exclusively for the Chinese population. This will feature Chinese writing that commemorates both his 61 point high school game in honor of his grandfather’s murder, as well as his NBA record-breaking 106 games with a steal.

Paul is a revolutionary in this field. There has never been an NBA player doing what he is doing in China right now. (Except Yao, of course.)

Research shows that there will soon be more NBA basketball fans in China than in the United States. Paul’s move is a wise one, as now is the time to pique the interest of all Chinese basketball fans. He’s also sure to gain plenty of fans of his own in the process.

This is a move that should lead others to do the same thing; and they’ll be right in doing so given China’s enormous size.

The Nordic Games were the first iteration of winter Olympic games. Viktor Gustaf Balck first organized the Nordic Games in Sweden in 1901. This international mult-sport event that was designated specifically for winter sports was thereafter held regularly until 1926. In the meantime, Balck was rallying to have winter sports (starting with figure skating) included in the Olympic sport roster. He was unsuccessful until 1908, when four figure skating events were included in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.

When planning the next summer Olympics (to be held in 1912), an Italian count named Eugenio Brunetto dUsseaux beseeched the International Olympic Committee to plan a week of winter sports as part of the 1912 games. The idea was not welcomed warmly, for a couple different reasons. First, the committee did not want to detract from the Nordic Games. Second, the committee was concerned about the lack of facilities for other winter sports.

More ground was gained in 1916, when the idea to include a week of winter sports was again proposed. The committee went as far as to plan the week of winter sports including figure skating, speed skating, ice hockey and Nordic skiing. Unfortunately, the 1916 games in Berlin were cancelled due to World War I.

Figure skating and ice hockey were featured in the first Olympic games after the war, held in Antwerp in 1920. Shortly thereafter the International Olympic Committee decided that the organizers of the next Olympics (to be held in 1924) would also host an International Winter Sports Week. The first Winter Sports Week took place in Chamonix in 1924 and actually lasted 11 days. The event was a huge success, drawing more than 200 athletes from 16 competing nations. In the first Winter Sports Week, women only competed in figure skating events.

In 1925, the International Olympic Committee created a separate event designated for these types of sports. The event was called the Olympic Winter Games, and at the same time, the 1924 Winter Sports Week in Chamonix was retroactively designated as the official first Winter Olympics. The second Olympic Winter Games were held in St. Moritz in February of 1928. The next Winter Olympic Games were held in North America for the first time. The location of the event was Lake Placid, New York. The turnout at the 1932 Winter Olympics was not impressive, however, partly due to the financial stress of the Great Depression. 1936 was the last year in which both summer and winter Olympics were held in the same country. Both the 1940 and the 1944 Winter Olympics were cancelled as a result of World War II. The 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina dAmpezzo, Italy were the first to be televised.

The next Winter Olympics Games scheduled are to take place in 2010 in Vancouver, B.C. Below is a list of scheduled medal events:

- Alpine skiing – Biathlon – Bobsled – Cross-country skiing – Curling – Figure skating – Freestyle skiing – Ice hockey – Luge – Nordic combined – Short track speed skating – Skeleton – Ski jumping – Snowboarding – Speed skating

During the early years of Olympics, there was no regularity in the game rules and archery was not included as an event any more after 1920. The applicable international rules of the Olympics was finally agreed upon after long many number of years and archery finally reappeared as a sport event during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Over and above individual events, team competitions were also held from 1988.

From 1992, the schedule of the event is head-to-head competition amongst the top 64 athletes. There are four archery events: Individual competitors (men and women) shoot 72 arrows at a ‘bulls-eye’ target from a distance of 70 meters (229 feet, 8 inches). One shot must follow the other in a matter of 40 seconds and the ideal score is 720 with a ‘sudden death’ overtime shot which happens when there is a tie.

In the team events there are totally 16 teams where each team has 3 archers, who, like the individual game, have to throw 72 arrows from a distance of 70 meters. Each archer shoots an arrow and the arrow which gets closest to the target, wins the game. The scoring in this game is according to where the arrow hits the target, which consists of 10 rings so if the arrow hits the outermost ring, the archer gets 1 point, 2 points for the next ring and finally 10 if the center of the target is hit.

The bow used in Olympic archery event is recurve bow and any arrow shot from this type of bow gathers a speed of 150 mph. These technologically advanced bows are made from graphite, wood and fiberglass which stabilize the motion of the arrow which has to travel in a perfect straight line and helps the archer to aim perfect. The total cost of the equipment goes over 00 with strings made from hydrocarbon or from Kelvar and the arrows from aluminum or carbon graphite.

Olympic archers usually would undergo training for ten years. Every player has to be in superb form during participation. You need the right coach and the ideal equipment too. Luckily, archery is a n affordable sports compared to many others. You need to learn the subject thoroughly, read as much about it as possible and communicate with other archers and then gradually start to participate in local and national events but most critical of all these is that you need to practice regularly and with all earnestness.

This sport is open to even athletes suffering from some disabilities. A New Zealand woman, Neroli Fairhall, was the first paraplegic to compete in the Olympic Games and was a gold medalist in the Commonwealth Games. This game is such that you can enjoy it with all the members of your family and if you so desire, can go on playing it for the rest of your life.